Santa Clara: State Assembly: 26th District

State Assembly, District 26

Why does this race matter? 

This Assembly seat opened up when incumbent Democrat Evan Low launched a run for Congress. The district includes the cities of Cupertino, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale and is home to the headquarters of tech giants like Apple, NVIDIA and LinkedIn.

What does a state Assembly member do? 

State Assembly members represent communities at the California state Legislature in Sacramento. The 80 members of the state Assembly write and vote on state bills, serve on policy committees and vote on the annual state budget. The top two finishers in this primary election, regardless of party, will face off in the November election. The winner will serve a two-year term. 

Key Candidates

Key Supporters

For Ahrens

  • Evan Low, state Assembly member 
  • Gail Pellerin, state Assembly member 
  • Cindy Chavez, supervisor, Santa Clara County 
  • Susan Ellenberg, supervisor, Santa Clara County 
  • Mike Honda, former U.S. representative

For Din 

  • Maimona Afzal Berta, trustee, Santa Clara County Board of Education 
  • Raeena Lari, trustee, Santa Clara County Board of Education
  • Russ Melton, City Council member, Sunnyvale
  • Sunnyvale Employees Association
  • Sunnyvale Public Safety Officers Association

For Sreekrishnan 

  • Dave Cortese, state senator 
  • Nancy Skinner, state senator
  • Melissa Hurtado, state senator
  • Susan Ellenberg, supervisor, Santa Clara County 
  • California Democratic Legislative Women’s Caucus

Additional Candidates

More Santa Clara County Key Races

Supervisor, District 2

District 2 is located entirely within San José, so the winner of this Board of Supervisors seat will be the voice for the city’s downtown and East San José.

Supervisor, District 5

The winner will represent the suburban communities of Palo Alto, Mountain View, Cupertino, Saratoga and Los Gatos.

U.S. House of Representatives, District 16

High-profile Democrats from across the South Bay are jumping at the chance to represent reliably liberal communities from Pacifica to San José.

State Assembly, District 23

Lydia Kou’s sharp critiques of incumbent Marc Berman, a fellow Democrat, have the chance to turn this race into a referendum on policies passed by Democrats in Sacramento.

Santa Clara: State Assembly: 26th District 3 March,2024npiper

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