A Republican challenger who wants to lower taxes and reduce regulations across California is taking on a Democratic incumbent in Assembly District 13 who is touting her legislative record and efforts to secure state funding for the Central Valley.
Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom, D-Stockton, has represented the district since 2024. Her challenger, Tom Patti, R-Stockton, served eight years on the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors.
The 13th Assembly District covers western San Joaquin County, including Stockton, Tracy and Mountain House, as well as the southeastern quarter of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
Assemblymembers serve two-year terms and are limited to 12 years in the Legislature — either in the Assembly alone or through a combination of Assembly and Senate service. They earn an annual salary of $134,694, set by the California Citizens Compensation Commission.
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The incumbent
Ransom is seeking reelection to continue advocating for the Central Valley and delivering resources to a region she believes state government often overlooks, she said in an interview with Stocktonia.
“I strongly believe that our community deserves effective leadership that is going to put our community first and deliver results,” Ransom said. “I have been able to do that my entire career.”
She cited her public service experience, including serving on the San Joaquin County Civil Grand Jury, the Tracy Planning Commission and the Tracy City Council, as well as co-founding the nonprofit Sow A Seed, which provides comprehensive support to at-risk youth in San Joaquin County.
“I grew up serving the community, working alongside my grandmother, who was a missionary,” Ransom said. “I approach how I lead the community as an act of service, not as a political position, and that has helped me be effective.”
If elected to a second term, she said her top three priorities would be affordability and sustainability, particularly in the Central Valley; expanding educational and workforce opportunities, including career technical education; and being “a fierce advocate” for the region.
Ransom said 17 bills she supported during her first term were signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom, including Assembly Bill 899, known as the “Buy California Glass” bill. The legislation aimed to protect more than 1,000 union jobs and California’s wine industry amid growing competition from cheaper imported glass.
She also authored Assembly Bill 2032, the Golden Mussel Response Act, which passed as an urgency measure in September, giving California water agencies tools to respond more quickly to the invasive species threatening the state’s waterways and critical water infrastructure. The bill builds on the $6 million she secured in the 2026-27 state budget to fund decontamination control sites in the Delta.
“I have other bills that I’m working on, which include reforming the Public Utilities Commission that oversees our PG&E and utility costs because we pay some of the highest costs in the nation,” Ransom said.
She also is working on legislation to expand Californians’ access to E85, an ethanol fuel blend that can cost less than conventional gasoline. She introduced the measure in February.
Ransom said California is the only state that prohibits vehicle owners from converting their cars to run on flex fuel, which she said can cost $2 less per gallon than conventional gasoline.
She authored Assembly Bill 2046 to change that rule, but the bill is being held under submission.
The goal, Ransom said, is to make sure that people in the region and across the state “can access things that make their life easier and more affordable.”
She also pointed to career technical education as a way to expand economic opportunities, citing her efforts to secure additional state funding for San Joaquin County schools. Schools in District 13 received about $4 million after Ransom advocated for changes to the state’s funding formula.
Ransom acknowledged disagreements within her party over criminal justice policies, saying that lawmakers must balance concerns about excessive incarceration with accountability for serious offenses.
“Their intention is to make sure that we’re not over-incarcerating people, and I respect that. But at the same time, we have to have balance and accountability,” she said.
The Assemblymember said she has worked through disagreements with colleagues by having conversations and finding common ground. She cited Assembly Bill 379, which she said strengthened penalties for human trafficking, and added that she plans to continue pursuing legislation targeting gang recruitment of young people.
Ransom said her record of bringing people together distinguishes her from her opponent. She described herself as a collaborative leader focused on homelessness, youth mental health and other issues her constituents care about.
“I am not divisive,” she said. “That is not how I get things done in our community.”
She said voters can expect her to continue working with community members and colleagues across party lines to address regional needs.
“If you can’t work with Democrats where there’s a supermajority and you feel like you can’t work with one party or the other, there’s no way you’re going to be successful. You have to be able to work with all the people that are there, whether you like Democrats personally or not,” Ransom said. “To me, it’s a political party. It’s not a mandate on how I treat people or work with people.”
The challenger
After an unsuccessful bid to become Stockton’s mayor two years ago, Patti is running for state Assembly to address economic challenges facing California businesses, he said in an interview with Stocktonia. He owns Delta Cranes, a Stockton-based crane company, and served on the Board of Supervisors representing District 3 from 2017 to early 2025.
“There are many challenges, as we all know, such as the cost of living, but there are even greater challenges for businesses to stay open and be able to employ people in this state where we’re creating greater and greater hardship on everyday lives,” Patti said.
He said affordability is the biggest challenge facing residents in his district. Patti criticized the costs associated with producing and selling gasoline, saying state fees and regulations add about $1.20 per gallon.
He urged Sacramento lawmakers to suspend what he called “heavy-handed” fees, regulations and taxes.
“If we want to lower the cost for housing, if we want to lower the cost for energy, we need to stop penalizing and implementing the overbearing regulations and fees associated with both,” Patti said.
“We could suspend EIRs. We could suspend CEQA,” he said, referring to environmental impact reports and the California Environmental Quality Act.
Patti said he believes balance needs to be restored in the state, describing California as having “a single-party rule” that is “unfettered.” He emphasized that “there’s zero checks and balances.”
“One of the top priorities would be hunting down, stopping and reducing government waste in the state of California,” he said. “We could hunt down and reduce that and bring that money into the classroom for teachers and make sure that we’re improving the education system throughout the state.”
He identified career training as a way to improve education and said that if elected, strengthening public safety in his district would be another priority.
As a county supervisor, Patti said he built relationships across the state and suggested lawmakers can work with county officials to influence decisions and policies in Sacramento.
“I do not believe there’s nearly enough coordination with the counties and representatives,” he said.
Patti pursued public-private partnerships to address housing needs, support veterans and combat homelessness during his tenure on the Board of Supervisors. He also spearheaded the “1,000 Jobs for 1,000 Students” initiative, which allocated $500,000 in county funding to San Joaquin Delta College’s Excel internship program in 2024.
When it comes to policy divisions between the parties, Patti said there is a disconnect immigration — but he sees a way to bridge the gap. He called for Republicans to develop a bipartisan approach that would create pathways to legal permanent residency for immigrants who have lived illegally in the country for years, supported themselves and maintained clean criminal records.
“Instead of looking to deport and break up families, I believe we should create pathways for legal residency,” Patti said, adding that he was not advocating for granting citizenship to those who “jump the line.”
He said eligibility could depend on applicants having been law-abiding and self-sufficient for five or 10 years, or another period determined by lawmakers.
“This should be a bipartisan issue that we work on so we’ve established fair boundaries of what would be the parameters for legal residency,” Patti said.
He said his business experience distinguishes him from his opponent, whom he criticized for receiving a state salary and her involvement with a nonprofit that also received government funding.
“I, on the other hand, have created jobs and millions of dollars in commerce and economic activity as a private business owner, employing dozens of people throughout the county and doing business with thousands of people over decades of business ownership,” Patti said.
He pledged to offer voters “100% engagement, open access and extreme visibility” if elected.
“I want to be here in the community, engaged on the issues and bringing the voice of the people, oftentimes the silent majority, into Sacramento so that they know what I’m doing, when I’m doing it and how we can work together, making California a better place and getting back on track,” Patti said.