There are 481 days to go before the June 2, 2026 California primary, yet the field of LGBTQ candidates in state legislative races is already beginning to take shape. At least 13 out candidates have already pulled papers to seek either an Assembly or Senate seat next year.
And the list of out contenders is likely to grow as it gets closer to the March 6 deadline next year for candidates to file ahead of the primary election. Under the state's open primary system, the top two candidates regardless of party affiliation will advance out of next spring's contests to the fall ballot.
Already, Riverside City Councilmember Clarissa Cervantes, who is queer and bisexual, has launched a campaign for the 58th Assembly District seat. Last November, she fell short by 596 votes to succeed her lesbian older sister, Sabrina Cervantes, in the Inland Empire seat, likely hampered by the attacks she faced stemming from her arrest for drunken driving in 2023.
The elder Cervantes sibling won election to a four-year term representing the state Senate's District 31. As for her former seat in the Legislature's lower chamber, it is now represented by Assemblymember Leticia Castillo (R-Corona), who had worked as a mental health clinical therapist for Riverside County.
Castillo has already formed a campaign committee to seek reelection next year. Last month, Clarissa Cervantes announced her decision to run against the incumbent.
"We deserve a representative in Sacramento dedicated to actionable solutions to make people's lives easier, not culture wars or a self-serving agenda. I'm a fighter and as a longtime leader, businesswoman, and mom, I know the issues impacting our region's workers, families, seniors, and youth," she stated.
In San Diego County, bisexual San Diego City Councilmember Marnie von Wilpert (D) intends to seek the open Senate District 40 seat, as Senator Brian Jones (R-San Diego) will be termed out of office next year. Wilpert, who pulled papers last fall to form a Senate campaign committee, first won election to her council seat in 2020 and represents the northern neighborhoods of Rancho Bernardo, Scripps Ranch, Torrey Highlands, and Rancho Peñasquitos.
"When the Senate District 40 comes open in 2026, I see that our region has an opportunity we can't miss to make San Diego County's voice in the state Capitol even stronger," von Wilpert told her local TV station FOX 5/KUSI last September. "I know I can make a big impact at the state level and make sure San Diego region's voice is heard in Sacramento by doing a lot of what I've done at city council."
In Los Angeles County, gay West Basin Municipal Water District board member Scott Houston (D) has pulled papers to seek the open Assembly District 66 seat, as Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) will be termed out in 2026. His Division IV seat on his water board overlaps with sections of the Assembly district, which includes El Segundo where he has lived for more than two decades.
Houston grew up in Torrance and for years served on the board of the city's South Bay LGBTQ Center. He told the Bay Area Reporter February 3 that he is looking at officially launching his candidacy for the legislative seat in the coming months.
"We definitely filed the paperwork. I don't know when we will launch just yet," said Houston.
As the Political Notebook first reported in December there are now 15 out of California's 120 state legislators hailing from the LGBTQ community. The Statehouse is now at 12% out representation, an increase from the 2022 election that saw the Golden State's Legislature become the first to have 10% of its membership be queer. (There are no transgender state lawmakers.)
Of the 15, 10 will be up for re-election in 2026. Lesbian Senator Caroline Menjivar (D-San Fernando Valley) will be seeking reelection to her Senate District 18 seat and reported having $435,248 banked for her campaign as of the end of last year.
Gay Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego) plans to seek another term representing Senate District 40. He reported having $225,723.15 in his 2026 campaign account.
Both of the Assembly's bisexual members, Alex Lee (D-San Jose) of District 24 and Sade Elhawary (D-South Los Angeles) of Assembly District 57, have already pulled papers to form 2026 campaign committees. As have gay Assemblymembers Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Hollywood) of District 51, Mark González (D-Los Angeles) of District 54, Corey A. Jackson, Ph.D., (D-Perris) of District 60, José Luis Solache (D-Lynwood) of District 62, Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego) of District 75, and Chris Ward (D-San Diego) of District 78.
DeMaio's election last year made him the first out Republican elected to the California Legislature. He is not an official member of the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, which only lists the 14 out Democratic legislators on its website.
Last year saw a record 31 LGBTQ individuals, 12 of whom were women, run for either an Assembly or Senate seat on the March 5 primary ballot. For the general election, the list was pared down to 20 on the fall ballot.
Tom Temprano, managing director of external affairs for statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization Equality California, told the B.A.R. this week that it is expected that the affinity group for out legislators in the Statehouse will maintain its record membership total come the 2027-2028 legislative session.
"With the caveat November of 2026 is a long ways away, but in each of the past two election cycles we have seen the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus grow and hit historic numbers, and given the strength of the incumbents running for reelection and the growing pool of candidates running for open seats, it feels like we are hopefully poised to at least meet, if not continue to grow, that historical number in the 2026 election cycle," said Temprano, whose organization endorses and helps raise money for out legislative candidates.
Those out Democratic candidates on the 2026 ballot may also face advantages from the historical trend lines of the party not in power of the White House or Congress typically doing better during off-year elections. It could be doubly so next year with Republican President Donald Trump coming into his second term with GOP majorities in both congressional chambers.
"Conventional wisdom and history tell us that 2026 is going to be a strong year for Democrats across the country, including here in California," said Temprano. "I think it is fair to say as voters see what a mess the Trump administration is, they will be looking for change at the federal level in these House races and state legislative races and even local races as well."
EQCA hires gay YIMBY
Serving as the new development director for EQCA is gay San Francisco resident Joe Sangirardi. He began in the role Monday, as the B.A.R. was first to report.
Sangirardi had been serving in the same position for statewide housing advocacy organization California YIMBY. He also previously worked for national LGBTQ rights organization the Human Rights Campaign in development roles.
Last November, Sangirardi lost his bid for a seat on the board overseeing regional transit agency BART. He has been rumored to be eying a run in 2026 for what will be the open District 8 seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, as it covers the Castro LGBTQ neighborhood where he lives with Jeff Riles, his husband of nearly 7 years who is director of energy markets at Microsoft.
Asked about such a candidacy, Sangirardi told the B.A.R. he had no comment during an exclusive interview January 31. He did say that a major reason for his wanting the job with EQCA is to ensure it has the financial resources to counter the anti-LGBTQ policies coming out of the Trump White House.
"To both fight against Trump's policies here in California but also to give other states a vision for what progress can continue to look like at the state level," Sangirardi, 33, said about why he found the job with EQCA attractive.
Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook's online companion. This week's column reported on the lawsuit an LGBTQ elders service agency filed along with three other nonprofits against the Trump administration's funding freeze.
Keep abreast of the latest LGBTQ political news by following the Political Notebook on Threads @ https://www.threads.net/@matthewbajko and on Bluesky @ https://bsky.app/profile/politicalnotes.bsky.social.
Got a tip on LGBTQ politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or email [email protected]
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