Sixty of the 80 current California Assembly members are Democrats, and because California is an overwhelmingly blue state, political analysts are not expecting any major shift in power to happen in the state legislature.
San Diego is represented by Assembly Districts 76, 78, 79 and 80. The closest race will likely be the 76th which spans northern San Diego and parts of North County like Poway. The incumbent candidate Brian Maienschein became a Democrat in 2019, denouncing former President Trump and now he faces Republican challenger Kristie Bruce-Lane, founder of a non-profit and director of the Municipal Water District.
"It’s a much more competitive district than any of the other ones we’ve been talking about and if there's a republican surge in this midterm election, this is the kind of district that could potentially flip from blue to red," said Thad Kousser, professor of political science at UCSD.
Assembly District 78 is a race between the incumbent Democratic candidate Chris Ward and Republican retail associate Eric Gonzales. Ward was elected to the position in 2020 and previously served on San Diego City council for four years. District 78 includes Coronado, Del Mar, Imperial Beach, Solana Beach and coastal San Diego.
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"This is a district that Chris Ward captured, it was an open seat a few elections ago, its grown a bit safer with the new redistricting it looks safely in his hands," said Kousser.
The 79th Assembly District is currently represented by Dr. Akilah Weber - a Democrat and former La Mesa City Council Member. She was elected to the position in a special election in 2021 after her mother, Shirley Weber, who was an Assembly member there was appointed as California's Secretary of State by Governor Gavin Newsom. The 79th District includes parts of San Diego, Chula Vista, La Mesa, Bonita and Lemon Grove. Weber is facing off against Republican project manager Corbin Sabol.
"That’s her (Weber) political base, that’s where she served on the city council, she has a strong footprint there a lot of name recognition in San Diego," Kousser said.
The 80th Assembly District is currently being represented by David Alvarez after he won a special election this past year when Lorena Gonzalez resigned from the position to head up California's Labor Federation. Alvarez faces off against his previous opponent in the special election Georgette Gomez. Gomez and Alvarez are both Democrats and both served on San Diego's City Council. Since Gomez lost the special election, she has tweeted that she's not really campaigning for the general election.
With state legislatures across the country making laws on everything from abortion to gun control, political analysts are paying close attention to the results of these statewide races, especially in states where there could be a shift in the balance of power.
