Political Notes: CA LGBTQ legislative nonincumbent candidates rake in cash

Most of the LGBTQ nonincumbent candidates for California legislative seats have pulled in impressive donation totals for their 2026 campaigns. They will need the resources if they are to mount successful bids in crowded contests for open Assembly or Senate seats next year.

The calendar is closing in on the nine month mark until voters will cast ballots in the June 2 primary. Under the state’s open primary system, only the top two vote-getters regardless of party affiliation in the legislative races will advance to the fall ballot.

Of the nine out Democratic legislative newcomers that the Bay Area Reporter is aware of, Central Valley Assembly contender Annalisa Perea reported raising the most money during the first six months of the year. A gay woman on the Fresno City Council, Perea netted nearly $300,815 for her campaign coffers.

The sister of Democratic former assemblymember Henry T. Perea, who left his Fresno council seat for the Legislature in 2010, she reported having $256,666 to spend as of July 1 on her race for the open Assembly District 31 seat. She is vying to succeed termed out Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno), who had won a special election to serve out the remainder of Henry Perea’s third term after he resigned in late 2015 for a private sector job. Arambula is now running for a Fresno City Council seat.

The younger Perea is facing a growing field of fellow Democratic candidates for the Assembly seat. Sanger City Councilmember Esmeralda Hurtado, the sister of state Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger), recently pulled papers to run for the seat, while Fresno Building Healthy Communities president/CEO Sandra Celedon reported raising $108,736 in the first half of the year for her bid.

In the race for the open Senate District 24 seat in Los Angeles County, Ellen Evans raised $235,709 for her bid. A lesbian who co-founded the Doheny/Sunset Plaza Neighborhood Association, Evans reported having $190,225 in her campaign account.

Her fundraising total signals “the broad support for our people-powered mission to deliver real change in California,” noted Evans, adding she is “deeply grateful for everyone who has joined our campaign, and I look forward to expanding our coalition in the weeks and months to come.”

She is one of two out candidates running to succeed termed out Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica). The other is gay West Hollywood City Councilman John Erickson, who raised $160,041 and reported having $137,209 to spend on his bid.

Gay West Basin Municipal Water District board member Scott Houston garnered $184,075 for his Assembly District 66 race and was sitting on $173,149 to spend. The Los Angeles County seat is open due to Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) being term limited and running for state superintendent of public instruction in 2026.

"AD 66 leaders, donors and voters are flocking to our campaign, responding to our message that our local communities deserve to be heard in the halls of power, not dictated to by downtown interests,” stated Houston. “That’s why we have 3X as many endorsements from district leaders compared with the other candidates, far and away the most in-district donors, and a robust grassroots operation."

Bisexual Corte Madera Town Councilmember Eli Beckman raised $162,025 for his Assembly District 12 contest and had $157,048.81 in the bank. Aiming to be the first out state legislator elected from the North Bay, Beckman is vying to succeed termed out Assemblymember Damon Connolly (D-San Rafael), whose district straddles Marin and Sonoma counties.

Meanwhile, bisexual San Diego City Councilmember Marnie von Wilpert raised $133,355 for her campaign for the open Senate District 40 seat, as Senator Brian Jones (R-San Diego) is termed out. Wilpert was sitting on $205,531 to spend as of last month, while Republicans San Marcos City Council Member Edward Musgrove and former San Diego Water Board member Kristie Bruce-Lane had $107,653 and $89,713, respectively, in their campaign accounts.

“I’ve got big news: thanks to supporters like you, we just opened up a nearly $100,000 fundraising lead in one of California’s most competitive Senate races,” von Wilpert noted in early August. “We now have more cash on hand than BOTH of my GOP opponents – combined.”

Riverside City Councilmember Clarissa Cervantes, who is queer and bisexual, reported raising just $50,534 as of July 1 for her rematch against Assemblymember Leticia Castillo (R-Corona) in the 58th Assembly District. She lost to Castillo by fewer than 600 votes last November amid headlines about her 2023 drunken driving arrest.

The younger sister of lesbian state Senator Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside), Clarissa Cervantes reported having $49,545.38 in the bank for her Inland Empire contest. In recent weeks, she has reported receiving another $28,800 in campaign donations over the $5,000 level.

Neither of the out candidates seeking the open state Senate District 26 seat in Los Angeles County reported fundraising totals as of last month. Government affairs official Juan Camacho, a gay married immigrant residing in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood, has reported raising $47,200 in campaign donations over the $5,000 level since the reporting period ended.

Drag queen Maebe A. Girl, who uses her given name of Maebe Pudlo on the ballot, is also running to succeed termed out Senator María Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles). She has yet to report any fundraising totals.

Also in the race is former assemblymember Wendy Carrillo of Los Angeles, who reported raising $160,628 during the first half of the year with $152,104 in cash on hand. This month, she has touted a poll showing her favored in the race by 30%. (Pudlo was at 7%, Camacho netted 6%, and “Not Sure” received 30% in the Change Research survey of 428 likely voters in the primary.)

As the Bay Area Reporter has previously noted, Pudlo is the first known transgender person to launch a 2026 legislative campaign in the Golden State. To date, the Legislature has not had a trans person serve in it.

The list of out contenders could still grow as it gets closer to the March 6 deadline next year for candidates to file ahead of the primary election. Ten of the current 15 out state legislators will be up for reelection next year.

LGBTQ advocates are looking to see the ranks of the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus in Sacramento grow come next December when the winners of the Assembly and Senate races will be sworn in. The affinity group for out legislators counts a record 14 Democrats among its current membership.

Gay Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (D-San Diego) isn’t part of the caucus. The first out gay GOPer elected to the California Legislature, DeMaio will be running for a second two-year term next year.

His seven out Democratic Assembly colleagues will all be up for reelection to their seats in the Legislature’s lower chamber. Lesbian Senator Caroline Menjivar (D-San Fernando Valley) and gay Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego) will both be seeking second four-year terms in the upper chamber on the 2026 ballot.

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Got a tip on LGBTQ politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or email [email protected] .