# State Senator, District 34 Compare records and positions simply between Rhonda Shader or Avelino Valencia for State Senator, District 34 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-34 - 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: 85 out of 100 (Strong), across 10 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Rhonda Shader** — Local Small Businesswoman · Republican - **Avelino Valencia** — California State Assemblymember · Democratic This is an open seat. Assemblymember Avelino Valencia took 65.2% of the June 2 vote and Republican Rhonda Shader took 34.8%. Valencia currently represents Assembly District 68 and is seeking this Senate seat rather than re-election. The district covers central Orange 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. Because this seat is open, whoever wins starts without Senate seniority. One candidate arrives with a legislative record made in the Assembly — 12 bills signed into law from 29 authored, one of the strongest conversion rates in the Legislature. The other has not held state office. Weigh that record on its merits, in a different chamber, and note the funding behind it. ## Avelino Valencia Avelino Valencia, an Anaheim Democrat, is the son of immigrant parents who built a small business. Valencia played college football and briefly pursued a shot at the NFL before turning to public service (campaign site). They have represented Assembly District 68 for four years and are running for this open Senate seat rather than seeking re-election. In the Assembly they have authored legislation on consumer protection, gun violence reduction and government transparency (campaign site). Valencia says they are running for Senate "to continue this work" of listening to residents and fighting for "commonsense policies to improve the quality of life" in Orange County (campaign site). In 2026 they authored AB 2512, the "Home Run for Anaheim Act." It would require the Los Angeles Angels to use the name "Anaheim Angels" on stadium-sale documents and marketing, if Anaheim is granted a specific state land-use exemption for the Angel Stadium property. No opposition was registered against the bill at committee (Assembly Local Government Committee analysis). Valencia said, "The City of Anaheim has been home to this franchise for nearly 60 years. Yet the team's name does not reflect that history or our community" (Assembly Local Government Committee analysis). The bill passed the Assembly 72-0 and the Senate 39-0, and Governor Newsom signed it into law on August 27, 2026 (California Legislature bill status). Valencia promises to fully fund schools and improve teacher recruitment. They also want to lower the cost of gas, groceries and other essentials, and to build more housing with expanded first-time homeowner programs (campaign site). Their priorities also include fighting climate change, creating jobs with good wages and benefits, and expanding college access. They want more government transparency and a move toward universal health coverage (campaign site). **Strengths:** A bill they authored passed the Legislature without a single vote against it and was signed into law, on top of four years of Assembly experience. **Trade-offs:** Their legislative record was made in the Assembly, a different chamber from the Senate seat they are seeking, with a different size, term and remit. **Keep in mind:** Their signature 2026 law only requires an Angels name change if Anaheim secures a specific state land-use exemption, so its real-world effect is not yet certain. ## Rhonda Shader Rhonda Shader, a longtime Placentia resident, owns an insurance agency. She has also worked in banking and risk management, and holds a bachelor's degree in management from the University of Phoenix and a paralegal degree from Rancho Santiago College (campaign site). She was elected to the Placentia City Council in 2016 and went on to serve two terms as mayor. By her campaign's account, she "launched Placentia's first-ever independent Fire Department, cut wasteful spending, improved emergency response, and saved the city over 28 million dollars." Her campaign also says she created "California's first joint City-County infrastructure district," which she says generated 5,000 jobs (campaign site). Shader says she is running because "Sacramento is broken, and I believe you deserve a California that you can afford to enjoy" (campaign site). She has not served in the state Legislature. Her record is limited to Placentia city government, where, by her account, she balanced budgets and built new city infrastructure (campaign site). She promises fiscal responsibility, prioritizing "working families" in the district, and building consensus across stakeholders (campaign site). Her issues page lists a simplified, lower state tax system and reduced regulation for small businesses. She also supports defending Proposition 13, repealing parts of Proposition 47, and expanding school choice through charter schools. She would allow insurance to be purchased "across state lines," and calls for independent audits of state agencies and homelessness spending (campaign site). **Strengths:** Two terms as Placentia's mayor and city council member, where she says she created the city's first independent fire department and a new infrastructure financing district. **Trade-offs:** She has never served in the state Legislature, and the cost-savings and job figures she cites are her own campaign's account, not independently confirmed. **Keep in mind:** Weigh a record built in a small city's government against the size and complexity of a Senate seat representing hundreds of thousands of people. ## Record in office This seat is open — no candidate on the November ballot currently holds it. Rhonda Shader has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress; these records cover only those offices. Avelino Valencia (Democratic) is a sitting Assemblymember and is lead author of 29 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 12 of them signed into law. Per the California Legislature's public bill data (leginfo bulk download), retrieved 2026-09-21. ## Record details Valencia — AB 1956 (2026): Suicide prevention. Valencia — AB 2512 (2026): Surplus Land Act: exemption: Angel Stadium. Valencia — AB 2421 (2026): Political Reform Act of 1974: committee termination. Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record. ## Financial info - **Rhonda Shader** - Primary: $126,706 raised (Small donors: $4,962; Individuals: $82,163; PACs & committees: $27,800; Businesses & other orgs: $9,650) - November: $7,359 raised (Individuals: $3,809; PACs & committees: $2,500; Businesses & other orgs: $1,050) - **Avelino Valencia** - Primary: $1,233,907 raised (Small donors: $1,265; Individuals: $81,661; PACs & committees: $607,550; Businesses & other orgs: $542,431) - November: $52,140 raised (Individuals: $5,940; PACs & committees: $23,300; Businesses & other orgs: $22,900) 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 30, 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 - Rhonda Shader for Senate, Rhonda Shader for Senate, Rhonda Shader for Senate, and Avelino Valencia for Senate may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides 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. [Avelino Valencia for Senate — campaign site (biography, priorities, quotes)](https://www.avelinovalencia.com/) 4. [Assembly Committee on Local Government — Bill Analysis of AB 2512 (Valencia), the Home Run for Anaheim Act](https://alcl.assembly.ca.gov/media/2579) 5. [Rhonda Shader for Senate — campaign site home page (why running, priorities, quote)](https://www.shaderforsenate.com/) 6. [Rhonda Shader for Senate — Meet Rhonda page (biography, Placentia council and mayoral record)](https://shaderforsenate.com/meet-rhonda/) 7. [Rhonda Shader for Senate — Issues page (stated policy positions)](https://shaderforsenate.com/issues/) 8. [California Legislature — AB 2512 (Valencia) Bill Status, Text and Votes (signing date and floor vote tallies)](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2512) 9. [California Legislative Information — public bill data (bulk download)](https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/) 10. [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 34 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 34 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/state-senate-34 (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.