California Assembly District 40 election: Gipson vs. Schiavo voter guide

Democratic Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo is defending her seat representing the Santa Clarita area against Patrick Lee Gipson, a retired deputy sheriff who the state Republican Party hopes can flip the district in the November election.

Control of seat has ping-ponged between the two major parties for more than a decade, with Schiavo winning it back from the GOP by only 522 votes in 2022. The battle over Assembly District 40 is one of the most watched legislative races in California.

Voter registration in the district favors Democrats by nearly 12%, but Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) said his party anticipates a close contest.

“It’s clear that Democrats and ‘no party preference’ voters are voting for Republican candidates,” Gallagher said. “And I think a big question in this cycle will be like, hey, how many of those actually continue to move over our way? If we see that trend continue, I think we’re going to see a lot of surprises.”

Who are the candidates?

Before winning the seat in 2022, Schiavo, 45, worked in the labor movement as an organizer for the California Nurses Assn. and a political director for the San Francisco Labor Council.

The Democrat grew up in Sonora and lives in Chatsworth.

Gipson, 52, served in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for 24 years before retiring in 2023.

He ran for the U.S. House in 2022 in California’s 30th Congressional District, finishing fourth in the all-party primary.

The GOP candidate grew up in Southern California and resides in Porter Ranch.

Where is the district?

The district is centered in Santa Clarita, including Newhall, Valencia and Canyon Country; the Los Angeles County communities of Castaic and Forest Park, and Granada Hills, Northridge and Chatsworth in L.A., among other communities.

Crime

Crime is on the ballot in the form of Proposition 36, a measure seeking tougher penalties for some theft and drug dealing charges. It would revise 2014’s Proposition 47, which voters passed to reduce several felonies to misdemeanors. Some progressives and left-leaning Democrats have warned that the new measure would needlessly increase California’s prison population; many conservatives and law enforcement leaders argue that it will deter crime.

But both candidates support Proposition 36.

Schiavo said the measure “takes some significant steps to reform Proposition 47, prevent retail theft and fentanyl-related deaths, and hold people accountable for committing those crimes.”

“Just like legislation, you often don’t agree with every component of a law but it’s important to address some of the shortcomings of Prop 47 and this is the way we can do that,” the Democrat said in a statement.

As a former sheriff’s deputy, Gipson has centered his campaign on crime. The Republican has also called for a “complete overhaul of Prop 47.”

“I saw firsthand how devastating it has been to our community,” he said of Proposition 47 in a statement. “In the Legislature I will advocate strengthening Prop 36 immediately.”

Abortion

Abortion rights are not up for a vote in California, but the issue could still affect races across the ballot in November, as it has in other elections since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling reversing Roe vs. Wade.

State law largely protects the right to an abortion, but many voters still consider candidates’ positions on the issue.

Schiavo said she’s “100% pro-choice.”

“I am endorsed by Planned Parenthood and Reproductive Freedom for All because they know I am the only candidate running to represent AD40 in the Assembly who will fight for our right to choose,” she said in a statement.

Gipson said he’s “pro-life with exceptions for rape, incest or life of the mother.” But he said he does not support a national ban on abortion, noting that California voters have enshrined the right to abortion in state law.

“When I was a sheriff’s deputy, [I swore] to uphold and enforce the law — all laws,” he said in a statement. “As a state Assemblymember, I am sworn to uphold the Constitution, and the people spoke loudly in 2022 in support of choice on women’s reproductive rights in the Constitution.”