California State Senate District 40

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search

California State Senate District 40
Incumbent
Assumed office: December 5, 2022

California State Senate District 40 is represented by Brian Jones (R).

As of the 2020 Census, California state senators represented an average of 989,419 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 933,550 residents.

About the office

Members of the California State Senate serve four-year terms with term limits.[1] The terms of the senators are staggered so that half the membership is elected every two years. The senators representing odd-numbered districts are elected in years evenly divisible by four. The senators from even-numbered districts are elected in the intervening even-numbered years. California legislators assume office the first Monday in the December following their election.[2]

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

According to Article IV of the California Constitution:[3]

A person is ineligible to be a member of the Legislature unless the person is an elector and has been a resident of the legislative district for one year, and a citizen of the United States and a resident of California for 3 years, immediately preceding the election, and service of the full term of office to which the person is seeking to be elected would not exceed the maximum years of service permitted by subdivision (a) of this section.[4]


Salaries

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
State legislative salaries, 2024[5]
SalaryPer diem
$128,215/year$214/day

Term limits

See also: State legislatures with term limits

The California Legislature is one of 16 state legislatures with term limits. Since the passage of Prop 28 in 2012, legislators first elected on or after November 6, 2012, are limited to a maximum of 12 years. Prop 140, passed in 1990, affects any members elected prior to November 6, 2012, and limits them to a maximum of two four-year terms (eight years total).[6]


Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

If there is a vacancy in the California State Legislature, the governor must call for a special election. The governor must call the election within 14 calendar days of the vacancy. No special election shall be held if the vacancy occurs after the nominating deadline has passed in the final year of the term of office.[7]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: California Code, 1773 and California Cons. Art. IV, § 2


District map

As of February 2023, two sets of overlapping California State Senate maps are in effect because the state's adopted redistricting plan takes effect in two phases. Even-numbered districts use boundaries from the post-2020 census map, while odd-numbered districts use boundaries adopted after the 2010 census. As a result, an area may be represented by two Senators, or may not be represented by any Senator, during the 2023-24 legislative session. The state Senate map enacted after the 2020 census will fully take effect after the 2024 elections.


Redistricting

2020 redistricting cycle

See also: Redistricting in California after the 2020 census

The California Citizens Redistricting Commission voted 14-0 in favor of a new state Assembly and Senate district maps on December 20, 2021, and delivered those maps to the secretary of state on December 27, 2021.[8][9] These maps took effect for California's 2022 state legislative elections.

How does redistricting in California work? In California, a non-politician commission draws both congressional and state legislative district lines. Established in 2008 by ballot initiative, the commission comprises 14 members: five Democrats, five Republicans, and four belonging to neither party. A panel of state auditors selects the pool of nominees from which the commissioners are appointed. This pool comprises 20 Democrats, 20 Republicans, and 20 belonging to neither party. The majority and minority leaders of both chambers of the state legislature may each remove two members from each of the aforementioned groups. The first eight commission members are selected at random from the remaining nominees. These first eight comprise three Democrats, three Republicans, and two belonging to neither party. The first eight commissioners appoint the remaining six, which must include two Democrats, two Republicans, and two belonging to neither party.[10]

Commissioners must meet the following requirements in order to serve:[10]

  1. Members must have voted in at least two of the last three statewide elections.
  2. Members cannot have switched party affiliation for at least five years.
  3. "Neither commissioners nor immediate family may have been, within 10 years of appointment, a candidate for federal or state office or member of a party central committee; an officer, employee, or paid consultant to a federal or state candidate or party; a registered lobbyist or paid legislative staff; or a donor of more than $2,000 to an elected candidate."
  4. Members cannot be "staff, consultants or contractors for state or federal government" while serving as commissioners. The same prohibition applies to the family of commission members.

In order to approve a redistricting plan, nine of the commission's 14 members must vote for it. These nine must include three Democrats, three Republicans, and three belonging to neither party. Maps drawn by the commission may be overturned by public referendum. In the event that a map is overturned by the public, the California Supreme Court must appoint a group to draw a new map.[10]

The California Constitution requires that districts be contiguous. Further, the state constitution mandates that "to the extent possible, [districts] must ... preserve the geographic integrity of cities, counties, neighborhoods and communities of interest." Districts must also "encourage compactness." State Senate and Assembly districts should be nested within each other where possible.[10]

California State Senate District 40
until December 1, 2024

Click a district to compare boundaries.

California State Senate District 40
starting December 2, 2024

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Elections

2022

See also: California State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for California State Senate District 40

Incumbent Brian Jones defeated Joseph Rocha in the general election for California State Senate District 40 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Brian Jones
Brian Jones (R)
 
53.1
 
170,109
Image of Joseph Rocha
Joseph Rocha (D) Candidate Connection
 
46.9
 
149,948

Total votes: 320,057
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for California State Senate District 40

Incumbent Brian Jones and Joseph Rocha advanced from the primary for California State Senate District 40 on June 7, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Brian Jones
Brian Jones (R)
 
54.4
 
113,400
Image of Joseph Rocha
Joseph Rocha (D) Candidate Connection
 
45.6
 
94,960

Total votes: 208,360
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

2018

See also: California State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for California State Senate District 40

Incumbent Ben Hueso defeated Luis R. Vargas in the general election for California State Senate District 40 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ben Hueso
Ben Hueso (D)
 
65.9
 
152,896
Luis R. Vargas (R)
 
34.1
 
79,207

Total votes: 232,103
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for California State Senate District 40

Incumbent Ben Hueso and Luis R. Vargas advanced from the primary for California State Senate District 40 on June 5, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ben Hueso
Ben Hueso (D)
 
60.1
 
70,649
Luis R. Vargas (R)
 
39.9
 
46,850

Total votes: 117,499
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2014

See also: California State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for the California State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 3, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 7, 2014. Incumbent Ben Hueso (D) and Rafael Estrada (D) defeated write-in candidate Michael Diaz (R) in the blanket primary. Hueso defeated Estrada in the general election.[11][12][13][14]

California State Senate, District 40, General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngBen Hueso Incumbent 54.9% 58,880
     Democratic Rafael Estrada 45.1% 48,397
Total Votes 107,277
California State Senate, District 40 Blanket Primary, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngBen Hueso Incumbent 71.8% 45,249
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngRafael Estrada 27.9% 17,547
     Republican Michael Diaz (Write-in) 0.3% 188
Total Votes 62,984

2013

See also: State legislative special elections, 2013

Ben Hueso won a special election for California State Senate District 40. The seat was vacant following Juan Vargas's (D) election to the 51st Congressional District of California on November 6, 2012. Hueso (D) defeated Anna Nevenic (D), Hector Gastelum (R) and Xanthi Gionis (R) in the special election on March 12, 2013.[15][16][17][18][19]

California State Senate, District 40, Special Election, 2013
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngBen Hueso 53.1% 29,367
     Democratic Anna Nevenic 10.4% 5,740
     Republican Hector Gastelum 21.6% 11,951
     Republican Xanthi Gionis 14.9% 8,243
Total Votes 55,301

Campaign contributions

From 2000 to 2022, candidates for California State Senate District 40 raised a total of $15,143,439. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $757,172 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money

Campaign contributions, California State Senate District 40
Year Amount Candidates Average
2022 $3,390,409 2 $1,695,204
2018 $1,139,311 2 $569,656
2014 $570,962 3 $190,321
2012 $198,164 1 $198,164
2010 $1,976,399 3 $658,800
2008 $1,747 1 $1,747
2006 $664,497 3 $221,499
2004 $407,488 1 $407,488
2002 $6,593,212 3 $2,197,737
2000 $201,250 1 $201,250
Total $15,143,439 20 $757,172


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. California State Constitution, accessed December 16, 2013
  2. California Constitution, "Article 4, Section 2. (a)(3)," accessed November 1, 2021
  3. California Legislature, "Qualifications for State Legislature," accessed May 21, 2025
  4. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  5. National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
  6. California Legislative Information, "Article IV Legislative (Sec. 1 - Sec. 28)," accessed February 9, 2021
  7. California Legislative Information, "California Code," accessed February 9, 2021 (Statute, 1773-California Government Code)
  8. Politico, "California’s new congressional map boosts Democrats," Dec. 21, 2021
  9. Lake County News, "California Citizens Redistricting Commission delivers maps to California Secretary of State," Dec. 28, 2021
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 All About Redistricting, "California," accessed April 21, 2015
  11. California Secretary of State, "Certified List of Write-in Candidates for the June 3, 2014, Statewide Direct Primary Election," accessed May 24, 2014
  12. California Secretary of State, "Official 2014 Primary election candidate list," accessed March 27, 2014
  13. California Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed July 15, 2014
  14. California Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed December 14, 2014
  15. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named casched
  16. Imperial Valley Press, "Special election will fill seat vacated by Vargas," November 14, 2012
  17. U-T San Diego, "2 REPUBLICANS JOIN STATE SENATE RACE," January 19, 2013
  18. SCPR.org, "32nd Senate District race heads to a May runoff to represent Pomona, Fontana and Ontario," March 13, 2013
  19. sos.ca.gov, "Official special election results," accessed November 18, 2013


Current members of the California State Senate
Leadership
Minority Leader:Brian Jones
Senators
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
S. Limón (D)
District 22
District 23
District 24
Ben Allen (D)
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
Democratic Party (30)
Republican Party (10)