Rhodesia Ransom

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

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

Early life and education

Ransom grew up in San Francisco and graduated from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and from Golden Gate University with a Master of Public Administration.^[1]

Career

Ransom previously served on the Tracy City Council.^{[citation needed]}

She ran for San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors in 2020, narrowly losing in the general election to Robert Rickman.^[2] In 2022, Ransom was elected to serve as one of 30 representatives for California to the Democratic National Committee.^[3]

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 realtor Edith Villapudua, wife of moderate 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.^[4] 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.^[5][6] Despite the last-minute switch, Ransom defeated Edith and McNerney defeated Carlos in their respective elections.^[7]

Electoral history

Tracy City Council

2016 Tracy City Council election^[8]

Candidate		Votes	%
Nancy D. Young		11,176	26.22
Rhodesia Ransom		10,613	24.90
Mary Souza Mitracos		8,006	18.78
Anne Marie Fuller		6,936	16.27
Amer Hammudi		5,777	13.55
Write-in		119	0.28
Total votes		49,627	100.00

San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors

2020 San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors 5th district election^[9][10]

Primary election
Candidate		Votes	%
Robert Rickman		13,325	42.13
Rhodesia Ransom		9,332	29.51
Veronica Vargas		5,804	18.35
Mateo Morelos Bedolla		3,074	9.72
Write-in		93	0.29
Total votes		31,628	100.00
General election
Robert Rickman		34,180	50.52
Rhodesia Ransom		33,470	49.48
Total votes		67,650	100.00

California State Assembly

2024 California State Assembly 13th district election^[11][12]

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Rhodesia Ransom	27,255	41.6
	Republican	Denise Aguilar Mendez	24,823	37.9
	Democratic	Edith Villapudua	13,415	20.5
Total votes			65,493	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Rhodesia Ransom	78,071	56.9
	Republican	Denise Aguilar Mendez	59,237	43.1
Total votes			137,308	100.0
	Democratic hold

Personal life

Ransom lives in Tracy, California.^{[citation needed]}