Rhodesia Ransom is an American politician serving as a member of the California State Assembly for the 13th district, based in San Joaquin County, since 2024. A Democrat, she previously served on the Tracy City Council from 2016 to 2020.
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.
Career Ransom was elected to the Tracy City Council in 2016 and served on the council until November 2020. She criticized the firing of the city's police department chief Larry Esquivel in 2018, calling the move by city manager Randall Bradley political.
She ran for San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors in 2020, narrowly losing in the general election to Tracy mayor Robert Rickman. In April 2021, Ransom was appointed district director for U.S. representative Josh Harder. She was elected to serve as one of 30 representatives for California to the Democratic National Committee in 2022.
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. 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. Despite the last-minute switch, Ransom defeated Edith and McNerney defeated Carlos in their respective elections.
Electoral history Tracy City Council
San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors
California State Assembly
References
External links Campaign website