Election 2026 · State of California

California Assembly District 65

Published September 29, 2026 · Updated October 2, 2026

Ayanna Davis and Lydia A. Gutiérrez are the candidates for California Assembly District 65 on the November 3, 2026 ballot.

The State Assembly is one of the two houses of the California Legislature, which holds the state's lawmaking power. The Assembly has 80 members. Its members write and vote on state laws and, with the Senate, pass the state budget, which the Constitution requires by June 15 each year.

Summary by CityHallPass, not the official text or legal advice. The official text controls: LA County's official election information.

What it means for the City of LA

About 39% of the district's voting precincts (570 of 1,471) and 40% of its land are in the City of Los Angeles: Wilmington, Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, much of San Pedro, the Port of Los Angeles and Watts, all in Council District 15. The rest includes Compton, part of Long Beach, Carson and unincorporated Willowbrook and West Carson. State laws bind the City, and the state budget funds programs the City runs. Example: state law requires the City to plan housing for all income levels and update that plan on a set schedule (Government Code sections 65580 and 65588).

Primary results, June 2, 2026

Six candidates; the top two advanced to November 3. Gutiérrez finished 817 votes ahead of Iqbal-Zubair for second place. Total votes: 72,453. Certified results

The candidates

The job

Powers. The California Constitution gives the state’s lawmaking power to the Legislature, which is the Senate plus the 80-member Assembly (art. IV, sec. 1). A bill needs a majority of each house to pass (art. IV, sec. 8). The Legislature can override a Governor’s veto with two-thirds of each house (art. IV, sec. 10). Tax increases need two-thirds of each house (art. XIII A, sec. 3). The Legislature can put constitutional amendments on the ballot by a two-thirds vote of each house (art. XVIII, sec. 1). Five of the 14 statewide measures on this ballot (Props 1, 2, 4, 5 and 43) were placed there by the Legislature (Secretary of State voter guide).

Budget. The Legislature must pass the budget bill by midnight on June 15, and a majority vote is enough (art. IV, sec. 12). CalMatters reported that the 2026-27 budget deal totaled $352 billion. It added taxes, including a sales tax on some computer software, and gave counties $900 million for homelessness (CalMatters).

The district.

• About 486,000 people live in the 65th District. The Census Bureau’s 2020-2024 survey estimates the population as 64% Latino, 18% Black, 8% Asian and 7% white, with a median household income of $75,015 (Census Reporter).
• The Daily Breeze describes it as representing Watts, Compton, Harbor City, Wilmington and San Pedro (Daily Breeze). Voter registration is 56.4% Democratic, 23.1% no party preference and 12.9% Republican (LAist).
• The seat is open. Assemblymember Mike Gipson is termed out and is running for the state Board of Equalization (Daily News).
• Of the district’s 1,471 LA County voting precincts, 570 are in the City of LA. The rest are in Compton (332), Long Beach (213), Carson (116), and unincorporated Willowbrook (79), West Carson (68), East Compton (33), Athens (33), West Compton (22) and Dominguez (5) (County Registrar precinct map).
• City neighborhoods, by share of the district’s land (Neighborhood Council map): Wilmington (23%), Coastal San Pedro (6%), Harbor Gateway South (5%), Harbor Gateway North (4%), Harbor City (4%), Watts (3%) and Central San Pedro (3%). The County’s district map puts the Port of Los Angeles inside the district.
• City Council districts, by share of land (Council district map): all of the City’s part is in CD 15 (Tim McOsker, 40% of the district’s land).
• Land shares come from overlaying the County’s Assembly district map on the City’s Neighborhood Council and Council district maps. They measure area, not people.

Records

Neither candidate has served in the Legislature, so there are no floor votes or bills to report.

Ayanna Davis

Public office. Davis was elected to the Compton Unified School District Board of Trustees in 2022 and is the board’s legislative representative (Orange County Register). She cites the district’s plan to build roughly 800 affordable housing units on unused district land, according to the Precinct Reporter (Precinct Reporter). She said the district reached higher graduation rates and test scores while she served (Precinct Reporter).

Career. Her first job as a site administrator was at Miles Avenue Early Education Center in Huntington Park in 1998. She later was a principal in the San Fernando Valley (The Voice of Black Los Angeles). She is now principal of an LAUSD early education center (Orange County Register). She sits on the executive board of the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, the LAUSD administrators’ union, which is affiliated with Teamsters Local 2010 (Precinct Reporter). The union’s endorsement calls her its vice president (campaign endorsements).

Ethics and court records. No complaints or enforcement actions that can be tied to her were found in FPPC, City Ethics Commission or FEC records (FEC searched Oct. 1, 2026), and no license in her name at the State Bar. No court case naming her as a party was found in CourtListener federal dockets and opinions or in web searches of Justia and PacerMonitor (searched Oct. 1, 2026).

Lydia A. Gutiérrez

Career. LA School Report described Gutiérrez in 2015 as a Long Beach Unified teacher for decades who had also worked six and a half years in aerospace (LA School Report). Her 2026 ballot designation is Public School Teacher (certified list).

Past campaigns. In the 2014 primary for Superintendent of Public Instruction she received 24.5%, behind Tom Torlakson (46.5%) and Marshall Tuck (28.9%). She said she spent about $30,000 (LA School Report). In 2015 she ran for the LAUSD board seat held by Richard Vladovic (LA School Report).

Ethics and court records. In April 2021 the FPPC sent Gutiérrez a warning letter as a candidate for the Los Angeles Community College District board. She had missed the Sept. 24, 2020 deadline for a short-form campaign statement. The FPPC chose a warning over a fine because she filed after it contacted her, before the election, with no prior violation. No public response from her was found. No City Ethics Commission orders, FEC enforcement cases (searched Oct. 1, 2026) or State Bar license were found. No court case naming her as a party was found in web searches of federal and appellate case indexes (CourtListener, Justia, PacerMonitor) (searched Sept. 30, 2026).

Where they stand

Davis answered the Southern California News Group’s primary questionnaire (Orange County Register); no 2026 questionnaire or platform from Gutiérrez was found. Her only statements found are from 2015.

On the other ballot measures

State propositions are listed in the Secretary of State’s voter guide. Neither candidate has served in the Legislature, so neither voted to place any measure on the ballot.

Source: measure titles from the Secretary of State’s voter guide. No statement from either candidate on any measure was found.

Endorsements

Ayanna Davis

From her endorsement page, checked Sept 29, 2026, unless noted:

• Elected officials: Assemblymember Mike Gipson, who holds the seat now (The Voice of Black Los Angeles; endorsement page); U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (2UrbanGirls; endorsement page); House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries; Reps. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Luz Rivas and Brad Sherman; Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Treasurer Fiona Ma, Controller Malia Cohen and Superintendent Tony Thurmond; Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and more than 20 other Assemblymembers, including Tina McKinnor, Isaac Bryan, Jessica Caloza, Mark González and Rick Chavez Zbur; state Sens. Laura Richardson and Lola Smallwood-Cuevas; Supervisors Janice Hahn and Holly Mitchell; LA City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto; LA Councilmembers Heather Hutt and Tim McOsker; Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson; Compton Mayor Emma Sharif; Carson Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes; and former Assemblymember Chris Holden (2UrbanGirls). All of these names appear on her endorsement page.
• Unions: the California Federation of Labor Unions, the LA County Federation of Labor, SEIU California, AFSCME California, the California Federation of Teachers, California Professional Firefighters, the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters, the LA/OC Building and Construction Trades Council, ILWU’s Southern California District Council and Locals 13, 56, 63 and 94, Teamsters Joint Council 42 and Local 2010, IBEW Locals 11, 40 and 47, the United Farm Workers, and the Long Beach Police Officers Association, among others (endorsement page).
• Organizations: the California Legislative Black Caucus, the California Democratic Legislative Women’s Caucus, Equality California, California YIMBY, the Compton Chamber of Commerce, Black Women Organized for Political Action and several Democratic clubs (endorsement page).
• Newspapers: none found.

Lydia A. Gutiérrez

• Party: the California Republican Party (CAGOP).
• Others: none found. In 2015 she told LA School Report, “I’m not into endorsements” (LA School Report).

Polls

No public polls of this race were found.

Money

Source: Form 460 summary pages in the Cal-Access bulk data (export), downloaded Sept 29, 2026: Davis committee, Davis report for July 1 to Sept 19, 2026, Davis late contribution reports; Gutiérrez committee, Gutiérrez report for July 1 to Sept 19, 2026. The Assembly contribution limit for 2025-26 is $5,900 per person per election (FPPC).

Who is giving

Method: itemized contributions (money and in-kind) on each candidate’s Form 460s from Jan 1, 2025, plus late contribution reports filed after the last Form 460. A donor is a normalized name plus ZIP code for people, or a normalized name for organizations. A ZIP counts as City of LA if at least half its area is in the City (City list of ZIP codes).

Ayanna Davis. 371 donors gave $872,409 in itemized contributions: 201 people and 170 organizations (Cal-Access contributions). Organizations gave 88% of the money. Seventy-four donors gave at least one $5,900 maximum gift, totaling $589,158 (67.5%). Donors giving under $250 in total gave 1.3%. Unitemized gifts were $3,201.

Source: Cal-Access contributions to Ayanna Davis for Assembly 2026, grouped by donor type.

• Geography. 15.0% of itemized dollars came from City of LA ZIP codes, 20.9% from the rest of LA County, 54.1% from elsewhere in California and 10.0% from out of state. Among individual donors, 44.6% of dollars came from the City (Cal-Access contributions).
• Largest donors. The Association of California School Administrators PAC gave the most ($23,600), followed by the Carpenters’ Building a Stronger Future PAC ($17,700), the Peace Officers Research Association of California PAC ($16,800) and the California Professional Firefighters PAC ($14,300). Boilermakers Local 92, Laborers Local 1309, the correctional officers’ union PAC, the California Dental Association PAC, the California Medical Association PAC, the optometrists’ PAC, the Realtors’ CREPAC, Californians for Jobs and a Strong Economy, the Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association PAC, Phillips 66, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, the State Building and Construction Trades Council, the SEIU California State Council and United Domestic Workers each gave $11,800. Among other candidates’ committees, Asm. Isaac Bryan’s gave $8,900; Gipson’s Board of Equalization committee, Speaker Robert Rivas’s and Asm. Lori Wilson’s gave $5,900 each; and Asm. Rick Chavez Zbur’s gave $3,500 (Cal-Access contributions).
• Real estate and development: 17 donors, $32,700 (3.7%), led by CREPAC ($11,800) and Watson Land Company ($5,900) (Cal-Access contributions).
• Lobbying interests. 16 donor organizations, giving $89,727, are registered state lobbyist employers (Cal-Access lobbying). Two individual donors, giving $1,600 in total, are City of LA registered lobbyists (City Ethics lobbying records).
• Shared employer. Five LAUSD employees gave a combined $800 between Feb 14 and 16, 2025 (Cal-Access contributions).

Lydia A. Gutiérrez. Two donors gave $400: one individual ($250) and Carl DeMaio of San Diego, a member of the Assembly ($150, in kind) (Cal-Access contributions). Her committee also reported a $4,000 loan (Cal-Access).

Outside spending

All outside spending in this race was reported before the June 2 primary. None was reported for the general election through Sept 19 (Cal-Access data export). The Daily Breeze reported that outside groups spent about $5.95 million on the primary (Daily Breeze).

Supporting Davis ($3.79 million):

Supporting Gutiérrez ($110,119): JobsPAC, sponsored by the California Chamber of Commerce ($91,108.36, May 22-27, 2026: mailers, phone banks and polling) and Keeping Californians Working ($19,010.75, May 22, 2026: phones).

Opposing Fatima Iqbal-Zubair, who finished third ($1.91 million): Grow California ($636,828), Californians for Accountability, a committee formed to oppose her ($625,146), JobsPAC ($291,894), the Coalition to Restore California’s Middle Class ($203,381), Keep California Golden ($131,734) and Keeping Californians Working ($25,319). Groups supporting her spent $451,650, nearly all from the California Alliance, a coalition of consumer attorneys, conservationists and food and commercial workers ($449,574).

Source: Form 496 reports in the Cal-Access data export, downloaded Sept 29, 2026; each committee above links to its Cal-Access page. No outside spending against Davis or Gutiérrez was found.

Who funds these committees, contributions from Jan 1, 2025 through the latest report (Sept 19, 2026 unless noted):

• Grow California ($20.0 million through June 30): Chris Larsen of Ripple ($15 million) and venture investor Tim Draper ($5 million) (Cal-Access).
• California Leads ($16.2 million): Meta Platforms ($6.05 million) and Google ($10 million in three entries) (Cal-Access).
• Advance California ($5.44 million): $5.25 million from the California Apartment Association’s committee, whose largest funders are Essex Property Trust ($3.0 million), Equity Residential ($2.17 million) and AvalonBay Communities ($1.96 million) (Advance California; California Apartment Association committee).
• DaVita Patient Protection Committee ($500,060 through June 30): DaVita Inc. ($500,000) (Cal-Access).
• Keep California Golden ($2.69 million): the California Association of Realtors’ committee ($1.25 million), a farm and dairy committee funded mostly by California Dairies ($810,000) and the California Building Industry Association’s committee ($410,000) (Cal-Access).
• Black Legacy PAC ($425,000 through June 30): the California Apartment Association’s committee ($125,000), Uber ($115,000), Comcast ($85,000) and the California Professional Firefighters ($30,000) (Cal-Access).
• Working Families for a Stronger California ($958,403 through July 16): nearly all from LCCC PAC, whose funders include the correctional officers’ union ($350,000), National Enterprises ($275,000), Philip Morris ($250,000) and Sempra (Working Families for a Stronger California; LCCC PAC).
• Keeping Californians Working ($2.8 million): Chevron ($600,000), Edison International’s committee ($500,000), the pharmaceutical industry’s PhRMA committee ($500,000), insurance agents’ PACs ($500,000) and the DaVita committee ($300,000) (Cal-Access).
• Families & Teachers United ($212,461 through June 30): the Charter Public Schools PAC ($200,000), which is almost entirely funded by Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings ($3.59 million) (Families & Teachers United; Charter Public Schools PAC).
• JobsPAC ($24.4 million): Edison International ($4.25 million), Sempra and PG&E ($3.25 million each), Sergey Brin ($3 million), Meta ($2.5 million) and the California Apartment Association’s committee ($1.84 million) (Cal-Access).
• Californians for Accountability ($708,111 through June 22): the California Alliance of Family Owned Businesses PAC ($558,111), which raised $7.25 million from scores of business entities, none giving more than about $200,000, and Californians for Jobs and a Strong Economy ($150,000) (Californians for Accountability; California Alliance of Family Owned Businesses PAC).
• Coalition to Restore California’s Middle Class ($9.78 million): Chevron ($3.78 million), Valero ($2.5 million), Marathon Petroleum ($2 million) and California Resources Corporation ($1.5 million) (Cal-Access).
• California Community Energy PAC ($30,758 through June 30): all from Signal Hill Petroleum (Cal-Access).

Key moments

Debates and forums

• March 14, 2026, Carson: the Carson Network hosted an AD 65 candidate forum at Veterans Park. Random Lengths News named five candidates for the forum, including Davis; Gutiérrez was not among them (Random Lengths News). No video was found.
• No general-election debates were found.

Events

• Primary outside spending.
  • What happened: the Daily Breeze reported that about $5.95 million in outside money went into the primary, more than $3.59 million of it supporting Davis and more than $1.86 million opposing Iqbal-Zubair (Daily Breeze). Cal-Access reports show the final totals above (Cal-Access data export). Two business-backed committees also spent $110,119 supporting Gutiérrez in the last two weeks of the primary, and she finished 817 votes ahead of Iqbal-Zubair for second place (Statement of Vote).
  • Response: Davis said after the count that “the voters of Assembly District 65 sent a clear message” and called her campaign “people-powered” (2UrbanGirls). No statement from Gutiérrez was found.