Rhodesia Ransom

Rhodesia Ransom is an American politician who is a member of the California State Assembly for the 13th district. A Democrat, she previously served on the Tracy City Council

Rhodesia Ransom
Member of the California State Assembly from the 13th district
Incumbent
Assumed office December 2, 2024
Preceded by	Carlos Villapudua
Personal details
Political party	Democratic
Education	Golden Gate University (MPA)

Early life and education

Ransom holds a Master of Public Administration from Golden Gate University.

Career

Ransom previously served on the Tracy City Council.

She ran for San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors in 2020, narrowly losing in the general election to Robert Rickman.^[1] In 2022, Ransom was elected to serve as one of 30 representatives for California to the Democratic National Committee.^[2]

California Assembly campaign

Ransom initially ran for the 5th district of the California State Senate, the seat of term-limited incumbent Susan Talamantes Eggman. She was endorsed by the California Democratic Party and faced Edith Villapudua, wife of Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua. However, the couple switched races on the day before California's candidate filing deadline, with Carlos running for Senate and Edith running for his Assembly seat.^[3] The move was characterized as a ploy to better each of their electoral prospects; however it drove former U.S. Representative Jerry McNerney to join the Senate race and Ransom to also switch into the Assembly election.^[4][5] Despite the last-minute switch, Ransom defeated Edith and McNerney defeated Carlos in their respective elections.^[6]

Electoral history

2024

2024 California's 13th State Assembly district election

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Rhodesia Ransom
	Republican	Denise Aguilar Mendez
	Democratic	Edith Villapudua
Total votes				100.0
General election
	Democratic	Rhodesia Ransom
	Republican	Denise Aguilar Mendez
Total votes				100.0

2020

2020 San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors District 5 Election^[7][8]

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Robert Rickman	13,325	42.13
	Nonpartisan	Rhodesia Ransom	9,332	29.51
	Nonpartisan	Veronica Vargas	5,804	18.35
	Nonpartisan	Mateo Morelos Bedolla	3,074	9.72
	Nonpartisan	Mateo Morelos Bedolla	3,074	9.72
	Write-in		93	0.29%
Total votes			31,628	100.0
General election
	Nonpartisan	Robert Rickman	34,180	50.52
	Nonpartisan	Rhodesia Ransom	33,470	49.48
Total votes			67,650	100.0

Personal life

Ransom lives in Tracy, California.