Richard Pan
Democratic
| Date | Party | Office | Votes | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11-02-2010 | Democratic | AD-05 | 78239 | Win |
| 11-06-2012 | Democratic | AD-09 | 86092 | Win |
| 11-04-2014 | Democratic | SD-06 | 96688 | Win |
| 11-06-2018 | Democratic | SD-06 | 212903 | Win |
Candidate Biography:
Born: October 28, 1965 in Pennsylvania
Married: Wen-Li Wang
Children: William and Alexander
Previous: Commissioner, Sacramento First 5 Commission
2016: Delegate, Democratic National Convention
2024: Candidate for Mayor of Sacramento (Lost)
- VACCINATION LEGISLATION: Pan authored a series of bills relating to vaccinations. AB 2109 (2012) permitted parents to continue to enroll their unvaccinated children in public schools due to "personal beliefs", but required them to meet with a health care practitioner to discuss the benefits and risks of immunizations. SB 277 (2015) eliminated the "personal beliefs" exemption from immunization and mandate that all children (except for those with medical conditions preventing it) be immunized prior to starting school but still permitted doctors to authorize medical exemptions to the mandatory vaccines. SB 276 (2019), among other provisions, requires the California Department of Public Health to to annually review immunization reports from schools and institutions to identify schools with an immunization rate of less than 95% and physicians and surgeons who submitted 5 or more medical exemption forms in a calendar year. SB 276 also creates an independent review panel under the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to review appeals to medical exemption denials or revocations.
- LEGISLATION: Author of SB 530 (Chapt. 496, Stats of 2015), which permits passengers to consume alcohol aboard pedicabs (large pedal-powered vehicles that seat 8 or more passengers).
- LEGISLATION: Coauthor of SR 39 (2015) which found that "Presidential candidates including Donald Trump have unfairly demonized and falsely blamed undocumented immigrant families for a range of problems and challenges facing the United States" and "calls upon the State of California to divest from" and "private businesses and individuals throughout California to end all business ties with" Donald Trump and his companies.
- In 2015, Pan was the target of an attempted recall led Katherine Duran and 49 others. The recall failed to qualify for the ballot. In 2019, Pan was the target of three attempted recalls led by Austin Bennett. The recalls failed to qualify for the ballot.
- Legislative Altercation: On August 21, 2019, Kenneth Austin Bennett was cited for misdemeanor assault after shoving Senator Pan on the 800 block of L Street in Sacramento. Bennett explained to the press that he shoved the Senator "to help bring awareness" to the Senator's legislation on vaccines. Pan was uninjured.
- MINORITY VICTORY: In the 2010 General Election, Pan became the last Assembly candidate in California to win with less than 50% of the votes cast in that contest (he won with 49.5%). The Final Minority Victors were: Kamala Harris (statewide), Jerry McNerney (Congress), Jeff Denham (State Senate), and Richard Pan (Assembly).
- CLOSE CONTEST: In the 2024 contest for Mayor of Sacramento, Richard Pan initially led on election night, followed by Steve Hansen (1.0% behind) and Kevin McCarty (1.4% behind). One week later, Dr. Flo Cofer had taken the top spot with McCarty in third place behind Pan by a little less than 160 votes (0.23%). The update on March 15th placed Cofer and McCarty in the top two (0.17% votes ahead of Pan and 0.57% votes ahead of Steve Hansen).