Election 2026 · State of California
Board of Equalization District 3
Mike Gipson and Samuel P. Sukaton are the candidates for Board of Equalization District 3 on the November 3, 2026 ballot.
The State Board of Equalization is California's elected tax commission. It assesses the property of regulated railroads and certain public utilities, collects the private railroad car tax, oversees how the state's 58 county assessors assess property, collects the alcoholic beverage tax and helps administer the tax on insurers. The Board has five voting members: the state Controller and four members elected by district.
Summary by CityHallPass, not the official text or legal advice. The official text controls: LA County's official election information.
| Who votes | Every Los Angeles County voter |
|---|---|
| Term and pay | Four-year term, elected at the same time as the Governor; no more than two terms (California Constitution, article XIII, section 17). Salary: $184,447 a year, effective December 1, 2025. |
| How it works | Top two from the June 2 primary, regardless of party. Most votes wins. Both finalists are Democrats. Member Tony Vazquez is not on the ballot. |
| Party labels | Party preference printed on the ballot |
What it means for the City of LA
Property in the City of Los Angeles is assessed for property tax by the Los Angeles County Assessor. State law requires the Board to survey each county assessor's procedures and practices to check that property is valued adequately and that all classes of property are treated equally (Government Code section 15640). The Board's last survey of Los Angeles County, in September 2022, found the county roll met state standards and made six recommendations to the Assessor. District 3, which this seat represents, is made up of Los Angeles County alone.
At a glance
| Mike Gipson | Samuel P. Sukaton | |
|---|---|---|
| June 2 primary, District 3 (all of LA County) | 27.9%, first | 18.2%, second |
| Latest public poll | None found | None found |
| Contributions raised, Jan 2025 to Sept. 19, 2026 | $1.10 million | $50,576 |
| Cash on hand, Sept. 19, 2026 | $51,738 | $19,144 |
| Outside groups spending for / against | $4,064 / none reported | $2,192 / none reported |
Primary results, June 2, 2026
| Mike Gipson (Democratic) | 516,324 | 27.9% |
|---|---|---|
| Samuel P. Sukaton (Democratic) | 337,313 | 18.2% |
| Yvonne Yiu (Democratic) | 236,627 | 12.8% |
| Carlo Basail (Republican) | 194,323 | 10.5% |
| Rey Portela (Republican) | 186,451 | 10.1% |
| Rudy Bermudez (Democratic) | 111,616 | 6.0% |
| Stephan Hohil (Republican) | 106,141 | 5.7% |
| Alejandro Sanchez (Democratic) | 105,086 | 5.7% |
| Marie Manvel (No party preference) | 30,513 | 1.7% |
| Zhijing Liu (Democratic) | 27,760 | 1.5% |
The candidates
Mike Gipson
Gipson grew up in Watts and lives in Carson (campaign bio). He was a police officer, a Carson City Council member, a community organizer for United Teachers Los Angeles (campaign bio) and chief of staff to Board of Equalization Chairman Jerome Horton (Orange County Register editorial). He has represented the 65th Assembly District since 2014, was Assembly Democratic Caucus chair until July 2023, and chairs the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee (campaign bio; ballot statement).
Samuel P. Sukaton
Sukaton grew up in the Inland Empire and studied at UCLA (campaign site). He directed Bernie Sanders' 2020 campaign in inland Southern California, worked on climate budget and redistricting campaigns for California Environmental Voters, and is lead organizer for AFT Local 1521, the Los Angeles Community College Faculty Guild (campaign site). He has served in chapter leadership of the Democratic Socialists of America, Los Angeles (California DSA voter guide; Orange County Register editorial). He has not held public office and did not file a ballot statement (Official Voter Information Guide).
The job
Powers. The Board sets the taxable value of property owned by regulated railroads and gas, electric and telephone utilities, and splits that value among counties. In 2025 it adopted $167.2 billion in values for 322 companies, which will yield about $2.8 billion in property tax for schools and local governments (Board of Equalization). It oversees the 58 county assessors, writes property tax rules, and hears appeals on state-assessed property, the alcoholic beverage tax and the tax on insurers (Board of Equalization). In 2023-24 the alcohol tax raised $418 million and the tax on insurers $3.2 billion (Board of Equalization).
What it no longer does. A 2017 law moved sales-tax collection and most tax appeals from the Board to two departments whose heads the Governor appoints, the Department of Tax and Fee Administration and the Office of Tax Appeals (CalMatters; Orange County Register editorial). Former Controller Betty Yee has called for abolishing the Board (CalMatters).
Budget and staff. $37.8 million and 191 positions in 2026-27, all but $457,000 from the General Fund (2026-27 state budget, Board of Equalization). Each of the four district members represents about 10 million people (Board of Equalization).
Facts that shape the job now, for Los Angeles.
- The county assessor. Los Angeles County’s assessment roll was $1.71 trillion in 2020-21 (Board of Equalization survey). The Board’s September 2022 survey found an average assessment ratio of 99.87%, which meets state standards, and made six recommendations, including better tracking of changes in ownership and new construction and of declines in value (Board of Equalization survey).
- Statewide. County assessors set values on more than 13 million assessments a year. The statewide assessed value in 2023-24 was $8.6 trillion, producing $51.1 billion for schools and $44.2 billion for counties, cities and special districts (Board of Equalization).
Records
Mike Gipson
Offices. Carson City Council; Assembly since 2014, including Democratic Caucus chair until July 2023; chair of the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee, which oversees the Board (campaign bio; ballot statement).
Board experience. Chief of staff to Board Chairman Jerome Horton before his Assembly election (Orange County Register editorial).
Laws and bills.
- AB 1795, the Smoke Damage Recovery Act, signed in 2026. It sets the nation’s first enforceable standards for testing and restoring smoke-damaged homes, presumes smoke damage in a wildfire zone came from the fire, and bars insurers from ending living-expense payments until a home is safe. It was sponsored by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and responds in part to the Altadena and Palisades fires and the Lineage Logistics warehouse fire in Boyle Heights (Department of Insurance).
- SCA 4 (2023), sponsored by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, of which he was principal coauthor. It would have restored parent-to-child home transfers without reassessment, limited by Prop 19. It failed in committee (Orange County Register editorial).
- His campaign says he co-sponsored the constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights and helped pass equal-pay and wage-theft laws (campaign site).
Ethics and enforcement records.
- FPPC fine, 2024. He filed nine behested payment reports late: 2023 payments of $6,000 to $15,000 from Pfizer, Genentech, PhRMA, Kroger, Fresenius Medical Care, the American Chemistry Council, Strategies 360 and others to the Council of State Governments, all reported Dec. 13, 2023. He paid $1,800, $200 per report (FPPC stipulation, No. 24/544).
- Nothing found. No Los Angeles City Ethics Commission or FEC enforcement records name him, and he is not a lawyer on the State Bar’s rolls. Searched Sept. 30, 2026.
Samuel P. Sukaton
Career. Lead organizer for the Los Angeles Community College Faculty Guild; previously campaign work for Sanders and California Environmental Voters; work before the Public Utilities Commission, Energy Commission, Air Resources Board and Natural Resources Agency, by his account (campaign site). He has not held public office.
Ethics and enforcement records. No public enforcement actions found in FPPC (cases, complaints or documents), Los Angeles City Ethics Commission or FEC records (searched Sept. 30, 2026; FPPC case search). The State Bar has no licensee named Sukaton. No federal case or published opinion naming him was found in CourtListener (searched Oct. 1, 2026).
Where they stand
Issues come from the Orange County Register editorial board’s interviews, the candidates’ websites and ballot statements, and the California DSA voter guide.
| Issue | Mike Gipson | Samuel P. Sukaton |
|---|---|---|
| Prop 13 and split roll | Supports Prop 13’s protections; co-led SCA 4 to widen parent-child transfer protection (Orange County Register editorial). | Supports raising revenue “with things like split-roll,” which taxes business property at market value (campaign site; Orange County Register editorial). |
| Oversight of county assessors | No specific proposal on his campaign site. | Stronger oversight so valuations and exemptions are applied the same way in every county; “rigorous audits” of assessors (campaign site). |
| Corporate taxes | More audits to close loopholes used by insurers, utilities, big business and “the super-rich” (campaign site). No specific target. | No specific proposal beyond split roll. |
| The 2017 reform | Says it “disenfranchised” taxpayers, since small businesses must now go to court to appeal (Orange County Register editorial). No proposal to reverse it. | No stated position. |
| Public access | Make the Board’s website usable in more languages (Orange County Register editorial). | More outreach to renters, small businesses and first-time owners about exemptions and appeal rights; public performance metrics (campaign site). |
On the other ballot measures
City of Los Angeles and County measures on the same ballot are left out; neither candidate took a position on them.
| Measure | Mike Gipson | Samuel P. Sukaton |
|---|---|---|
| Props 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 and 45 | No stated position | No stated position |
Endorsements
Mike Gipson
From his campaign’s endorsement page (mikegipson.net, checked Sept 30, 2026) unless another source is linked.
- Party: California Democratic Party and Los Angeles County Democratic Party.
- Officials: Gov. Gavin Newsom; Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis; Attorney General Rob Bonta; Controller Malia Cohen; Treasurer Fiona Ma; Board member Tony Vazquez; Senate President pro Tem Monique Limón; Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas; Reps. Maxine Waters, Jimmy Gomez, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Robert Garcia and Luz Rivas. Los Angeles: County Supervisors Janice Hahn, Lindsey Horvath, Hilda Solis and Kathryn Barger; Assessor Jeff Prang; City Attorney Hydee Feldstein-Soto; Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Councilmembers Tim McOsker, Heather Hutt, Imelda Padilla, Curren Price and Adrin Nazarian; LAUSD board member Tanya Ortiz Franklin.
- Unions: California Labor Federation, SEIU California, AFSCME, California Teachers Association, California Federation of Teachers, carpenters, laborers, electrical workers, four ILWU locals, Teamsters Joint Council 42, California Professional Firefighters and the Los Angeles Police Protective League.
- Organizations: California Legislative Black Caucus, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, Equality California.
- Newspapers: the Orange County Register (Southern California News Group) editorial board, Aug 30, 2026 (Orange County Register).
Samuel P. Sukaton
- Groups: California Working Families Party and Democratic Socialists of America (California DSA voter guide).
- Unions: the Los Angeles College Faculty Guild’s committee gave him $10,800 and the California Federation of Teachers’ committee $1,500 (Cal-Access). No formal endorsement list was found; his campaign site lists none.
- Newspapers: None found.
Polls
No public poll of this race was found.
Money
| Mike Gipson | Samuel P. Sukaton | |
|---|---|---|
| Contributions received, Jan 1, 2025 to Sep 19, 2026 | $1,095,362 | $50,576 |
| Loans | none | none |
| Spent | $1,035,674 | $38,943 |
| Cash on hand, Sep 19, 2026 | $51,738 | $19,144 |
| Unpaid bills, Sep 19, 2026 | $0 | $10,512 |
| Late contributions reported after Sep 19 | $15,000 | none |
| Independent spending supporting | $4,064 | $2,192 |
| Independent spending opposing | none reported | none reported |
Source: Form 460 reports for Gipson for Board of Equalization 2026 and Sukaton for State Board of Equalization 2026, from the Cal-Access data export downloaded Sep 29, 2026. The limit is $9,800 per election from a person and $19,600 from a small contributor committee (FPPC).
Who is giving
Method: itemized contributions (Schedules A and C) plus late-contribution reports. A donor is a normalized name plus ZIP code. “Maximum” means at least one gift at the $9,800 per-election limit. A ZIP counts as City of Los Angeles if at least half its area is inside the City (City list of ZIP codes).
| Gipson | Sukaton | |
|---|---|---|
| Donors (itemized) | 288 | 101 |
| Itemized dollars | $1,110,088 | $45,538 |
| From individuals | 6.8% | 73.0% |
| From unions and public-employee groups | 36.9% | 27.0% |
| From businesses and business or trade PACs | 53.0% | 0% |
| Donors with at least one maximum gift | 29, giving 38.0% of dollars | 1, giving 23.7% of dollars |
| Donors giving under $250 in total | 9 (3.1%), giving 0.1% of dollars | 49 (48.5%), giving 12.8% of dollars |
| City of Los Angeles | 42 donors, $139,308 (12.5%) | 23 donors, $16,825 (36.9%) |
| Rest of LA County | 60 donors, $172,371 (15.5%) | 19 donors, $3,378 (7.4%) |
| Rest of California | 122 donors, $581,822 (52.4%) | 40 donors, $16,560 (36.4%) |
| Out of state | 64 donors, $216,588 (19.5%) | 19 donors, $8,775 (19.3%) |
Source: itemized contributions reported by Gipson for Board of Equalization 2026 and Sukaton for State Board of Equalization 2026, from the Cal-Access data export downloaded Sep 29, 2026.
Mike Gipson
Almost all of Gipson’s itemized money (93.2%) comes from organizations, and a fifth from out of state (Cal-Access). Unions gave 36.9%, led by SEIU California ($39,200), the Southern California Pipe Trades District Council ($28,900), the correctional officers’ PAC ($24,400) and Steamfitters Local 250 ($20,900) (Cal-Access). Businesses and business PACs gave 53.0% (Cal-Access).
Oil, tobacco and utility donors include Phillips 66 ($14,100), Marathon Petroleum’s fund ($12,500 across two entries), Altria ($10,500), R.J. Reynolds ($10,000), the Sempra employees’ PAC ($9,800) and Chevron ($9,100), together $66,000 (Cal-Access). Insurers and insurance groups gave $42,361 (3.8%), including Liberty Mutual’s PAC ($6,500), the American Property Casualty Insurance Association’s PAC ($5,500), Zenith ($5,000) and Zurich ($4,500) (Cal-Access). Real estate donors include Watson Land Company ($22,100) and the Realtors’ PAC ($19,600) (Cal-Access). Technology donors include Meta ($9,800), Amazon ($5,900) and Airbnb ($4,000) (Cal-Access). No clusters were found.
Samuel P. Sukaton
Sukaton’s largest donor is the Los Angeles College Faculty Guild’s committee, the union he works for ($10,800) (Cal-Access). Individuals gave 73.0%; lawyers gave 17.2% (Cal-Access). Burbank Councilmember Konstantine Anthony gave $250, and unitemized gifts under $100 added $5,038 (Cal-Access). No clusters were found.
Outside spending
| Committee | Supports | Amount | What it bought |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County Democratic Party, Issues and Advocacy Committee | Gipson | $3,422 | Member literature |
| California Teachers Association and California Federation of Teachers | Gipson | $642 | Website, voter guide |
| California Working Families Party | Sukaton | $2,192 |
Source: independent expenditure reports by the Los Angeles County Democratic Party Issues and Advocacy Committee, the California Teachers Association’s committee, California Federation of Teachers COPE and the California Working Families Party, from the Cal-Access data export downloaded Sep 29, 2026.
All three were primary spending, dated April 24 to May 21, 2026. Through June 30, 2026, the Working Families Party’s top donors were Patty Quillin ($350,000), the Jordan/Delaney Family Trust ($300,000), Quinn Delaney ($200,250) and Wayne Jordan ($200,000) (Cal-Access).
Key moments
Debates and forums
No debate or joint forum with Gipson and Sukaton was found.