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Richard Roth

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Richard Roth
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Democratic Party
Prior offices:
California State Senate District 31
Years in office: 2012 - 2024
Predecessor: Robert Dutton
Successor: Sabrina Cervantes (D)
Elections and appointments
Last election
November 5, 2024
Education
High school
Ada High School, 1968
Bachelor's
Miami University, 1972
Law
Emory University School of Law, 1974
Military
Service / branch
U.S. Air Force
Years of service
1975 - 2007
Personal
Profession
Attorney/Small Business Owner
Contact
Campaign website
Campaign Facebook
Campaign X
Campaign Instagram
Personal LinkedIn
Personal TikTok

Richard Roth (Democratic Party) was a member of the California State Senate, representing District 31. He assumed office on December 3, 2012. He left office on December 2, 2024.

Roth ran for election to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to represent District 1 in California. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Roth earned his bachelor's degree in political science from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in 1972 and his J.D. from Emory University in 1974. He entered the U.S. Air Force in 1975, becoming a reservist in 1979. His professional experience includes working as an attorney/small business owner. Roth retired in 2007 with the rank of Major General and awards including the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal.[1]

Committee assignments

2023-2024

Roth was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Roth was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Roth was assigned to the following committees:

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

California committee assignments, 2017
• Budget and Fiscal Review
• Health
• Insurance
• Transportation and Housing
• Veterans Affairs
• Emergency Management
• Legislative Audit, Vice chair

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Roth served on the following committees:

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Roth served on the following committees:

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2024

See also: Municipal elections in Riverside County, California (2024)

General election

General election for Riverside County Board of Supervisors District 1

Jose Medina defeated Richard Roth in the general election for Riverside County Board of Supervisors District 1 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jose Medina
Jose Medina (Nonpartisan)
 
51.1
 
71,839
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Submit photo
Richard Roth (Nonpartisan)
 
48.9
 
68,652

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 140,491
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.

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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Riverside County Board of Supervisors District 1

Richard Roth and Jose Medina defeated Debbie Walsh and Gracie Torres in the primary for Riverside County Board of Supervisors District 1 on March 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
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Richard Roth (Nonpartisan)
 
31.7
 
17,928
✔
Image of Jose Medina
Jose Medina (Nonpartisan)
 
24.8
 
14,039
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Debbie Walsh (Nonpartisan)
 
22.7
 
12,829
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Gracie Torres (Nonpartisan)
 
20.8
 
11,779

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 56,575
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.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Roth in this election.

2020

See also: California State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for California State Senate District 31

Incumbent Richard Roth defeated Rod Taylor in the general election for California State Senate District 31 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
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Richard Roth (D)
 
59.0
 
216,910
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Rod Taylor (R)
 
41.0
 
150,734

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 367,644
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 31

Incumbent Richard Roth and Rod Taylor defeated John Farr in the primary for California State Senate District 31 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Richard Roth (D)
 
98.9
 
106,435
✔
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Rod Taylor (R) (Write-in)
 
0.9
 
959
Image of John Farr
John Farr (L) (Write-in)
 
0.2
 
189

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 107,583
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.

2016

See also: California State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the California State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election was held on June 7, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was February 25, 2016, for candidates filing with signatures. The deadline for candidates using a filing fee to qualify was March 11, 2016.[2]

Incumbent Richard Roth defeated Richard Reed in the California State Senate District 31 general election.[3][4]

California State Senate, District 31 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Richard Roth Incumbent 60.54% 167,574
     Republican Richard Reed 39.46% 109,238
Total Votes 276,812
Source: California Secretary of State


Incumbent Richard Roth and Richard Reed were unopposed in the California State Senate District 31 Blanket primary.[5][6]

California State Senate, District 31 Blanket Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Richard Roth Incumbent
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Richard Reed

2012

See also: California State Senate elections, 2012

Roth won the 2012 election for California State Senate District 31. He and Jeff Miller (R) advanced past the blanket primary on June 5, 2012, defeating Steve Clute (D). Roth was victorious in the general election on November 6, 2012.[7][8][9]

California State Senate, District 31, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngRichard Roth 55.3% 133,882
     Republican Jeff Miller 44.7% 108,320
Total Votes 242,202
California State Senate, District 31 Blanket Primary, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngJeff Miller 51.1% 38,641
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngRichard Roth 28.8% 21,812
     Democratic Steve Clute 20.1% 15,191
Total Votes 75,644

In a cross-party endorsement, defeated Democratic candidate Steve Clute endorsed Republican candidate Jeff Miller over his Democratic opponent Roth in the general election to decide the District 31 seat.[10] In the endorsement Clute said, "Although our party of preference means ideologically we may not agree on every issue, one thing I know is Jeff Miller will stand up for Riverside County. Voters can trust that Miller will stand up for us when it comes to ending government waste; funding our local schools and most importantly getting our local businesses growing again. In these difficult times, supporting the best candidate is more important than party preference."[10]

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Richard Roth did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Richard Roth did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2012

Roth has stated the following in a biographical submission to Ballotpedia.[1]

"A career in the Air Force taught me public service is about working together. I believe it’s time to end the partisan games and start delivering for Riverside County. I’ve lived in Riverside for 33 years, working in both the public and private sectors. As a local business owner, past chairman of Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce and past President of the Monday Morning Group, I understand the challenges we face and have a concrete jobs plan that includes job training for veterans, attracting new startups, a medical school for UCR and protecting our schools and colleges."

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Richard Roth campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2020California State Senate District 31Won general$1,101,206 N/A**
2016California State Senate, District 31Won $1,396,575 N/A**
Grand total$2,497,781 N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Election Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards, State legislative scorecards in California

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the California State Legislature in 2025.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the California State Legislature in 2024.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the California State Legislature in 2023.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the California State Legislature in 2022.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the California State Legislature in 2021.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the California State Legislature in 2020.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the California State Legislature in 2019.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the California State Legislature in 2018.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the California State Legislature in 2017.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the California State Legislature in 2016.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the California State Legislature in 2015.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the California State Legislature in 2014.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the California State Legislature in 2013.

See also

2024 Elections

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External links

Candidate

Riverside County Board of Supervisors District 1
  • Website
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    Personal

  • LinkedIn
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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bio submission to Ballotpedia, May 14, 2012
    2. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Key Dates and Deadlines," accessed April 18, 2017
    3. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Certified List of Candidates for the November 8, 2016, General Election," accessed September 7, 2016
    4. ↑ California Secretary of State, "2016 General Election results," accessed December 23, 2016
    5. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Certified List of Candidates for Voter-Nominated Offices," accessed April 4, 2016
    6. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Statement of Vote," accessed August 22, 2016
    7. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official primary candidate list," accessed March 13, 2014
    8. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official 2012 Primary election results," accessed March 13, 2014
    9. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official 2012 General election results," accessed March 13, 2014
    10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Sacramento Bee, "Democrat Clute endorses GOP candidate in targeted Senate seat" accessed September 7, 2012

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