[ALL CALIFORNIA]
Each vote has a value, which everyone knows — but when asking people publicly, most couldn't even guess. A few guessed $10, most guessed hundreds, and very few thought in thousands. The actual number is around $19K.
The math is simple: $349B Budget ÷ 121 = $2.8B impact factor each. $2.8B ÷ 300,000 voters per Assembly District × 2 (Assembly Term) = ~$19K.
Credit : Naomi Heinen the campaign staff of Chirag Kathrani, Candidate for California Assembly AD16.
During primaries, only 1/3 of voters actually vote — technically making your vote three times more valuable.
In early 2025, when I was analyzing the data, I saw an interesting pattern. It should be obvious, but how much it mattered in numbers was even more striking. In the City of San Ramon District 3, which went unopposed, 25% of people left the ballot empty, and participation dropped from 86% to 72% (a 14% drop).
Here is a short clip highlighting how unchallenged races reduce participation. This has gone unaddressed by all the leadership clubs.
Seventeen Months Later:
Now in May 2026 ballots are with every voters. But few may have realized that 65% races are Unchallenged. Including 11 out of 12 Superior Court Judges.
Credit : Contra Costa County Clerk Recorder website. (Open Positions)
This is important. When less people are running the participation drops. During Primaries it is as low as Thirty Three percent.
On the other hand, when participation improves, community engagement improves too, resulting in stronger governance.
During primary elections, many major races actually get finalized. Some politicians call this "match fixing."
Regardless of which party you support, leaving races unchallenged is a failure of all leadership organizations within the community — and it can only improve if more people join the race.
For example: County Assessor, County Clerk (responsible for ensuring community engagement in elections), County Auditor-Controller (auditing billions in budget), all Superior Court Judges, and County School Superintendent. Many of these are high-paying roles (~$300K+).
We have launched a campaign to improve participation. For every $19 donated to our campaign, our team will reach out to a "never voter" (a registered voter who has not voted in last 4 elections) and ensure they vote — a value creation of ~$19K.
Buy Door knocks at chiragforcommunity.com/donate
PAID FOR BY CHIRAG KATHRANI FOR STATE ASSEMBLY 2026
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