A rematch of June's primary is heading toward November's ballot in coastal North County, where Republican incumbent Laurie Davies is defending her Assembly District 74 seat against Democratic challenger Sergio Farias. The district covers coastal North County and south Orange County.
According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, the district is considered politically purple, covering coastal North County and south Orange County. Registered Republicans and registered Democrats each accounted for nearly 35% of district voters as of early September, per the Secretary of State, with voters registered with no party preference making up 22%. That balance has made the seat a closely watched one; CalMatters notes the race is expected to be one of the California Democratic Party’s top targets this cycle, as all 80 Assembly districts go before voters in 2026.
Davies, a former Laguna Niguel mayor and small business owner, is seeking a fourth term after serving as an Assembly member since 2020, the Union-Tribune reports. Primary results were reported differently across sources: a Secretary of State election-results snippet showed Davies with 72,782 votes, or 52.3%, to Farias’ 66,403 votes, or 47.7%, while Times of San Diego reported Davies garnered 53.4% to Farias’ 47.7%.
Fundraising Gap Shapes the Rematch
Money has flowed unevenly into the race. Per the Union-Tribune, Davies raised nearly $525,000 from the start of 2026 through mid-September, including about $172,000 since July, and her campaign received $143,000 from the California Republican Party as of September, according to KPBS. Farias raised nearly $81,000 from January through mid-September, including about $45,000 between July and September 19, and has loaned his own campaign $66,904, the station reports.
Farias, 44, is a native of San Juan Capistrano and an operations manager, the Union-Tribune reports. He now serves his third term on the San Juan Capistrano City Council and has served as mayor.
Affordability Dominates Both Campaigns
Both candidates point to affordability, especially gas and housing costs, as the issue weighing most heavily on constituents, the Union-Tribune reports. Farias told the San Diego Union-Tribune that families are paying more for gas, health care, groceries, childcare and utilities. “The biggest issue is just being able to afford living in our district. Families are treading water in our district. The status quo is unacceptable,” Farias said, per the paper’s reporting.
Davies has proposed what she calls the biggest middle-class tax cut in California history and says she wants to protect Proposition 13, according to KPBS. Both candidates favor pausing the state’s gas tax amid rising fuel prices, which the Union-Tribune notes are occurring amid war with Iran and a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz; Farias has called for the country to leave that conflict. Davies has also called for pausing the state’s gas tax.
Housing and a Billionaire Tax
On housing, both candidates prefer more local control over state-mandated requirements, per the Union-Tribune. Davies has also favored greater local control over housing policy.
A proposed state wealth-tax measure is another issue in the election.
On homelessness, Davies wants a dramatic increase in shelters with wrap-around services, per KPBS, while Farias points to San Juan Capistrano’s record under his leadership, where the city reduced its unhoused population from 65 to 10, an 85% drop, by hiring a part-time staffer to work directly with unhoused residents and building affordable and transitional housing, some of it prioritized for veterans.
Both candidates discussed the race in a KOCT-hosted forum in late September, moderated by Kent Davy. California's general election is set for Nov. 3, with the winner serving a two-year term; the job now pays nearly $135,000 annually, according to KPBS.
