# United States Representative, District 28

Compare records and positions simply between Judy Chu or April A. Verlato for United States Representative, District 28 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives (2-year term).

- Jurisdiction: Federal
- 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/us-rep-28
- 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: 88 out of 100 (Strong), across 8 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **Judy Chu** — United States Representative · Democratic
- **April A. Verlato** — Small Business Owner · Republican

Representative Judy Chu took 62.2% of the June 2 vote and Republican April A. Verlato took 32.1%. The district covers Pasadena and the western San Gabriel Valley.

The winner holds one of 435 seats in the U.S. House for a two-year term. A member introduces bills, sits on committees that shape federal legislation, votes on the federal budget and on war powers, and handles casework between constituents and federal agencies. Seniority governs committee standing, so a long-serving member carries influence a newcomer cannot.

The resource gap here is close to total: $930,123 against $250. That shapes how much either candidate has been able to say publicly. The practical question is what this district gets from a safe seat.

## Judy Chu

Judy Chu has represented California's 28th District, covering Pasadena and the western San Gabriel Valley, since 2009, when she became the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress. She built her career locally, on the Garvey school board, three terms as mayor of Monterey Park, and later in the state Assembly and on the state Board of Equalization (chu.house.gov). In Congress she sits on the House Ways and Means Committee and has chaired the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus; she has authored bills on retirement tax credits and on Small Business Development Centers for the San Gabriel Valley (chu.house.gov).

In 2012 she authored a House resolution expressing the chamber's regret for the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and the House adopted it (chu.house.gov). After the January 2025 Eaton Fire devastated Altadena and Pasadena, she pressed for federal disaster assistance for the recovery; her campaign cites that work in asking voters for another term (judychu.org).

Her official biography lists retirement security, small business support, disaster recovery, and environmental protection — including her work to designate and expand the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument — among her ongoing priorities (chu.house.gov).

**Strengths:** Seventeen years in Congress, a seat on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, and a resolution she authored that the House adopted.

**Trade-offs:** Nearly two decades in one seat means voters have had few chances to compare her against a strong alternative in this district.

**Keep in mind:** Her record centers on committee seniority and constituent work rather than dramatic votes; the disaster aid and exclusion-act resolution are the clearest documented actions on record.

## April A. Verlato

April Verlato is the mayor of Arcadia and describes herself as a businesswoman and an attorney (campaign site). She has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress. Her campaign says she is the first sitting mayor to challenge Rep. Judy Chu for this seat.

She says, "With my experience as a businesswoman, an attorney, and a Mayor, I know what needs to be done to get us back on track" (campaign site). Her campaign cites inflation, economic decline, crime and national security as the concerns behind her run. No independent news coverage of specific votes, ordinances or incidents from her time on the Arcadia council or as mayor could be located, so her record in that office is documented mainly by her own campaign material.

Her platform calls for job creation and economic growth, smaller government and lower taxes, public safety, national security and border security, market-driven health care, support for veterans, and reducing the national debt (campaign site).

**Strengths:** She reached the general as the first sitting Arcadia mayor to challenge Chu, bringing local government experience to the race.

**Trade-offs:** No state or federal legislative record exists, so voters have only her campaign's account of her time in office to weigh.

**Keep in mind:** No documented record in office beyond her own campaign material; independent coverage of her mayoral tenure could not be confirmed.

## Record in office

Judy Chu (Democratic) has served in the U.S. House since 2009 and has sponsored 41 bills in the 119th Congress; 1 of their career bills have become law.

April A. Verlato has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress; these records cover only those offices.

Per Congress.gov and the public-domain congress-legislators roster, retrieved 2026-09-21.

## Record details

Chu — Committees: Ways and Means; Budget

Chu — HR 4761 (2016): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 61 South Baldwin Avenue in Sierra Madre, California, as the "Louis Van Iersel Post Office".

Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record.

## Financial info

- **Judy Chu** — $930,123 raised (Individuals: $550,348; PACs & committees: $379,775)
- **April A. Verlato** — $250 raised (Individuals: $250)

Total raised is all receipts for the 2026 cycle; the breakdown lists direct contributions, so the pieces can sum below the total. Figures are FEC filings through June 30, 2026, per the FEC bulk campaign-finance summaries, retrieved 2026-09-21.

## Review notes

- Judy Chu for Congress and April Verlato for Congress 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. [chu.house.gov — Judy Chu biography (career history, committee assignments, accomplishments)](https://chu.house.gov/about/biography)
4. [Judy Chu for Congress — campaign site (biography, re-election materials)](https://www.judychu.org/)
5. [April Verlato for Congress — campaign site (biography and issues)](https://www.verlatoforcongress.com)
6. [congress-legislators — current members of Congress (unitedstates project)](https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/legislators-current.json)
7. [Congress.gov — member sponsored legislation (Library of Congress)](https://api.congress.gov/)
8. [FEC — 2026 House & Senate current-campaign financial summaries (bulk data)](https://www.fec.gov/files/bulk-downloads/2026/webl26.zip)

## The rest of the ballot

United States Representative, District 28 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, "United States Representative, District 28 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/us-rep-28 (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.