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Headshot of Rebecca Bauer-Kahan

Rebecca Bauer-Kahan

Democrat, State Assembly
District 16, San Ramon
Time in office:
  • Assembly: 2018-present

News coverage of Rebecca Bauer-Kahan

Bio

Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, 47, sometimes referred by her initials “RBK,” rode the “blue wave” of anti-Trump sentiment in 2018 to narrowly defeat incumbent Republican Catharine Baker. She’s a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown University Law Center. Before serving in the Assembly, she taught appellate law and legal research at Santa Clara and Golden Gate universities. She founded the Select Committee on Reproductive Health and she’s fought to make California a sanctuary state for abortion and gender-affirming care. She authored a bill Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed that would have prohibited AI chatbots from using language harmful to children. She and her husband have three children.

Leader Badges

Environment Badge

Ideology

Left

Moderate

Right

Bill Activity

0

Of 23 bills:
6 Passed
4 Failed
13 Pending

For this session year, this legislator initiated 23 bills: 6 passed, 4 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

$19.0K

Communications & Electronics

$25.5K

Construction

$11.0K

Energy & Natural Resources

$14.0K

Finance, Insurance & Real Estate

$75.3K

General Business

$69.1K

Government Agencies/Education/Other

$41.5K

Health

$48.5K

Ideology/Single Issue

$14.0K

Labor

$158.6K

Lawyers & Lobbyists

$2.0K

Party

$1.1K

Transportation

$26.5K

Uncoded

$119.2K

Unitemized Contributions

$122.4K

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
$747.8K

58.0% 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

$748.1K

33.0% 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
Stanford University$500Nov 20, 2021Tickets and food/drinks to Stanford Football Game
San Francisco 49ers$420Sep 26, 20212 Tickets for 49ers footbal game
CA Jewish Legislative Caucus Leadership Foundation $309.95Jan 28, 2021Lunch, mug, Tzedakah Box, jacket
Senator Josh Becker$150Sep 30, 2021gift card
Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs (APAPA) Tri Valley Chapter$99Dec 12, 2021Harry & David gift pack.
CA Dem Party$60.99Aug 24, 2021Dem Caucus Lunch
CA Dem Party$60.99Sep 3, 2021Dem Caucus Lunch
Connor Lam$58Nov 5, 2021Chocolates
CA Dem Party$56.93May 4, 2021Dem Caucus Lunch
California Issues Forum$50.11Jun 6, 2021Lunch
Showing 1-10 of 13 rows

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
#10/120

This legislator is ranked 10th highest for the amount of personal gifts received.

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 4551SEC
Sep 12, 2025

AB 45

Privacy: health data: location and research.

Preview image for AB 29051SEC
Sep 12, 2025

AB 290

California FAIR Plan Association: automatic payments.

Preview image for AB 561MIN
Sep 12, 2025

AB 56

Social media: warning labels.

Preview image for AB 10642MIN
Sep 11, 2025

AB 1064

Leading Ethical AI Development (LEAD) for Kids Act.

Preview image for AB 62156SEC
Sep 10, 2025

AB 621

Deepfake pornography.

Preview image for AB 43250SEC
Sep 10, 2025

AB 432

Menopause.

Preview image for AB 77446SEC
Sep 8, 2025

AB 774

Civil actions: enforcement of judgments.

Preview image for AB 57854SEC
Sep 4, 2025

AB 578

Food delivery platforms: customer service.

Preview image for ACR 1132MIN
Aug 25, 2025

ACR 113

Intellectual Property Awareness Month.

Preview image for AB 5631MIN
Jul 16, 2025

AB 56

Social media: warning labels.

Preview image for AB 43224MIN
Jul 16, 2025

AB 432

Menopause.

Preview image for AB 101829MIN
Jul 15, 2025

AB 1018

Automated decision systems.

View All Hearings

District

View of map with yellow overlay for Assembly District 16 boundaries.
District 16 is a Safe Democratic District
Democratic Party candidate has a very high likelihood of winning in an election

Previous Election (2024):

Joseph A. Rubay
35.9%
Rebecca Bauer-Kahan
64.1%
WON

Party Registration

Census Data

Median age010203040

Median age