Election 2026 · State of California

California State Senate District 20

Published September 29, 2026 · Updated October 1, 2026

Caroline Menjivar (incumbent) and Tony Rodriguez are the candidates for California State Senate District 20 on the November 3, 2026 ballot.

The State Senate is one of the two houses of the California Legislature, which holds the state's lawmaking power. The Senate has 40 members elected to four-year terms, with half of the seats up every two years; even-numbered districts are on the 2026 ballot. Senators write and vote on state laws and, with the Assembly, 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

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). About 812,600 of the district's 946,000 residents live in the City of Los Angeles.

Primary results, June 2, 2026

Three candidates. Menjivar and Rodriguez, the top two, advanced to November 3. Total votes: 156,645. District totals from the Secretary of State's certified Statement of Vote. Certified results

The candidates

The job

The district. The 20th Senate District covers the northern and eastern San Fernando Valley. The Daily News describes it as roughly bordered by Burbank, Sunland-Tujunga, Sylmar and Canoga Park (Daily News).

• People. The 2020 Census count for the district is 946,077. About 60% of residents are Latino, 24% white (not Latino), 10% Asian and 3% Black (Senate District 20 page).
• City of LA. 812,603 residents live in the City of Los Angeles, which is about 21% of the City’s population (Senate District 20 page). The rest are in Burbank (107,614, all of it), San Fernando (24,055, all of it) and a small unincorporated area of 1,804 people (Senate District 20 page).
• Neighborhoods. City neighborhoods inside the district include Sylmar, Pacoima, Arleta, Sun Valley, Sunland-Tujunga, the Foothill Trails area, Mission Hills, North Hills, Panorama City, Van Nuys, Lake Balboa, Reseda, Winnetka, Canoga Park and part of North Hollywood. This list comes from an overlay of the County’s district map on the City’s Neighborhood Council map (County district layer; City Neighborhood Councils).
• Voters. On May 18, 2026 the district had 509,874 registered voters: 50.2% Democratic, 18.5% Republican and 24.6% no party preference (Secretary of State). In the June primary 156,645 votes were cast in this race (Statement of Vote).

What a senator does.

• Laws. The Senate and Assembly write and pass state laws. A bill becomes law when both houses pass it and the Governor signs it (Constitution, art. IV).
• Budget. The Legislature must pass the budget by midnight on June 15, and a simple majority of each house is enough (art. IV, sec. 12). CalMatters reported the 2026-27 budget deal at $352 billion (CalMatters).
• Taxes. Any state tax increase needs two thirds of each house (art. XIII A, sec. 3).
• Appointments. Only the Senate votes to confirm many of the Governor’s appointees. Its Rules Committee holds those hearings (Senate Rules Committee).
• What it means for the City. The same budget deal gave counties $900 million for homelessness, CalMatters reported (CalMatters). State law also sets the City’s housing planning duties (Gov. Code 65588).

Records

Caroline Menjivar

Office. Menjivar has held this seat since December 5, 2022 (Senate bio). Her Senate site lists her as chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus and of Budget Subcommittee 3 on Health and Human Services. It also lists her on Budget and Fiscal Review, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, Business and Professions, Environmental Quality, Health, Insurance, Military and Veterans Affairs and Transportation, and as vice chair of the Legislative Women’s Caucus (committees page). In a 2026 questionnaire she called herself “the former Senate Health Committee Chair” (SCNG).

Bills. Counts are from the Legislature’s bill data as of Oct 1, 2026, after the Governor’s Sept 30 deadline to act on bills (leginfo data downloads). A bill counts if she is a lead author of its final version, alone or jointly; resolutions are left out. That adds four bills she co-led: SB 299 and SB 846 (2023-24, both with Sen. Monique Limón), SB 758 (2025-26, with Sen. Tom Umberg) and AB 1267 (2025-26, an Assembly bill led by Assemblymember Gail Pellerin). It leaves out SB 492 and SB 526. She led both at first, but the final versions list Sen. Josh Becker and Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez as lead authors.

Source: the Legislature’s bill status and author data (leginfo data downloads): the full 2025-26 file dated Oct 1, 2026, which includes the Governor’s actions through Sept 30, and the Governor’s Sept 30 legislative update; each bill’s status is on its leginfo page. Sept 30 was the Governor’s deadline to sign or veto bills passed this session (Constitution, art. IV, sec. 10).

Outcomes on Sept 30, 2026: the Governor signed SB 331 (hearing aid coverage), SB 991 (citations for residential care facilities for the elderly), SB 1051 (child care for foster youth) and SB 758 (nitrous oxide, co-led with Sen. Tom Umberg) (Governor’s Sept 30 update), SB 1364 (child custody) (Governor’s office) and AB 1267 (a ban on child marriage, led by Assemblymember Gail Pellerin) (Governor’s office). He vetoed SB 938 (peace officer training) (veto message) and SB 1125 (a Water Rate Assistance Program) (veto message).

Laws she wrote include:

• SB 729 (2024): large-group health plans must cover infertility treatment, including IVF.
• SB 611 (2024): limits on fees and security deposits for residential renters.
• SB 1103 (2024): protections for small commercial tenants on building operating costs (her office).
• SB 1142 (2024): rules for restoring gas and electric service after shutoffs.
• SB 1193 (2024): leaded aviation gasoline at airports.
• SB 1069 (2024): state prison oversight by the Inspector General.
• SB 20 (2025): safety training on silicosis for workers who cut artificial stone (her office).
• SB 1024 (2026): postpartum and recovery leave for firefighters.

Vetoed bills include SB 541 and SB 954 on sexual health and contraceptives, SB 418 on coverage for hormone therapy, SB 608 (Sept 27, 2026) and SB 1272 on local fines against new owners for a prior owner’s violations. Bills that stalled include a “Polluters Pay” climate superfund (SB 684), a youth housing bond (SB 1079), reporting on vacant commercial property (SB 789), a limit on immigration agents in exam rooms (SB 915, held in committee May 14, 2026) and a juvenile justice bill for LA County (SB 357).

Key floor votes (Senate floor, from the Legislature’s vote records; each bill links to its vote history on leginfo):

Medi-Cal vote. CalMatters reported that Menjivar voted against the 2025 Medi-Cal changes for immigrants. It also reported that her office said she was removed from a key budget subcommittee because she opposed the cuts (CalMatters). Her office’s September 2026 releases again list her as chair of that subcommittee (her office).

District funding. Her office says she secured $19 million in the 2026-27 budget for the district. That includes $12 million for the Rory M. Shaw Wetlands Park in Sun Valley, $1.25 million toward a new LAFD fire station in Sylmar, $1.7 million for the Sheldon Arleta Park streetscape and $1.2 million for Burbank water and fire projects (her office).

Ethics and court records. No complaints or enforcement actions found in FPPC, City Ethics Commission or FEC records (FEC searched Oct. 1, 2026), and no license in her name at the State Bar. The Senate Legislative Ethics Committee posts no complaint decisions. No court case naming her as a party was found in CourtListener federal and appellate records (searched Sept. 30, 2026).

Tony Rodriguez

Career. Rodriguez lists his job as regional recruiting manager (SCNG). In 2024 he gave it as “Recruiting Construction Manager” (Daily News questionnaire). The Daily News reported that year that he spent 26 years in the Army, retiring in 2005 (Daily News).

Civic record.

• His campaign site says he “has served on the Neighborhood Council, organized small-business roundtables, and helped secure funding for safer school crossings and cleaner parks” (campaign site). It does not name the council.
• The Daily News reported he volunteers with Voices of LAPD, does neighborhood cleanups, and opposed a condominium project at the Verdugo Hills Golf Course (Daily News, Feb 2024).

Past races. He ran for Assembly District 44 in 2024 and advanced to November against Democrat Nick Schultz (Daily News). The Daily News’s election-night count had Schultz at 64.6% and Rodriguez at 35.4% (Daily News). In 2024 he called himself “a very moderate Republican” and signed a pledge not to raise taxes (Daily News, Feb 2024). FEC records show that a Tony Rodriguez of Tujunga filed to run for the U.S. House as an independent in January 2022, in the 30th Congressional District after a February amendment. His committee, Tony Rodriguez for Congress, filed no financial reports, and the FEC administratively terminated it in November 2023 (FEC).

Party. The California Republican Party endorsed him for this seat (CAGOP).

Ethics and court records. No complaints or enforcement actions found in FPPC, City Ethics Commission or FEC records (FEC searched Oct. 1, 2026). No State Bar discipline or CourtListener judgment that could be tied to him was found (searched Sept. 30, 2026).

Where they stand

The issues are the ones the Southern California News Group asked every legislative candidate about in its 2026 questionnaire: the budget, cost of living, health coverage, housing, immigration enforcement, gas prices, Prop 36, social media and AI. Both candidates answered (Menjivar; Rodriguez; both May 5, 2026).

On the other ballot measures

Five of the 14 state propositions were placed on the ballot by the Legislature. For those, the table shows Menjivar’s Senate floor vote to place them, from the Legislature’s vote records (SB 417; ACA 20; SB 42; SCA 1; ACA 22). A vote to place a measure is not the same as an endorsement. Nine are citizen initiatives.

No position from either candidate on the City or County measures was found.

Endorsements

Caroline Menjivar

• Elected officials: Rep. Luz Rivas and Assemblymember Celeste Rodriguez (campaign site).
• Other people: Jane Fonda (campaign site).
• Unions and organizations: the campaign page shows labor, organizational and Democratic Party endorsements as logos without names, so they are not listed here.
• Party: the Los Angeles County Democratic Party paid for campaign literature supporting her before the primary, as shown in the independent expenditure reports of its Issues and Advocacy Committee and State Candidate Committee.
• Newspapers: none found for 2026. In the 2022 primary, the LA Times editorial board endorsed her (LA Times, May 10, 2022).

Tony Rodriguez

• Party: California Republican Party (CAGOP).
• Elected officials, unions, organizations: none listed on his campaign site (campaign site). LAist’s primary guide listed his endorsements as “Not available” (LAist).
• Newspapers: none found.

Polls

No public polls of this race were found.

Money

Source: each committee’s Form 460 reports, from the Secretary of State’s Cal-Access campaign data, downloaded Sept 29, 2026. Menjivar also reported one late contribution after Sept 19 ($1,800). The limit is $5,900 per donor per election, so $11,800 for the primary and general together. Small contributor committees may give twice that (FPPC).

Who is giving

Method: every itemized contribution (money and in-kind) on the Form 460s for the period, plus later late-contribution reports. A donor is a normalized name plus ZIP code. A donor’s location comes from the ZIP code: “City of LA” means at least half the ZIP code’s area is inside the City. Donor types come from the filer’s entity code and name. Source: itemized contributions reported by Menjivar for Senate 2026 and Rodriguez for State Senate 2026, from the Cal-Access data export downloaded Sept 29, 2026.

Caroline Menjivar. 425 donors gave $1,002,138.72 in itemized money (Cal-Access).

• Who gave. Organizations gave most of it (Cal-Access):
  • Businesses and other organizations: 116 donors, $357,923 (35.7%) (Cal-Access).
  • Business, trade and professional PACs: 87, $243,826 (24.3%) (Cal-Access).
  • Unions and public-employee groups: 46, $226,429 (22.6%) (Cal-Access).
  • Individuals: 169, $141,460 (14.1%) (Cal-Access).
  • Tribes: 7, $32,500 (3.2%) (Cal-Access).
• Where from. 54.8% of dollars came from California outside LA County. Most of that ($345,700) was from PACs and unions. 24.1% came from out of state, and $197,977 of that was from companies. 11.6% ($116,720, 122 donors) came from City of LA ZIP codes and 9.5% from the rest of LA County. Among individual donors, 102 of 169 had City ZIP codes (Cal-Access).
• Size. 54 donors gave $5,900 or more, the per-election maximum for individuals, for a total of $428,729 (42.8% of itemized dollars). 73 donors gave under $250 in total, $9,265 (0.9%). Unitemized gifts under $100 added $1,328 (Cal-Access).
• Largest donors:
  • Organizations: the Carpenters’ Building a Stronger Future PAC ($22,100) and the California Nurses Association PAC ($12,500). At $11,800 each: the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, the Association of California School Administrators PAC, the California Teachers Association, UNAC/UHCP, United Domestic Workers, the State Council of Laborers and Western Dental Services (Cal-Access).
  • Companies also include Turo ($9,800), Novo Nordisk ($8,800), Walgreen ($8,000), Blue Shield of California ($7,800) and StubHub ($7,400) (Cal-Access).
  • Individuals: two gave $11,800 each and one gave $7,500 (Cal-Access).
• Industries:
  • Insurance: 16 donors, $29,200 (Cal-Access).
  • Utilities, telecom, oil, alcohol and tobacco: 8, $26,746. These include Sempra, Anheuser-Busch, AT&T and PG&E (Cal-Access).
  • Technology: 7, $32,200. These include Meta, Amazon, Google and two individual donors (Cal-Access).
  • Real estate and development: few direct gifts. The largest was Granite Construction ($3,500) (Cal-Access).
• Clusters. No cluster of five or more donors from one employer within three days was found (Cal-Access).

Tony Rodriguez. Five itemized donors gave $3,550, all individuals (Cal-Access). The largest gave $3,000. The other four were retirees giving $100 to $200. Unitemized gifts were $92.21. Rodriguez lent the campaign $4,906.22 (Cal-Access).

Outside spending

Independent expenditure reports (Form 496) filed with the Secretary of State since Jan 1, 2025, from the Cal-Access data export. Everything reported so far was spent in May 2026, before the primary.

Who funds them.

• Advance California (Cal-Access) reported $5.44 million in contributions from Jan 2025 to Sep 19, 2026. $5.25 million came from the California Apartment Association Independent Expenditure Committee. The rest came from two individuals ($45,000 each), Google ($45,000) and the Chamber of Commerce’s JobsPAC ($22,925).
  • The Apartment Association committee (Cal-Access) raised $12.43 million in the same period. Its largest donors were apartment owners: Essex Property Trust ($3.0 million), Equity Residential ($2.17 million), AvalonBay Communities ($1.96 million), Prime Residential ($823,339), AIR Communities ($594,694), Prometheus Real Estate Group ($553,447) and UDR ($537,657).
• Friends of Caroline Menjivar (Cal-Access) received $275,000: $200,000 from the LGBT Caucus Leadership Fund and $75,000 from Clean and Healthy California, a committee sponsored by environmental groups.
  • The LGBT Caucus Leadership Fund (Cal-Access) raised $1.77 million. Its largest donors: Chevron ($70,000), Edison International ($60,000), the California Faculty Association’s committee ($60,000), PG&E ($57,504), SEIU Local 2015 ($50,000) and Blue Shield of California ($45,000).
  • Clean and Healthy California (Cal-Access) reported almost no new contributions in 2025-26. It ended 2024 with $17.6 million in cash, after reporting $25.2 million in contributions in 2024. Its 2024 donors were not traced.

Key moments

Debates and forums. No debate or candidate forum for this race was found.

Medi-Cal vote and committee removal (June 2025).

• What happened: Menjivar voted no when the Senate passed AB 116, the health trailer bill, 25-10 on June 27, 2025 (vote record). CalMatters reported that her office said she had been removed from a key budget subcommittee because she opposed the Medi-Cal cuts (CalMatters).
• Her response: “Our actions have consequences and those consequences will cause people to lose health insurance” (CalMatters). In 2026 she wrote: “I have already paid a price for that position, and I would do it again without hesitation” (SCNG).
• Rodriguez’s view: he opposes expanding state coverage without a funding source (SCNG).