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Headshot of Gail Pellerin

Gail Pellerin

Democrat, State Assembly
District 28, Santa Cruz
Time in office:
  • Assembly: 2022-present

News coverage of Gail Pellerin

Bio

Gail Pellerin, 63, was the chief elections official in Santa Cruz County (1993-2020). Since her 2022 election to the Assembly, she’s authored several bills related to local elections. Pellerin has a journalism degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Pellerin was a campaign assistant, a newspaper reporter and photographer and a community college instructor. Pellerin is an advocate for suicide prevention after her husband died by suicide in 2018. She’s on the board of National Alliance on Mental Illness. She has a labradoodle named Darwin and two adult children.

Ideology

Left

Moderate

Right

Bill Activity

0

Of 36 bills:
9 Passed
3 Failed
24 Pending

For this session year, this legislator initiated 36 bills: 9 passed, 3 failed, and 24 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

$17.3K

Candidate Contributions

$500.0

Communications & Electronics

$12.9K

Construction

$4.5K

Energy & Natural Resources

$21.0K

Finance, Insurance & Real Estate

$47.1K

General Business

$52.3K

Government Agencies/Education/Other

$36.3K

Health

$35.0K

Ideology/Single Issue

$14.1K

Labor

$235.6K

Lawyers & Lobbyists

$10.9K

Party

$1.1K

Transportation

$14.0K

Uncoded

$207.3K

Unitemized Contributions

$143.6K

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
$853.5K

80.0% 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
$315.0

100.0% lower than the average legislators

Grand Total for Elections

$853.8K

51.0% 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
California Democratic Party$137.46Nov 9, 2022Dinner at Canon
California Democratic Party$61.78Nov 9, 2022Lunch at Centerplate

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
#98/120

This legislator is ranked 98th highest for the amount of personal gifts received.

Policy

Bills Authored by Gail Pellerin

AB 2333
Child welfare nongovernmental organizations.

Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Human Services

In Progress
Child welfare nongovernmental organizations.Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Human Services
AB 1902
Secure youth treatment facilities.

Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Public Safety

In Progress
Secure youth treatment facilities. Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Public Safety
AB 1668
Property tax: welfare exemption.

Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Revenue and Taxation

In Progress
Property tax: welfare exemption.Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Revenue and Taxation
AB 2188
Regional park and open-space districts: Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.

Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Local Government

In Progress
Regional park and open-space districts: Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Local Government
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.

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 21888MIN
Apr 29, 2026

AB 2188

Regional park and open-space districts: Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.

Preview image for AB 154813MIN
Apr 22, 2026

AB 1548

Conservation: the Monterey Bay Area Stewardship Authority.

Preview image for AB 26506MIN
Apr 22, 2026

AB 2650

CalSavers: retirement savings.

Preview image for AB 26978MIN
Apr 21, 2026

AB 2697

Cannabis: drive-throughs.

Preview image for AB 19889MIN
Apr 16, 2026

AB 1988

Companion chatbots: crisis interruption pauses.

Preview image for AB 19198MIN
Apr 15, 2026

AB 1919

Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District: transactions and use tax: qualified voter initiative.

Preview image for AB 190230MIN
Apr 14, 2026

AB 1902

Secure youth treatment facilities.

Preview image for AB 154814MIN
Apr 13, 2026

AB 1548

Conservation: the Monterey Bay Area Stewardship Authority.

Preview image for AB 22299MIN
Apr 7, 2026

AB 2229

The California State University Enrollment, Access, and Retention of Noncontinuous Students Program.

Preview image for AB 23573MIN
Apr 7, 2026

AB 2357

Courts: mental health pilot program.

Preview image for AB 178410MIN
Apr 7, 2026

AB 1784

Postsecondary education: nondiscrimination: pregnancy or pregnancy-related issues.

Preview image for AB 191913MIN
Mar 25, 2026

AB 1919

Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District: transactions and use tax: qualified voter initiative.

View All Hearings

District

View of map with yellow overlay for Assembly District 28 boundaries.
District 28 is a Safe Democratic District
Democratic Party candidate has a very high likelihood of winning in an election

Previous Election (2024):

Gail Pellerin
66.9%
WON
Liz Lawler
33.1%

Party Registration

Census Data

Median age010203040

Median age