Election 2026 · State of California

California State Senate District 26

Published September 29, 2026 · Updated October 2, 2026

Sara Hernandez and Sarah Rascón are the candidates for California State Senate District 26 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). Most of this district is inside the City of Los Angeles, from Eagle Rock and Highland Park to Koreatown, downtown and Boyle Heights.

Primary results, June 2, 2026

Eight candidates. Hernandez and Rascón, the top two, advanced to November 3. Total votes: 175,781. District totals from the Secretary of State's certified Statement of Vote. Certified results

The candidates

The job

The district. The 26th Senate District covers central and northeast Los Angeles. It runs from Eagle Rock and Highland Park in the north to Los Feliz and Koreatown in the west, and Boyle Heights, East L.A. and the city of Vernon in the southeast (Daily News).

• Neighborhoods. The Senate district page lists Boyle Heights, El Sereno, Highland Park, Eagle Rock, Glassell Park, Mt. Washington, Cypress Park, Lincoln Heights, Atwater Village, Elysian Valley, Arlington Heights, Echo Park, Silver Lake, Los Feliz, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, Larchmont, Koreatown, Pico-Union, Westlake-MacArthur Park, Historic Filipinotown, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, the Arts District, the Civic Center, City Terrace and East Los Angeles (Senate District 26 page).
• City of LA. About 83% of the district’s land area lies inside City of LA Neighborhood Council boundaries, based on an overlay of the County’s district map on the City’s Neighborhood Council map (County district layer; City Neighborhood Councils).
• People. The Census Bureau’s 2020-2024 survey estimates 938,391 residents. About 58% are Latino, 18% white (not Latino), 17% Asian and 4% Black. The median household income is $68,970 (Census Reporter).
• Voters. On May 18, 2026 the district had 501,260 registered voters: 59.8% Democratic, 10.8% Republican and 23.1% no party preference (Secretary of State). In the June primary 175,781 votes were cast in this race (Statement of Vote). No Republican is on the November ballot (certified candidate list).
• Open seat. Sen. María Elena Durazo did not run again. She ran for the County Board of Supervisors instead (Daily News).

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). State zoning laws such as SB 79 (2025), which allows taller housing near major transit stops, apply inside the City (SB 79).

Records

Neither candidate has served in the Legislature, so neither has a state voting record.

Sara Hernandez

Community College board. Hernandez won a seat on the Los Angeles Community College District board in 2022 (LA Times). The district lists her as board president for 2026, in Seat 4 (LACCD board). The district runs nine colleges. Its Measure LA bond, approved by voters in 2022, is $5.3 billion, with about $500 million set aside for student housing (LAist).

• Student housing. In August 2026 the district began placing 56 East Los Angeles College students in surplus apartments at Cal State LA, with a goal of 120 students by the third year (LAist). Hernandez told LAist that housing was “an issue of enrollment” for the district (LAist).
• Housing contract. In September 2026 the district canceled a bidding process for student housing at Pierce College and LA City College. The board never voted on the contract (LA Times).

Career. Hernandez founded Helping Young People Excel while teaching middle school. It merged with Young Eisner Scholars in 2015. She later worked in City Hall on economic development and now practices as a housing and environmental attorney (campaign bio). Her bio says Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon appointed her to the State Library Resources Board in 2019 (campaign bio).

Past races. She ran for the 34th Congressional District seat in 2017, The LA Reporter reported (The LA Reporter). Her committee, Sara Hernandez for Congress, reported raising $538,219 across the 2016 and 2018 cycles (FEC).

Ethics and court records. The State Bar lists Sara Josefina Hernandez, a Loyola Law School graduate admitted in 2014, as active with no discipline. No complaints or enforcement actions were found in FPPC, City Ethics Commission or FEC records that can be tied to her (FEC searched Oct. 1, 2026). No court case naming her as a party was found in CourtListener federal and appellate records (searched Sept. 30, 2026).

Sarah Rascón

Career. Rascón worked for the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project and on the staff of then-Assemblymember Jimmy Gomez. She then worked in Mayor Karen Bass’s office and now works for the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority on the LA River (The Occidental). The Daily News reported she was most recently in the Bass office when she entered the race in June 2025 (Daily News).

• Mayor’s office. She says she was director of county and regional affairs and brought together “87 cities, the County, LAUSD, and our community colleges” on homelessness and student needs (Larchmont Chronicle). At an April 2026 forum she pointed to her work as the mayor’s county liaison on Prop 1 mental health money (The LA Local).
• Commissions and boards. She says she served on the East Area Planning Commission and on nonprofit boards including CicLAvia (Larchmont Chronicle). CalMatters describes her as “a planning commissioner for East Los Angeles” (CalMatters).
• Earlier organizing. She says that as a community organizer in 2012 she oversaw a campaign for Proposition 39, which changed corporate tax rules and funded clean energy jobs (SCNG questionnaire).

Party. She lists herself as a California Democratic Party delegate from 2015 to 2019 and since January 2022 (SCNG).

Ethics and court records. No complaints or enforcement actions 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 and appellate records (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, plus the four questions the Larchmont Chronicle asked both finalists in September. Sources: SCNG questionnaires (Hernandez, May 5; Rascón, May 6) and the Larchmont Chronicle (Sept 24, 2026).

On the other ballot measures

Neither candidate is a legislator, so neither voted to place Props 1, 2, 4, 5 or 43 on the ballot.

Endorsements

The California Democratic Party did not endorse anyone in this race for the primary (LAist). No endorsement for the general election was found.

Sara Hernandez

From her campaign’s endorsement page as archived June 4, 2026 (archived page). The live site blocked our requests.

• Elected and former officials: County Supervisor Hilda Solis; Jackie Goldberg, retired LAUSD board member, Assemblymember and City Councilmember (archived endorsement page).
• Unions: California Teachers Association, California Federation of Teachers, AFSCME California PEOPLE, United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals, Los Angeles College Faculty Guild, Operating Engineers Local 12, Painters District Council 36 (archived endorsement page).
• Organizations: Abundant Housing LA, Sierra Club (archived endorsement page).
• Other people: Dolores Huerta (archived endorsement page).
• Newspapers: none found.

Sarah Rascón

From her campaign’s endorsement page (campaign site).

• Elected officials: Sen. María Elena Durazo, who holds the seat now; State Treasurer Fiona Ma; Assemblymembers Tina McKinnor, Celeste Rodriguez, Patrick Ahrens and Alex Lee; City Controller Kenneth Mejia; City Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez and Ysabel Jurado; LAUSD board members Rocío Rivas and Karla Griego; LACCD trustee Nichelle Henderson; Santa Monica Councilmember Lana Negrete (campaign site).
• Former officials and primary rivals: former Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, who placed third, endorsed her in June (Daily News); Maebe Pudlo, who placed fourth; former state Sen. Richard Polanco; former City Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell.
• Organizations: Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project Los Angeles County Action Fund (campaign site); Rudy Ortega Jr., tribal president of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians. California DSA recommended her in the primary (California DSA).
• Newspapers: none found.

Polls

No public polls of this race were found. Two outside groups backing Hernandez reported paying for polling ($30,000 and $22,267), but did not release results (UNAC/UHCP committee; Housing Providers).

Money

Source: the Form 460 reports of Sara Hernandez for State Senate 2026 and Rascon for State Senate 2026 and later late-contribution reports, from the Secretary of State’s Cal-Access campaign data, downloaded Sept 29, 2026. 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 (City list of ZIP codes). Donor types come from the filer’s entity code and name.

Sara Hernandez. 693 donors gave $1,351,149 in itemized money (Cal-Access).

• Who gave.
  • Individuals: 537 donors, $627,650 (46.5%) (Cal-Access).
  • Unions and public-employee groups: 37, $322,500 (23.9%). This counts the Association of California School Administrators PAC ($11,800), the California Association of Professional Scientists PAC ($5,000), the Teamsters’ DRIVE Committee ($5,900) and the California IATSE Council PAC ($1,500), and leaves out the credit unions’ PAC ($2,500) (Cal-Access).
  • Businesses and other organizations: 64, $174,724 (12.9%) (Cal-Access).
  • Business, trade and other PACs: 34, $161,500 (12.0%) (Cal-Access).
  • Other candidates’ committees: 16, $42,475 (3.1%). Tribes: 5, $22,300 (1.7%) (Cal-Access).
• Where from. 35.7% of dollars ($482,395, 313 donors) came from City of LA ZIP codes. 23.9% came from the rest of LA County, 31.3% from elsewhere in California and 8.7% from out of state (Cal-Access).
• Size. 70 donors gave $5,900 or more, for $651,573 (48.2%). 140 donors gave under $250 in total, $16,836 (1.2%). Unitemized gifts under $100 added $5,230 (Cal-Access).
• Largest donors:
  • Unions and PACs at $23,600 each: the UNAC/UHCP PAC, AFSCME California PEOPLE, the California Teachers Association’s committee and the California Association of Realtors’ CREPAC. IBEW Local 11 gave $20,000 and the California Federation of Teachers $16,800 (Cal-Access).
  • Individuals: the five largest gave $58,700 in all, one $12,400, three $11,800 each and one $10,900 (Cal-Access).
  • Also at $11,800: the Consumer Attorneys of California PAC, the Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association PAC, the Carpenters’ Building a Stronger Future PAC and Stop Project 2025, an out-of-state committee (Cal-Access).
• Industries.
  • Law firms and lawyers: 123 donors, $238,143 (17.6%). Eight donors listed DLA Piper, the most common employer (Cal-Access).
  • Real estate and development: 59 donors, $117,453 (8.7%), led by CREPAC (Cal-Access).
  • Finance: 36 donors, $68,073 (5.0%) (Cal-Access).
• Shared employers and lobbyists. No group of five or more donors from one employer gave within three days of each other. Three individual donors matched state-registered lobbyists, for $3,300 (Cal-Access lobbying data).

Sarah Rascón. 501 donors gave $220,771 in itemized money (Cal-Access).

• Who gave.
  • Individuals: 475 donors, $172,047 (77.9%) (Cal-Access).
  • Unions: 4, $20,900 (9.5%) (Cal-Access).
  • Businesses and other organizations: 14, $13,972 (6.3%) (Cal-Access).
  • PACs: 5, $6,702 (3.0%). Other candidates’ committees: 3, $7,150 (3.2%), counting Jeff Maloney’s Alhambra City Council committee ($250) (Cal-Access).
• Where from. 46.5% of dollars ($102,569, 248 donors) came from City of LA ZIP codes. 29.2% came from the rest of LA County, 19.8% from elsewhere in California and 4.5% from out of state (Cal-Access).
• Size. 6 donors gave $5,900 or more, for $40,671 (18.4%). 258 donors gave under $250 in total, $31,769 (14.4%). Unitemized gifts under $100 added $17,641 (Cal-Access).
• Largest donors: Faculty for our University’s Future ($10,000); at $5,900 each, Fatima Iqbal-Zubair’s Assembly committee, the National Union of Healthcare Workers’ candidate committee and Telacu Industries. The three largest individual donors gave $6,547, $6,424 and $5,500 (Cal-Access).
• Employers. City of Los Angeles employees were the largest group: 27 donors, $5,370. Twice, five City employees gave within three days of each other (June 28 to 30 and Sept 17 to 19, 2026) (Cal-Access).
• Industries. Law: 34 donors, $14,679 (6.6%). Real estate and development: 16 donors, $8,142 (3.7%) (Cal-Access).
• Lobbyists. No donor matched a state-registered lobbyist (Cal-Access lobbying data).

Outside spending

Independent expenditure reports (Form 496) filed with the Secretary of State since Jan 1, 2025, from the Cal-Access data export. No group reported spending against either candidate.

Who funds them. Totals are each committee’s contributions from Jan 2025 to its latest report.

• Grow California (Cal-Access) raised $20.04 million through June 30, 2026: $15 million from Christian Larsen of Ripple and $5 million from Timothy Draper of Draper Associates. The Daily News described it as “associated with billionaires in the tech and crypto sector” (Daily News).
• California Leads raised $16.18 million: Google $10.0 million and Meta Platforms $6.05 million, plus $100,000 from SV Angel (Cal-Access).
• Housing Providers for Responsible Solutions (Cal-Access) raised $3.69 million: $2.55 million from the California Association of Realtors’ independent expenditure committee, $910,000 from the California Apartment Association’s committee and $200,000 from the California Building Industry Association’s committee.
  • The Realtors’ committee’s (Cal-Access) itemized money came mostly from the Realtors’ state PAC ($2.02 million), its federal PAC ($2.0 million) and the National Association of Realtors Fund ($841,137). It also reported $10.7 million in unitemized gifts.
  • The building industry committee’s (Cal-Access) largest donors were Lennar ($802,716), KB Home ($271,032) and Tri Pointe Homes ($160,800).
• The UNAC/UHCP committee (Cal-Access) raised $350,000: the UNAC/UHCP PAC $150,000, the California Teachers Association’s committee $75,000, AFSCME California $50,000, the California YIMBY Victory Fund $25,000, IBEW Local 11 $25,000, the Los Angeles College Guild $15,000 and Teamsters Local 396 $10,000.
• Citizens and Communities for Fair Government (Cal-Access) reported no contributions in the period. It is funded by loans from California Commerce Club, Inc., a card casino: $3.11 million in June 2023 and $2.0 million in March 2025.
• Advance California (Cal-Access) reported $5.44 million, of which $5.25 million came from the California Apartment Association’s independent expenditure committee. That committee’s (Cal-Access) largest donors were Essex Property Trust ($3.0 million), Equity Residential ($2.17 million) and AvalonBay Communities ($1.96 million).
• The LCCC PAC committees (Cal-Access; Cal-Access) got almost all their money from LCCC PAC, a Latino elected officials’ committee. LCCC PAC (Cal-Access) raised $2.58 million. Its largest donors: the California Correctional Peace Officers Association PAC ($350,000), National Enterprises ($275,000), Philip Morris USA/Altria ($250,000), Sempra ($204,128 in two entries), PBF Holding ($125,000), PepsiCo ($125,000) and Phillips 66 ($100,000).
• The Hawaiian Gardens Casino committee got $1.0 million from Hawaiian Gardens Casino, Inc. (Cal-Access).
• Keep California Golden (Cal-Access) raised $2.69 million: the Realtors’ committee $1.25 million, a farmers and ranchers committee $810,000, the building industry committee $410,000, and $50,000 each from Philip Morris USA/Altria, CREPAC and the car dealers’ committee.
• Families & Teachers United (Cal-Access) got $200,000 from the Charter Public Schools PAC. That PAC’s (Cal-Access) largest donor is Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings ($3.59 million).

Key moments

Debates and forums.

• April 2026, Boyle Heights: Proyecto Pastoral hosted Hernandez, Rascón, Wendy Carrillo and Juan Camacho. About 60 people attended. Topics were immigration, public health, housing and the Exide plant cleanup (The LA Local). No video was found.
• No debate between the two finalists was found.

Outside money (September 2026).

• Filings show $3.92 million in outside spending for Hernandez through Sept 22 (Cal-Access data export).