# State Senator, District 30 Compare records and positions simply between Bob J. Archuleta or Araceli Martinez for State Senator, District 30 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat in the California State Senate (4-year term). - Jurisdiction: California Legislature - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/state-senate-30 - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: September 24, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 91 out of 100 (Very strong), across 7 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Bob J. Archuleta** — State Senator · Democratic · Incumbent - **Araceli Martinez** — Small Business Owner · Republican 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 — 15 bills signed into law from 35 authored — and Archuleta 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 Bob Archuleta served as mayor of Pico Rivera and worked as a police officer and a presidential appointee before their election to the State Senate in 2018 (senate biography). They represent a district spanning southeastern Los Angeles County and part of Orange County, and have authored bills including SB 1076 on lead-paint construction standards and SB 1111, the Rick Best Safety Act, requiring reflective taping on large trash receptacles. In March 2021, a former Senate staffer sued Archuleta and the state Senate, alleging unwanted advances, comments about affairs, and public reprimands during her 18 months working for Archuleta, and claiming she was pushed out after complaining (Los Cerritos Community News). Archuleta denied the allegations, calling them "completely and categorically false," and said, "My entire career, I have supported the right of every Californian to feel safe, valued and protected in the workplace" (Los Cerritos Community News). They are running for reelection on the legislative and constituent-services record built since 2018. Archuleta promises to keep funding veterans' services, support small businesses and nonprofits in the district through recognition and outreach programs, and continue work on lead-paint and roadway-safety standards (senate biography). **Strengths:** A track record of getting bills signed into law, and deep community ties from more than two decades in Pico Rivera government. **Trade-offs:** A 2021 lawsuit alleging workplace harassment during their time in the Senate, which they deny and which does not appear to have been publicly resolved. **Keep in mind:** The lawsuit's outcome is not public. Weighing that history against their legislative record is a judgment call this profile leaves to you. ## Araceli Martinez Araceli Martinez is a small-business owner and the daughter of immigrants, their father from Mexico and their mother from Honduras; Martinez earned their degree from UC Riverside and has worked as a journalist and political analyst (campaign site). Martinez has not served in the California Legislature or Congress. "I'm running for State Senate because the people who built this state deserve better," Martinez has said (campaign site). They have not held office before, and no lawsuit, vote or other independently reported record could be found; their campaign site is the primary documented source about them. Martinez promises to reduce red tape and lower costs for families, remove bureaucratic barriers so small businesses can grow and keep jobs in the district, protect parental rights and limit government interference in family matters, and support law enforcement while holding repeat offenders accountable (campaign site). **Strengths:** A small-business background and a family-immigration story that they bring directly into their case for lower taxes and less regulation. **Trade-offs:** No record in any office to judge, and no independent reporting on their background beyond their own campaign site. **Keep in mind:** No record in office to judge; coverage of this race carries little beyond the candidate's own materials. ## 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, 15 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 2026-09-21. ## Record details Archuleta — SB 920 (2026): The Gambling Control Act: regulatory fees. Archuleta — SB 1274 (2026): Industrial cities. Archuleta — SB 1188 (2026): Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps: establishment and eligibility. 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** - Primary: $480,713 raised (Individuals: $105,457; PACs & committees: $231,300; Businesses & other orgs: $142,331) - November: $19,700 raised (Individuals: $2,000; PACs & committees: $17,700) - **Araceli Martinez** - Primary: $15,568 raised (Small donors: $3,505; Individuals: $11,563; Businesses & other orgs: $500) - November: $1,700 raised (Individuals: $1,700) 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 2026-09-21. Total is itemized (Schedule A) contributions and self-funding loans dated after the June 2, 2026 primary, through June 28, 2026 — small-dollar unitemized (under $100) contributions aren't independently dated in Cal-Access's raw export, so they aren't reflected here and this may undercount true small-donor activity since the primary. This also doesn't include money reported only on 24-hour late-contribution reports (Form 497) that haven't yet appeared in a periodic Form 460 filing. Per the California Secretary of State's Cal-Access raw data export, retrieved 2026-08-30. ## Review notes - Araceli Martinez For State Senate may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## Sources 1. [CA Secretary of State — Statement of Vote, June 2, 2026 primary (certified 2026-07-10)](https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/prior-elections/statewide-election-results/primary-election-june-2-2026/statement-vote) 2. [Ballotpedia — June 2026 California primary](https://ballotpedia.org) 3. [Senator Bob Archuleta — official site (biography, priorities)](https://sd30.senate.ca.gov/) 4. [Los Cerritos Community News — Female Former Staffer Sues State Senator Archuleta For Sexual Harassment](https://www.loscerritosnews.net/2021/03/20/female-former-staffer-sues-state-senator-archuleta-for-sexual-harassment/) 5. [Araceli Martinez For State Senate — campaign site (biography, motivation, priorities)](https://www.araceliforca.com/) 6. [California Legislative Information — public bill data (bulk download)](https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/) 7. [Cal-Access raw data export — California Secretary of State](https://www.sos.ca.gov/campaign-lobbying/helpful-resources/raw-data-campaign-finance-and-lobbying-activity) ## The rest of the ballot State Senator, District 30 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "State Senator, District 30 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/state-senate-30 (sources last retrieved September 24, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.