The California State Senate is one-half of our state legislature. Along with the Assembly, it essentially serves as California’s Congress. On Nov. 5, voters will choose representatives in half of the 40 state Senate districts, each home to more than 900,000 constituents.
Find your district
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You can also use this same tool to find out where your legislator lands on the "How liberal or conservative are your legislators?" scale.
Make It Make Sense: Election 2024 Edition
What does a state senator do?
- Represents constituents, holding meetings in the district and keeping attuned to priorities.
- Participates on some of 22 standing committees, six subcommittees or joint committees, each focused on areas such as labor, health and the environment.
- Introduces as many as 40 bills per two-year session, as well as specific budget items.
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City of Los Angeles
- City Council: Vote for districts 2, 10 and 14.
- Charter Amendment ER: A package of ethics reforms designed to fight corruption at City Hall. Plus: Charter Amendments DD, FF, HH and II.
L.A. County
- Board of Supervisors: Measure G would dramatically overhaul county government.
- District Attorney: Criminal justice reform, or more law-and-order justice?
- LA Unified school board: Voters are also deciding on a $9 billion facilities bond and a redistricting measure.
- School district measures: Schools have a lot of repair needs.
- Superior Court judges: Plus: Tips to make sure you're putting right person on the bench.
Statewide races
- Whoa! There are 10 propositions on the ballot. Here's your cheat sheet to Props. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36.
Jump to the full Voter Game Plan for dozens more races ▶
Why does this race matter?
State lawmakers draft and pass laws that govern the entire state. These laws can provide benefits that aren’t granted by the federal government, such as paid family leave or in-state tuition for undocumented college students. They can impose rules that apply statewide, like restrictions on buying guns, or not allowing restaurants to provide single-use plastic straws unless a customer requests it. They can also set minimum standards for the state and allow cities and counties to go further — for instance, the state minimum wage is $15 an hour for businesses with more than 25 employees, but the city of L.A.'s hourly minimum wage went up to $16.04 in July 2022.
Where are the party lines drawn?
Around three-quarters of lawmakers in both California’s Assembly and State Senate are Democrats. There are still divisions among lawmakers that lead to drawn-out arguments and prevent legislation from moving forward. We included information below on voter registration breakdowns in each district.
You might recognize their work from …
In recent years, the Legislature has:
- Passed a bill (signed into law in 2021) to make ethnic studies a graduation requirement for California high schoolers.
- Passed a bill (signed into law in 2021) allowing duplexes to be built on single-family home lots, effectively ending single-family zoning.
- Passed a bill (signed into law in 2020) to create a task force to determine how the state might deliver reparations to Black descendants of enslaved people.
What’s on the agenda for the next term?
There are lots of statewide problems to tackle — the threat of wildfires, climate change, the highest poverty rate in the country, the cost of housing, and more.
Background
The state Senate saw a shake-up in 2022 due to a combination of term limits and new district maps following the 2020 Census. Senators serve staggered, four-year terms, and the 20 odd-numbered districts are on the ballot this year. So some voters didn’t get to pick a state senator in 2022 but will this year.
The current Senate has 31 Democrats and nine Republicans. If the GOP flips at least four seats, Democrats would lose their two-thirds supermajority, which allows them to pass tax increases or put constitutional amendments on the ballot without any Republican votes.
State senators are paid $128,215 a year, plus $214 a day for expenses when the Legislature is in session. Party leaders get higher pay.
About this guide
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Some candidates did not reply to our requests for images. Some do not have a campaign website and/or list of endorsements available online at the time of publication. We will update this guide as more candidate information becomes available.
This guide lists races across Los Angeles and Orange counties, and also notes the most-watched and most competitive congressional seats up for grabs as well as voter registration breakdowns. Names appear in the same order as the certified list of candidates.
District 23
At a glance: The district includes the Santa Clarita, Antelope valleys. The seat is open because state Sen. Scott Wilk, a Republican, is being term limited out. The Los Angeles Times notes that "the region is a swing district and both parties are fighting to win the seat."
Voter registration: 40.1% Democrat, 30.4% Republican, 20.8% no party preference
Kip Mueller
Workers rights attorney, Democrat
Website: KippForSentate
Endorsements: See full list here
Suzette Valladares
Small business owner, Republican
Website: SuzetteValladares.com
Endorsements: See full list here
District 25
At a glance: Glendale and Pasadena — this is your district. The northern side of the district includes the Angeles National Forest and also stretches to parts of Rancho Cucamonga and Upland in the east. It is one of the state’s most ethnically diverse districts.
Voter registration: 46% Democrat, 25.1% no party preference, 22.6% Republican
Sasha Renée Pérez
Alhambra Mayor, Democrat
Website: SashaReneePerez.com
Endorsements: Full list here
Elizabeth Wong Ahlers
Crescenta Valley Councilmember, Republican
Website: Elizabeth4Senate24.com
Endorsements: Full list here
More voter resources:
District 27
At a glance: Straddles Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Includes Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Malibu, Moorpark, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, part of Santa Clarita and the following Los Angeles communities: Canoga Park, Chatsworth, Encino, Porter Ranch, Reseda, Lake Balboa, Tarzana, West Hills, Winnetka, and Woodland Hills.
Voter registration: 46.6% Democratic, 24.7% Republican, 21.5% no party preference
Henry Stern (Incumbent)
California State Senator, Democrat
Website: HenryStern.org
Lucie Volotzky
Mother and business owner, Republican
Website: LucieVolotzky.com
Endorsements: Full list here
District 33
At a glance: This district includes the Los Angeles County cities and communities of Cudahy, Bell, Bell Gardens, Lakewood, part of Los Angeles, Lynwood, Maywood, Signal Hill, Paramount, South Gate, Vernon, Walnut Park, Huntington Park, and most of Long Beach.
Voter registration: 55.3% Democratic, 21.6% no party preference, 15.5% Republican
Lena A. Gonzalez
California State Senator, Democrat
Website: VoteLenaGonzalez.com
Endorsements: Full list here
Mario Paz
Small business CFO, Republican
Website: WhoIsMarioPaz
District 35
At a glance: The South Los Angeles County district includes Carson, San Pedro, Compton, West Compton, Gardena, Harbor City, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Lawndale, Lennox, West Carson, Watts, Willowbrook, and Wilmington. Incumbent state Sen. Steven Bradford, a Democrat, is leaving office due to term limits.
Voter registration: Nearly 59.3% Democrat, 21.4% no party preference, 11.3% Republican
The backstory: The Los Angeles Times describes this race as Laura Richardson's comeback attempt: She was a state Assemblymember and won a special election to Congress when she was disciplined by the House Ethics Committee for, among other things, using taxpayer-funded resources for personal and political activities. She lost her next reelection bid.
Michelle Chambers
Community justice advocate, Democrat
Website: MichelleForCalifornia.com
Endorsements: Full list here
Laura Richardson
Businesswoman and housing advocate, Democrat
Website: Laura4Senate.com
Endorsements: Full list here
More voter resources:
District 37
At a glance: This district encompasses much of Orange County and its cultural and geographic differences — the coastal region from Huntington to Laguna Beach, the more commercial city of Orange, the city of Irvine, plus Whiting Ranch and Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness parks in the east. The district's makeup explains some of the top issues in the region: open space, affordable housing, an aging population and traffic.
Voter registration: 36.9% Democrat, 33.2% Republican, 23.7% no party preference
The backstory: This is the state Senate seat that Dave Min of Irvine is vacating to run for Congress. Min flipped the district from red to blue in 2020, and the Democratic majority has grown since then. State Sen. Josh Newman of Fullerton has the advantage of incumbency: due to redistricting, he’s eligible to run for this seat. He is going up against Steven Choi, a Republican and former mayor of Irvine.
Josh Newman (Incumbent)
California State Senator, Democrat
Website: NewmanForSenate.com
Endorsements: See full list here
Steven "Steve" Choi
Small businessman/educator, Republican
Website: StevenChoi.org
Endorsements: See full list here
More voter resources:
More reading
- How Diverse Is The California Legislature? (CalMatters): An interactive tool that lets you input your demographic information — including age, gender, sexual orientation and income — and see how well our state lawmakers reflect those traits.
LAist staff also contributed to this report.
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This voter guide originally published Sept. 23.
