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California Legislature · Statewide General Election

State Senator, District 30

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 Bob J. Archuleta took 65.1% of the June 2 vote and Republican Araceli Martinez took 34.9%; they were the only two candidates on the primary ballot. The district covers southeastern Los Angeles County.

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.

The incumbent has one of the strongest enacted records in the Legislature — 10 bills signed into law from 35 authored — and he did it on the smallest budget of any Senate incumbent on this ballot. That combination is worth weighing on its own terms against a challenger running on about three percent of the money.

Bob J. Archuleta

Democrat, the sitting Senator for this district. He is lead author of 35 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 10 of them signed into law — one of the strongest conversion rates in the Legislature. He raised $480,713, the smallest total of any Senate incumbent on this ballot.

Strengths

Ten bills signed into law on the smallest Senate incumbent budget here — the best ratio of legislative output to money raised on this ballot.

Trade-offs

About half of it came from PACs and committees, with no small-donor total reported at all.

Keep in mind

Producing more law on less money is unusual enough on this ballot to be worth noticing.

Araceli Martinez

Republican, and the only other candidate on this district's ballot, with 34.9% of the June vote. She raised $15,568, almost all of it from individuals and small donors. She has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress.

Strengths

A campaign funded entirely by individuals, and more than a third of the vote on about three percent of the incumbent's money.

Trade-offs

That resource gap is wide, and she has no record in office to be judged on.

Keep in mind

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

Record in office

Bob J. Archuleta (Democratic) is the sitting State Senator for this district and is lead author of 35 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 10 of them signed into law. Araceli Martinez 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

Archuleta — SB 623 (2026): Automobile accidents: civil actions: transportation network companies. Archuleta — SB 694 (2026): Deceptive practices: service members and veterans. Archuleta — SB 374 (2025): Local educational agencies: annual reporting requirements: IDEA Addendum. Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record.

Financial info

Bob J. Archuleta

$480,713raised
  • Individuals$105,45722%
  • PACs & committees$231,30048%
  • Businesses & other orgs$142,33130%

Araceli Martinez

$15,568raised
  • Small donors$3,50523%
  • Individuals$11,56374%
  • Businesses & other orgs$5003%

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

Bob J. Archuleta (Democratic)65.1% · 124,926 votes
Araceli Martinez (Republican)34.9% · 66,945 votes
Source review: Very strong (97/100) · 4 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

Last updated August 10, 2026.