Natasha Johnson sworn in as Essayli’s successor

Natasha Johnson, the Assemblywoman-elect for the 63rd Assembly District encompassing parts of Riverside County such as Menifee, Norco, parts of Riverside and Lake Elsinore, was sworn in at the California State Capitol on Sept. 8. She proceeded immediately to the assembly floor to take her seat.

This comes almost two weeks after she was declared the winner of the special election for the district on Aug. 26, which was caused by the resignation of Assemblyman Bill Essayli on April 2. Essayli had represented the district since December 2022 and had resigned after he was appointed as the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California. 

Johnson won her race by a margin of 4,539 votes or 6.96% as she secured a total of 34,860 votes or 53.4% of the popular vote. Her Democratic opponent, Chris Shoults, an educator and the runner-up for the seat in the 2024 election against former Assemblyman Bill Essayli, secured 30,321 votes or 46.5%.

Johnson and Shoults made it to the special election after none of the candidates in the 4-way June primary election secured 50% of the vote, thus sending it to a runoff. The results of the primary were Johnson (Republican) with 26,735 votes (46.1%), Shoults (Democrat) with 25,557 votes (44.1%), Vincent Romo (Republican) with 4,881 votes (8.43%) and Zachary Consalvo (Libertarian) with 756 votes (1.31%).

Prior to her election to the assembly, Johnson had served as a member of the Lake Elsinore City Council from December 2012 to September 2025, having served three times as mayor during that timespan (2014-2015, 2018-2019 and 2023-2024).

Johnson’s campaign was endorsed by many notable individuals such as Riverside County Sheriff and 2026 Gubernatorial Candidate Chad Bianco, Congressman Ken Calvert, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin and Essayli himself. Johnson was also endorsed by Supervisor Chuck Washington, a Democrat who represents District 3 on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors.

A few hours after the initial results for the special election were released on Aug. 24, Johnson had declared victory in the race in which she published the following statement on her campaign’s Instagram page:

“It is with immense honor and gratitude to the voters of the 63rd Assembly District for their confidence in electing me as their next Assemblywomen,” she said. “We ran a positive campaign and it’s clear (that the) voters have spoken (and that they) want balance in Sacramento where one party rule has prevailed for far too long.”

Meanwhile, back in Lake Elsinore, Johnson’s city council seat for District 4 is now classified as vacant until the city appoints an individual to fill the vacancy on the council. Due to the city not wanting to foot the massive cost of a special election for Johnson’s vacant council seat, whoever the city chooses to replace her for District 4 will serve the remainder of Johnson’s term that will expire in December 2028.