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California Legislature · Statewide General Election

State Senator, District 28

Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

This person holds your district's seat in the California State Senate (4-year term).

Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas took 77.5% of the June 2 vote and Republican Joe Lisuzzo took 16.2% to claim the second slot. The district covers South Los Angeles and neighbouring communities.

The winner holds one of 40 State Senate seats for a four-year term, inside a 12-year lifetime cap on service in Sacramento. Senate districts are twice the size of Assembly districts, terms run twice as long, and the Senate confirms the Governor's appointments. A four-year term means the winner will not face voters again until 2030.

A 61-point primary margin against an opponent with no reported funding means the practical question is what the incumbent does with a seat she holds comfortably for the next four years, not who holds it.

Lola Smallwood-Cuevas

Democrat, the sitting Senator for this district. She is lead author of 33 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 4 of them signed into law. She took more than three-quarters of the June vote.

Strengths

An established seat with committee standing, and $81,399 from individual donors.

Trade-offs

Four bills signed from 33 authored is a low conversion rate for a majority member.

Keep in mind

She faces no meaningful electoral pressure here, so accountability for how she uses the seat will not come from the ballot.

Joe Lisuzzo

Republican, who advanced with 16.2% of the June vote. He has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress. Cal-Access shows no contributions reported for his committee.

Strengths

He gave this district a contested November ballot rather than an uncontested one.

Trade-offs

No reported funding and no record in office leaves very little for a voter to evaluate beyond party.

Keep in mind

Coverage surfaced almost no biographical or platform detail about him. That gap is what was available to us on 2026-08-10, not a comment on his candidacy.

Record in office

Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (Democratic) is the sitting State Senator for this district and is lead author of 33 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 4 of them signed into law. Joe Lisuzzo has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress; these records cover only those offices. Per the California Legislature's public bill data (leginfo bulk download), retrieved 2026-08-10.

Record details

Smallwood-Cuevas — SB 464 (2025): Employer pay data. Smallwood-Cuevas — SB 578 (2025): California Workplace Outreach Program. Smallwood-Cuevas — SB 303 (2025): Employment: bias mitigation training: unlawful discrimination. Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record.

Financial info

Lola Smallwood-Cuevas

$705,039raised
  • Small donors$2,608<1%
  • Individuals$81,39912%
  • PACs & committees$455,18165%
  • Businesses & other orgs$161,23323%

Joe Lisuzzo has no contributions reported to Cal-Access for this race.

Figures are CA Form 460 filings through June 30, 2026 by committees controlled by each candidate, and can include transfers from a candidate's earlier committees. Semi-annual reports covering January–June 2026 were due July 31, 2026, so some totals lag a period behind. Per the California Secretary of State's Cal-Access raw data export, retrieved 2026-08-22.

June 2 primary — how they advanced

Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (Democratic)77.5% · 151,178 votes
Joe Lisuzzo (Republican)16.2% · 31,606 votes
Daphne D. Bradford (No Party Preference)6.3% · 12,265 votes
Source review: Very strong (97/100) · 4 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

Last updated August 10, 2026.