Two candidates with deep roots, who grew up in the county and attended local high schools, are running for the 79th Assembly District seat.
Democrat LaShae Sharp-Collins has served for two years and is hoping to retain the seat for another term. Challenger Andrew Lawson, a Republican, is running his first political campaign.
The 79th district represents residents in La Mesa, El Cajon, Lemon Grove, several southeastern San Diego neighborhoods and the unincorporated communities of Spring Valley and Bonita. The district skews blue, with more than 123,300 registered Democrats and nearly 61,000 registered Republicans as of June, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Sharp-Collins, 46, was elected in 2024 and hopes to continue the work she began in Sacramento. Since taking office, she’s introduced more than 30 bills, including a measure that ended an outdated CalWORKS rule that penalized working parents and a bill banning law enforcement officers for three years from using gloves that deliver electric shocks.
On her website, Sharp-Collins said her legislation seeks to address the challenges working families face and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to thrive, with a focus on “strengthening our communities, promoting economic justice, expanding access to critical resources, and ensuring that no family is left behind.”
Sharp-Collins grew up in the district, graduating from Lincoln High before going on to San Diego State University, where she completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees and earned a doctorate in educational leadership. She worked as district director for former Assemblymember Shirley Weber, now secretary of state, and also was a lecturer at SDSU and a community engagement specialist with the county Office of Education. She has two children and lives in the Jamacha neighborhood.
Lawson, 37, was appointed to the Spring Valley community planning group in 2024 and lives in his family home with his parents to help them out with bills. He said he decided to run for the seat because he wanted to get involved and because no one else stepped up.
Sharp-Collins didn’t face a Republican challenger in 2024.
A graduate of Monte Vista High School, Lawson initially pursued education as a career before pivoting to accounting. He earned a bachelor’s in educational studies and a master’s in secondary education from Grand Canyon University and holds an accounting degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
In the primary, Sharp-Collins pulled in 61% of the vote, while Lawson captured 39%.
Sharp-Collins has amassed a much larger campaign war chest leading up to the November general election, raising $309,394 since Jan. 1, including $85,555 in the most recent reporting period from July 1 through Sept. 19. Since the beginning of the year, Lawson has raised $14,554, including $891 in the most recent reporting period.
The campaign for the assembly seat has been low-key. A nonpartisan forum was proposed in September but was never finalized. That day, Lawson showed up at the Malcolm X library branch in Valencia Park and talked briefly with a small group of supporters, telling them he feels some community’s needs are being ignored, and that he disagrees with what’s happening in the state capital. “Sacramento is a complete and utter failure to the state of California right now,” he said.
He said improving education, public safety and the economy were his top priorities, and he is opposed to raising taxes. He said public schools are failing to teach reading, writing and math, leaving some students having to take extra classes when they go to college — which makes higher education more costly.
Lawson said he soured on becoming a teacher because he didn’t like California’s policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially mandates that students wear masks in class and limits on in-person classes. He said schools should focus resources on reading, writing and math skills instead of topics around gender, sexuality and puberty, which he said are better addressed by parents.
He said he would seek to ban sex offenders from holding office, tie superintendent salaries to school district performance and cut red tape related to building homes and starting businesses.
Sharp-Collins said her past work as a staffer meant she had few surprises during her first term because she knew how things worked. She said she tried to mitigate the impacts of federal budget cuts on childcare, housing, CalWORKs, CalFresh, healthcare and other programs, and helped bring $405 million in funding back to San Diego.
“I’ve been able to deliver on a number of things not only for my district but for the entire state of California,” she said.
Her top goals in a second term include improving housing affordability, protecting access to quality health care, ensuring educational and workforce development opportunities and protecting the environment.