A special election primary is being held on May 18 for District 54 of the California State Assembly. Isaac Bryan (D), Dallas Denise Fowler (D), Heather Hutt (D), Samuel Morales (D), Cheryl Turner (D), and Bernard Senter (No party preference) are running in the primary. If a candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the primary, he or she will win the election outright. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, the top two candidates will advance to a special general election on July 20. The winner will serve until December 2022.
The seat became vacant after Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D) was elected to the state Senate in a special election primary on March 2. She had represented District 54 since 2018.
Heading into the special election, Democrats have a 58-19 majority in the California Assembly with one independent member and two vacancies. California has a Democratic state government trifecta. A trifecta exists when one political party simultaneously holds the governor’s office and majorities in both state legislative chambers.
As of May, 38 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2021 in 16 states. Between 2011 and 2020, an average of 75 special elections took place each year. California held 28 state legislative special elections from 2011 to 2020.
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