Chris WardIncumbent
Candidate for Assembly District 78
Christopher (Chris) Ward is the incumbent Democratic member of the California State Assembly representing District 78, which covers San Diego and El Cajon. He was first elected in 2020 and re-elected in 2022 and 2024. He currently chairs the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee and the Select Committee on Biotechnology, serves as the Assembly's designee to the California State Coastal Conservancy, and is Vice Chair of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus. Before his election to the Assembly, Ward served on the San Diego City Council, where he wrote the city's Equal Pay Ordinance, chaired the Regional Task Force on the Homeless, and led the council's Land Use and Housing Committee. Earlier in his career, he worked as Chief of Staff to then-state Senator Marty Block and as an environmental planner at the firm EDAW. Ward holds a Bachelor of Arts from Johns Hopkins University and a Master's in Public Policy and Urban Planning from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He lives in the University Heights neighborhood of San Diego with his partner and their two children.
On the issues
Ward has made housing and homelessness a central focus of his work. He chairs the Assembly Housing Committee and has written bills to speed up housing development and update coastal accessory dwelling unit rules.
Source →Ward's official biography credits him with legislative work to cut access to untraceable "ghost guns."
Source →Ward has been an active advocate for LGBTQ rights. He served as Vice Chair, and later reported as Chair, of the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, and has written legislation on transgender legal rights and hate-motivated harassment.
Source →Ward has written legislation expanding the use of state education savings accounts. He has also been linked to school safety and LGBTQ student protection legislation.
Source →Ward lists climate as a top priority. He has written or co-written major climate and water bond legislation, and helped set up California's first community solar program.
Source →Ward has prioritized water supply issues and co-wrote a major state water and climate infrastructure bond.
Source →- Government, Elections & Democracy
Ward has been active on government transparency and data and location privacy issues. This includes legislation aimed at limiting government access, including immigration enforcement, to Californians' location data.
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