Sunset illuminating the tall skyscrapers of San Diego in California from Centennial Park in Coronado with artificial water reflection.

Darshana Patel

Democrat, State Assembly
District 76, San Diego
Time in office:
  • Assembly: 2024-present

News coverage of Darshana Patel

Bio

Darshana Patel, 51 was a research scientist for biotechnology company Genentech. She was in her second term as a trustee on the Poway Unified School District Board of Education, where she formerly served as vice president. She’s also a commissioner for the California Commission on Asian Pacific Islander American Affairs and a member of the San Diego County Democratic Party Central Committee. Patel lives in the Rancho Peñasquitos community of San Diego with her husband and three daughters.

Bill Activity

0

Of 16 bills:
3 Passed
0 Failed
13 Pending

For this session year, this legislator initiated 16 bills: 3 passed, 0 failed, and 13 are currently pending.

Alignment Meter

See all-time percentage of this legislator’s alignment with any organization based on total votes.

xx%votes: xx

Financials

This feature tracks three sources of money intended to help a candidate win election: 1-Money given directly to a candidate’s committee, 2-Money given to an Independent Expenditure Committee, 3-Money given to a political party. (NOTE: Senators are elected every four years. Twenty of the 40 Senators are on the ballot in even-numbered years, so Senators may do little or no fundraising in the first two-year session of their Senate term).

Election

This display shows money given directly to the incumbent’s campaign committee (NOTE: The industry categories for donors come from Open Secrets, a nonpartisan research organization for campaign finance. Some contributions are “uncoded,” meaning they have not been assigned to an industry sector. As a result, the total for each sector is also an estimate).

Agriculture

$100.0

Candidate Contributions

$2.3K

Communications & Electronics

$5.5K

Construction

$1.0K

Defense

$100.0

Energy & Natural Resources

$1.4K

Finance, Insurance & Real Estate

$16.3K

General Business

$8.6K

Government Agencies/Education/Other

$31.1K

Health

$67.8K

Ideology/Single Issue

$52.2K

Labor

$232.2K

Lawyers & Lobbyists

$51.8K

Party

$2.7M

Transportation

$850.0

Uncoded

$436.2K

Unitemized Contributions

$1.5M

Candidate Donations

Individuals, corporations, organizations and committees are limited to a maximum donation to candidates of $5,500 for the primary and for the general elections.

Total
$5.2M

994.0% higher than the average legislators

Independent Expenditures

Money from Independent Expenditure Committees (IEC) for advertising or grassroots activity targeting a candidates run for office is unlimited, but it cannot be spent in coordination with the candidate or the candidate's campaign.

Total
$73.7K

19.0% lower than the average legislators

Grand Total for Elections

$5.3M

830.0% higher than the average legislators

This is a total of the money targeting this legislator's campaign(s) including direct donations to the candidate, money spent by Independent Expenditure Committees and money from political parties.


Influence

There are three categories of donations to legislators after they are elected that encourage a working relationship between the donor and the legislator. The three categories are: 1-Gifts, 2-Travel, 3-Behests.

Giver
Value
Date
Description
Asian Business Association SD$350Oct 18, 2024Meal/Beverage
Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians$320.94Aug 16, 2024Meal
California Issues Forum$159Dec 16, 2024Meal & Beverage
National Security Contractors Association$95Jan 12, 2024Ticket (Officers gala)
University of California, San Diego$51.75Aug 7, 2024Branded Scarf

Gifts

Legislators are not allowed to accept gifts of more than $10 per month from registered lobbyists. Gifts from any other single source are limited to $590 in a calendar year.

Gift Received Rating
#82/120

This legislator is ranked 82nd highest for the amount of personal gifts received.

Policy

Bills Authored by Darshana Patel

AB 1171
Part-Time Community College Faculty Health Insurance Program.

Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Higher Education

In Progress
Part-Time Community College Faculty Health Insurance Program.Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Higher Education
AB 268
State holidays: Diwali.

Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Governmental Organization

Passed
State holidays: Diwali. Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Governmental Organization
AB 841
State Fire Marshal: personal protective equipment: battery fires.

Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Emergency Management

Passed
State Fire Marshal: personal protective equipment: battery fires.Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Emergency Management
AB 1119
Teacher credentialing: dual credentialing.

Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Education

Passed
Teacher credentialing: dual credentialing.Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Education
View All Bills

Committees

Most of the policy work in the state Capitol is done in “Standing” committees. Legislators also work on budget subcommittees. There are also “Special” and “Select” committees with a more narrow topic focus. And there are “Joint” committees with members from the Senate and Assembly.

Interest Group Rankings

Hearings

Featured Comments

Below are links to the video and transcript of recent, substantive comments by this legislator in committee hearings or floor sessions.

Preview image for AB 117133MIN
Jan 13, 2026

AB 1171

Part-Time Community College Faculty Health Insurance Program.

Preview image for AB 84152SEC
Sep 12, 2025

AB 841

State Fire Marshal: personal protective equipment: battery fires.

Preview image for AB 10741MIN
Sep 10, 2025

AB 1074

CalWORKs.

Preview image for AB 11191MIN
Aug 29, 2025

AB 1119

Teacher credentialing: dual credentialing.

Preview image for HR 533MIN
Aug 25, 2025

HR 53

No Bills Identified

Preview image for AB 35620MIN
Jul 9, 2025

AB 356

Health care districts: County of San Diego.

Preview image for AB 10747MIN
Jul 7, 2025

AB 1074

CalWORKs.

Preview image for AB 23722MIN
Jul 1, 2025

AB 237

Crimes: threats.

Preview image for HR 4738MIN
Jun 30, 2025

HR 47

No Bills Identified

Preview image for AB 10741MIN
Jun 4, 2025

AB 1074

CalWORKs.

Preview image for AB 4022MIN
Jun 4, 2025

AB 402

Student financial aid: Cal Grant Program and the California Community College Expanded...

Preview image for AB 27959SEC
Jun 3, 2025

AB 279

School libraries: model library standards.

View All Hearings

District

View of map with yellow overlay for Assembly District 76 boundaries.
District 76 is a Safe Democratic District
Democratic Party candidate has a very high likelihood of winning in an election

Previous Election (2024):

Darshana Patel
54%
WON
Kristie Bruce-Lane
46%

Party Registration

Census Data

Median age0102030

Median age