With the new lines officially set after redistricting, over a dozen California legislators have resigned their seats or have chosen to not seek re-election. Some have taken positions elsewhere or are seeking higher positions while others have been drawn into seats with a political battle they simply do not want to fight.
So far, 15 Assembly and Senate members have already resigned or announced that they will not seek re-election. Just last week, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez resigned to take a job with the California Labor Federation. After Gonzalez, came back to back announcements from Democrat State Senator Connie Leyva of Chino and Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell of Long Beach that the two would not seek re-election. The announcement was a shock as both have four years left until they are term-limited. On Thursday, Republican Assemblyman Kevin Kiley announced that he will not seek re-election to the Assembly but will instead run for Congress.
The amount of departures seems rather odd. California passed Proposition 28 back in 2012, which extended the amount of time legislators are allowed to hold office to a total of 12 years in either the Assembly of the Senate. Out of the 120 total seats in the Legislature, 22 of them will be occupied by someone new. There are already special elections for four seats. Election seats for Assembly seats 17 and 49 will be held on February 15th. Districts 11 and 80 in the Assembly will have special elections held on April 5th. Candidates have until mid-March to file for the 2022 election so there could be even more decisions to come.
The amount of legislators leaving is the highest California has seen in years. In 2020, just five legislators said they would not seek re-election. In 2018 and 2016, that number was four. But in 2022, that number is 11 and it could be even higher as the year goes on.
Photo Cred: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./ CalMatters
