As the California Legislature began its two-year term this week, the California Chamber of Commerce was pleased to co-host a reception on December 2 to celebrate the new legislative session and welcome the returning and new members.
All told, there are 23 new members of the California State Assembly and 12 new members of the California State Senate — a turnover of close to 30%. When combined with the new members from the last election cycle, more than 50% of the legislature has fewer than two years in state office.
Business Support
Many of the newly minted members were aided in their path to the State Capitol by the CalChamber and our business allies. Through our two major political action committees, JobsPAC and ChamberPAC, the CalChamber invested close to $5 million total in both the March Primary and November General elections.
Because of California’s top-two system, several races were essentially decided in March, which is why spending was equally heavy in both elections.
November Wins
In November, CalChamber had five targeted Tier 1 races, and found success in four of them.
• Assembly District 47: Republican Greg Wallis will return for a second term to this Coachella Valley-based district. The business community invested close to $2 million to help Wallis seal his victory by 5,500 votes out of more than 230,000 votes cast.
• Assembly District 70: Republican Tri Ta will also return for his second term to his Little Saigon-based district.
• Assembly District 74: Republican Laurie Davies survived the most expensive Assembly race this year, winning by a margin of fewer than 4,000 votes in a race where more than 230,000 votes were cast. Between spending by the two parties and the independent political action committees funded by business interests, the tab on this race will exceed $10 million.
• Senate District 23: Former Republican Assemblymember Suzette Valadares has moved up to the Senate, replacing termed-out incumbent Republican Scott Wilk. In a race that saw more than $10 million spent between the parties and the independent groups, Valladares won by more than 17,000 votes in a district where Democrats outnumber Republicans by 25.6%.
• Senate District 35: Democrat Laura Richardson will replace Steven Bradford, who also left due to term limits. In this same-party runoff, Richardson defeated her opponent by a narrow margin of less than 3,000 votes in a race where more than 240,000 votes were cast. Outside spending in this race exceeded $7.4 million, making it the most expensive Senate race in 2024.
March Primary
In the March Primary, the CalChamber had nine Tier 1 state races; eight were for open Democratic seats and one race was to protect an incumbent Democrat who faced a primary challenge. We were successful in seven of these races.
• Assembly District 6: Democrat Maggie Krell was the top vote getter and faced a runoff against a Republican challenger in this safe district. The CalChamber and our business allies invested heavily to ensure Krell’s victory in March.
• Assembly District 48: Incumbent Democratic member Blanca Rubio faced an interparty challenge and JobsPAC and other business groups supported her reelection effort to ensure that she faced a Republican opponent in the fall.
• Assembly District 50: Democrat Adam Perez advanced to a general election matchup against fellow Democrat Robert Garcia. Unfortunately, Perez fell short in November.
• Assembly District 52: Democrat Jessica Caloza emerged as the top vote getter in a crowded primary field. She easily defeated her Democratic opponent in the runoff. Business groups invested more than $800,000 in Caloza’s victory in March and another $1.6 million to finish the job in November.
• Assembly District 53: Democrat Michelle Rodriguez led the field in March to succeed her husband, Freddie Rodriguez, who was forced out due to term limits. Michelle easily won the November contest against a Republican opponent in this safe Democratic seat.
• Senate District 7: Democrat Jesse Arreguín was the March vote leader to replace the termed-out Nancy Skinner. Arreguín won the November runoff against his Democratic opponent. Business groups invested $3.5 million for Arreguín in the primary and an additional $750,000 in the general election.
• Senate District 9: Democratic Assemblymember Tim Grayson moves up to the Senate to replace Steve Glazer, also termed-out. Grayson and his Democratic opponent were the only two candidates in the field. Grayson, with substantial business community support, won his runoff by close to 15,000 votes in a high-turnout district where more than 372,000 ballots were cast.
Where we fell short in the primary was the open Stockton-based seats, Senate District 9 and Assembly District 13, where Democrat Carlos Villapudua lost his primary bid to replace termed-out Democrat Susan Talamantes Eggman and Edith Villapudua failed to make the runoff to replace her husband in the Assembly.
Positive policy outcomes for our members begin at the ballot box and, while electoral victories are not a guarantee of legislative success, they do put California’s employer community on favorable footing at the start of the new legislative session. CalChamber’s advocacy team will have plenty of new, friendly faces to greet them when the Legislature returns in early January.
