2026 General Election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

California Senate District 16

2 candidates, listed alphabetically.

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California uses a top-two primary: the two candidates with the most votes in the June 2 primary advanced, regardless of party, so both finalists can be from the same party.

California uses a top-two primary for congressional, statewide and legislative offices: the two candidates with the most primary votes advance regardless of party, so both general-election candidates can be from the same party. Write-in candidates for these offices can run only in the primary. California Secretary of State

Candidates

Guillermo Asuncion Gonzalez

Republican

Work: Human resources director, Restaurant Brands California

Ballot designation filed with the California Secretary of State: Small Business Owner.

Guillermo Asuncion Gonzalez is human resources director at Restaurant Brands California, after HR leadership roles at Repipe Specialists, TELACU Industries and the Anaheim Ducks. His ballot designation is "Small Business Owner."

Sources for Gonzalez

Certified List of Candidates for the November 3, 2026, General Election (California Secretary of State, Public record)
Guillermo Asuncion Gonzalez: candidate profile (BallotReady, Facts summarized from a public page (not copied))

Melissa Hurtado

DemocraticIncumbent

In office now: State Senator, District 16
Work: State Senator, 16th District; former Sanger City Council member

Melissa Hurtado is the sitting State Senator for District 16 in the California State Legislature.

Melissa Hurtado has served in the California Senate since December 2018, first for the 14th District and since 2022 for the 16th. She was a Sanger City Council member from 2016 to 2018.

Sources for Hurtado

California State Legislature: current member roster (California State Legislature (California State Senate; California State Assembly), Public record)
Certified List of Candidates for the November 3, 2026, General Election (California Secretary of State, Public record)
Melissa Hurtado (Wikipedia) (Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), Facts summarized from a public page (not copied))

Sources

Candidate list and race details

Certified List of Candidates for the November 3, 2026, General Election (California Secretary of State, Public record)

What's included: U.S. Senate and House, statewide offices, every state legislative district on the ballot and statewide ballot measures.
Everything else: Local races (county, city, school board, judges) and anything else on your ballot are on your official sample ballot: voterstatus.sos.ca.gov.
Candidate lists: As of Wednesday, October 14, 2026.

This is not an official ballot. Confirm your registration, polling place and ballot with your election office through vote.gov.