2026 General Election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

California Senate District 28

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

Joe Lisuzzo

Republican

Work: Businessman (food manufacturing); Los Angeles neighborhood council member

Ballot designation filed with the California Secretary of State: LA Neighborhood Councilmember.

Joe Lisuzzo spent 32 years in the food manufacturing industry, according to his campaign. He is a Los Angeles neighborhood council member, and his ballot designation is "LA Neighborhood Councilmember."

Sources for Lisuzzo

Certified List of Candidates for the November 3, 2026, General Election (California Secretary of State, Public record)
About Joe Lisuzzo (Joe Lisuzzo campaign website, Facts summarized from a public page (not copied))
Joe Lisuzzo: candidate profile (BallotReady, Facts summarized from a public page (not copied))

Lola Smallwood-Cuevas

DemocraticIncumbent

In office now: State Senator, District 28
Work: State Senator, 28th District; founder, Los Angeles Black Worker Center

Lola Smallwood-Cuevas is the sitting State Senator for District 28 in the California State Legislature.

Lola Smallwood-Cuevas has served in the California Senate since 2022. She founded the Los Angeles Black Worker Center while working as a project director at the UCLA Labor Center, and earlier was a political coordinator for SEIU 1877 and a Chicago Tribune staff writer.

Sources for Smallwood-Cuevas

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)
Lola Smallwood-Cuevas: candidate profile (BallotReady, Facts summarized from a public page (not copied))
Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (Wikipedia, 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.