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Patrick Ahrens

Democrat, State Assembly
District 26, Cupertino
Time in office:
  • Assembly: 2024-Assembly

News coverage of Patrick Ahrens

Bio

Patrick Ahrens, 36, is the former district director for Assemblymember Evan Low, who vacated his seat in a failed Congressional bid in 2024. Before winning his Assembly seat with Low’s endorsement, Ahrens was president of the Foothill De Anza College Board of Trustees. He says his family struggled with substance abuse and he was the first of them to attend college. At one point, he lived in a Ford hatchback with his twin brother, who later died from cancer. Aherns has a master’s degree in public administration from San Jose State University.

Bill Activity

0

Of 20 bills:
4 Passed
0 Failed
16 Pending

For this session year, this legislator initiated 20 bills: 4 passed, 0 failed, and 16 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).

Candidate Contributions

$7.1K

Communications & Electronics

$16.5K

Construction

$1.5K

Defense

$300.0

Energy & Natural Resources

$1.6K

Finance, Insurance & Real Estate

$39.8K

General Business

$9.2K

Government Agencies/Education/Other

$48.5K

Health

$51.5K

Ideology/Single Issue

$15.1K

Labor

$160.1K

Lawyers & Lobbyists

$21.4K

Transportation

$8.6K

Uncoded

$485.6K

Unitemized Contributions

$240.1K

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
$1.1M

134.0% 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
$441.9K

388.0% higher than the average legislators

Grand Total for Elections

$1.5M

174.0% 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
Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California$199.88Dec 9, 2024Food and Beverages

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
#102/120

This legislator is ranked 102nd highest for the amount of personal gifts received.

Policy

Bills Authored by Patrick Ahrens

ACR 122
Anesthesiologists Week.

Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Rules

In Progress
Anesthesiologists Week.Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Rules
AB 1359
Jury service exemptions.

Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Judiciary

In Progress
Jury service exemptions.Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Judiciary
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 13592MIN
Jan 26, 2026

AB 1359

Jury service exemptions.

Preview image for AB 135913MIN
Jan 13, 2026

AB 1359

Jury service exemptions.

Preview image for AB 2431MIN
Sep 11, 2025

AB 243

Postsecondary education: student financial aid dependency status: juveniles.

Preview image for AB 133250SEC
Sep 11, 2025

AB 1332

Medicinal cannabis: shipments.

Preview image for AB 46143SEC
Sep 10, 2025

AB 461

Truancy.

Preview image for AB 13261MIN
Sep 9, 2025

AB 1326

Health masks: right to wear.

Preview image for AB 131440SEC
Sep 8, 2025

AB 1314

Transitional housing placement providers.

Preview image for AB 133215MIN
Jul 16, 2025

AB 1332

Medicinal cannabis: shipments.

Preview image for AB 34021MIN
Jul 15, 2025

AB 340

Employer-employee relations: confidential communications.

Preview image for AB 46110MIN
Jul 15, 2025

AB 461

Truancy.

Preview image for AB 13264MIN
Jul 15, 2025

AB 1326

Health masks: right to wear.

Preview image for AJR 1217MIN
Jul 10, 2025

AJR 12

Head Start program.

View All Hearings

District

View of map with yellow overlay for Assembly District 26 boundaries.
District 26 is a Safe Democratic District
Democratic Party candidate has a very high likelihood of winning in an election

Previous Election (2024):

Patrick Ahrens
56%
WON
Tara Sreekrishnan
44%

Party Registration

Census Data

Median age0102030

Median age