Toni Atkins (California)

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Toni Atkins
Image of Toni Atkins

Democratic Party

Candidate, Governor of California

California State Senate District 39
Tenure

2016 - Present

Term ends

2024

Years in position

8

Prior offices
San Diego City Council
California State Assembly District 78

Compensation

Base salary

$122,694/year

Per diem

$214/day

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 3, 2020

Next election

November 3, 2026

Bildung

Bachelor's

Emory and Henry College

Absolvent

Harvard University

Personal
Profession
Senior policy analyst
Kontakt

Official website

Official Facebook

Official Twitter

Official Instagram

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Campaign YouTube

Toni Atkins (Democratic Party) is a member of the California State Senate, representing District 39. She assumed office in 2016. Her current term ends on December 2, 2024.

Atkins (Democratic Party) is running for election for Governor of California. She declared candidacy for the 2026 election.[source]

Atkins also ran for election for Lieutenant Governor of California. She will not appear on the ballot for the general election on November 3, 2026.

Atkins served as state Senate president pro tempore from 2018 to February 5, 2024.[1][2]

Atkins is a former Democratic member of the California State Assembly, representing District 78 from 2010 to 2016.

Atkins was voted in unanimously as speaker of the Assembly on March 14, 2014.[3] She replaced Speaker John Perez, who was termed out from elections in 2014. On September 3, 2015, Assembly Democrats voted unanimously to replace Atkins as speaker with Assemblyman Anthony Rendon. He assumed the leadership position in January 2016.[4]

From 2000 to 2008, she was a council member for the City of San Diego and served as deputy mayor in 2005.

Biography

Atkins earned her B.S. in political science/community organizing from Emory and Henry College and graduated from the Senior Executive Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University in 2004. Her professional experience includes working as director of clinic services for Womancare Health Center, on the staff of Council Member Christine Kehoe of the City of San Diego and working as a senior policy analyst for LeSar Development Company since 2008.

Committee assignments

2023-2024

Atkins was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Atkins was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Atkins 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
• Health
• Labor and Industrial Relations
• Natural Resources and Water
• Rules
• Transportation and Housing
• Rules

2015 legislative session

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

2013-2014

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

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Atkins served on these 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

2026

See also: California lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2026

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated. Before the candidate filing deadline passes, Ballotpedia will separate these candidates into their respective primaries as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for Lieutenant Governor of California

Steven Bradford and Fiona Ma are running in the general election for Lieutenant Governor of California on November 3, 2026.

Candidate
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Steve_Bradford.JPG
Steven Bradford (D)
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Fiona_Ma.jpg
Fiona Ma (D)

There are no incumbents in this race.

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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

2024

See also: California State Senate elections, 2024

Toni Atkins was not able to file for re-election due to term limits.

2020

See also: California State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for California State Senate District 39

Incumbent Toni Atkins defeated Linda Blankenship in the general election for California State Senate District 39 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Toni-Atkins.jpg
Toni Atkins (D)
 
66.2
 
336,467
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/LindaBlankenship.jpg
Linda Blankenship (R)
 
33.8
 
171,952

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

Total votes: 508,419
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 39

Incumbent Toni Atkins and Linda Blankenship advanced from the primary for California State Senate District 39 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Toni-Atkins.jpg
Toni Atkins (D)
 
91.9
 
212,626
✔
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/LindaBlankenship.jpg
Linda Blankenship (R) (Write-in)
 
8.1
 
18,643

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

Total votes: 231,269
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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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.[5] Incumbent Martin Block (D) did not seek re-election.

Toni Atkins defeated John Renison in the California State Senate District 39 general election.[6][7]

California State Senate, District 39 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Toni Atkins 62.52% 258,686
     Republican John Renison 37.48% 155,053
Total Votes 413,739
Source: California Secretary of State


Toni Atkins and John Renison defeated J. Bribiesca and Richard M. Fago in the California State Senate District 39 Blanket primary.[8][9]

California State Senate, District 39 Blanket Primary, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Toni Atkins 66.33% 159,970
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png John Renison 18.14% 43,760
     Republican J. Bribiesca 11.01% 26,565
     Republican Richard M. Fago 4.52% 10,895
Total Votes 241,190

2014

See also: California State Assembly elections, 2014

Elections for the California State Assembly 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 Toni Atkins (D) and Barbara Decker (R) defeated Kevin D. Melton (R) in the blanket primary. Atkins defeated Decker in the general election.[10][11][12]

California State Assembly, District 78, General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngToni Atkins Incumbent 61.6% 72,224
     Republican Barbara Decker 38.4% 45,088
Total Votes 117,312
California State Assembly, District 78 Blanket Primary, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngToni Atkins Incumbent 60.2% 45,922
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngBarbara Decker 28.2% 21,545
     Republican Kevin D. Melton 11.6% 8,855
Total Votes 76,322

2012

See also: California State Assembly elections, 2012

Atkins won re-election in the 2012 election for California State Assembly District 78. Due to redistricting following the 2010 census, he was displaced from District 76. He advanced past the blanket primary on June 5, 2012, defeating Robert Williams (R). Atkins defeated Ralph Denney (R) in the general election on November 6, 2012.[13][14][15]

California State Assembly, District 78, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngToni Atkins Incumbent 62.4% 116,987
     Republican Ralph Denney 37.6% 70,526
Total Votes 187,513
California State Assembly, District 78 Blanket Primary, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngToni Atkins Incumbent 59.8% 54,175
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngRalph Denney 27.9% 25,291
     Republican Robert Williams 12.3% 11,121
Total Votes 90,587

2010

See also: California State Assembly elections, 2010

Atkins was uncontested in the June 8 primary election. He defeated Republican Ralph Denney and Libertarian Daniel H. Baehr in the November 2 general election.[16]

California State Assembly, District 76 General Election (2010)
Candidates Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Toni Atkins (D) 75,357
Ralph Denney (R) 48,610
Daniel H. Baehr (L) 6,679

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Toni Atkins did not complete Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Toni Atkins did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2014

Atkins' website highlighted the following campaign themes:[17]

  • Excerpt: "As your Assemblymember, I’m committed to continue my work to tackle some of the most difficult problems, including affordable health care, homelessness and environmental protection while pursuing economic growth for our region."

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.

Toni Atkins campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2020California State Senate District 39Won general$2,969,905 N/A**
2016California State Senate, District 39Won $2,318,410 N/A**
2014California State Assembly, District 78Won $2,317,022 N/A**
2012California State Assembly, District 78Won $774,269 N/A**
2010California State Assembly, District 76Won $600,396 N/A**
Grand total$8,980,002 N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections 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 availabale data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and 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 California scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].


2023


2022


2021


2020


2019


2018


2017


2016


2015


2014


2013


2012

Notable endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

This section displays endorsements this individual made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope.

Notable candidate endorsements by Toni Atkins
EndorseeElectionStageOutcome
Anthony Portantino, Jr.  source  (D) U.S. House California District 30 (2024) PrimäreLost Primary
Dave Min  source  (D) U.S. House California District 47 (2024) PrimäreAdvanced in Primary
Pete Buttigieg  source President of the United States (2020) PrimäreWithdrew in Convention
Kamala D. Harris  source President of the United States (2020) Withdrew in Convention
Notable ballot measure endorsements by Toni Atkins
MeasurePositionOutcome
California Proposition 13, School and College Facilities Bond (March 2020)  source SupportDefeated
California Proposition 14, Stem Cell Research Institute Bond Initiative (2020)  source SupportApproved
California Proposition 19, Property Tax Transfers, Exemptions, and Revenue for Wildfire Agencies and Counties Amendment (2020)  source SupportApproved
California Proposition 1, Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment (2022)  source SupportApproved
California Proposition 25, Replace Cash Bail with Risk Assessments Referendum (2020)  source SupportDefeated
California Proposition 27, Legalize Sports Betting and Revenue for Homelessness Prevention Fund Initiative (2022)  source OpposeDefeated
California Proposition 33, Prohibit State Limitations on Local Rent Control Initiative (2024)  source OpposeOn the ballot

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Atkins has a spouse, Jennifer LeSar.

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External links

Candidate

Governor of California
  • Website
  • Facebook

    • Lieutenant Governor of California
  • Twitter

    • Governor of California
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
    		•

    Officeholder

    California State Senate District 39
  • Website
  • Facebook
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  • Instagram
    		•

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Manteca Bulletin, "California to get first female and first LGBT State Senate leader," March 18, 2018
    2. ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Column: Hardscrabble trailblazer Toni Atkins would be an intriguing candidate for California governor," December 7, 2023
    3. ↑ latimes.com, "Assemblywoman Toni Atkins voted in as speaker-elect," March 14, 2014
    4. ↑ voiceofsandiego.org, "Sacramento Report: Atkins Out as Speaker," accessed September 8, 2015
    5. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Key Dates and Deadlines," accessed April 18, 2017
    6. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Certified List of Candidates for the November 8, 2016, General Election," accessed September 7, 2016
    7. ↑ California Secretary of State, "2016 General Election results," accessed December 23, 2016
    8. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Certified List of Candidates for Voter-Nominated Offices," accessed April 4, 2016
    9. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Statement of Vote," accessed August 22, 2016
    10. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official 2014 Primary election candidate list," accessed March 27, 2014
    11. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed July 15, 2014
    12. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed December 14, 2014
    13. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official primary candidate list," accessed March 13, 2014
    14. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official 2012 Primary election results," accessed March 13, 2014
    15. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official 2012 General election results," accessed March 13, 2014
    16. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official 2010 General election results," accessed March 13, 2014
    17. ↑ atkinsforassembly.com, "Official campaign website," accessed May 14, 2014

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