Rhodesia Ransom

Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom is a Democratic businesswoman, nonprofit leader, and community organizer representing California's 13th Assembly District, which encompasses Stockton, Tracy, Mountain House, and surrounding communities in San Joaquin County ^[1]. Raised in San Francisco, she spent much of her childhood working alongside her grandmother, a missionary, connecting working-class families to food, housing, and essential services ^[2]. Ransom earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from San Francisco State University in 1998 and a Master of Public Administration from Golden Gate University in 2008, and has taught graduate-level courses in public policy and public finance ^[1][2]. She co-founded the Sow A Seed Community Foundation, a nonprofit that partners with school districts and mental health providers to deliver mentoring, gang prevention, and counseling programs for youth ^[1][3]. Her public service career spans more than two decades, including seven years on the Tracy Planning Commission, a term on the Tracy City Council beginning in 2016, and a stint as congressional district director for U.S. Representative Josh Harder ^[3][4]. Elected to the Assembly in November 2024 with nearly 57 percent of the vote, Ransom was sworn in on December 2, 2024, becoming the successor to Carlos Villapudua in a district she has described as home to middle-class families struggling with California's cost of living ^[1][5]. She has received endorsements from Planned Parenthood Advocates Mar Monte, abortion expansion for All, and other progressive organizations, and has taken positions that diverge from CFC's family-focused policy priorities ^[2][6]. With a 15% CFC Biblical Values Scorecard rating, her voting record has diverged from the California Family Council's worldview framework on the sanctity of life (Chapter 6), parental authority (Chapter 8), and religious liberty (Chapter 9).

Rhodesia Ransom's journey into public life began in the neighborhoods of San Francisco, where she grew up watching her grandmother serve as a missionary to underserved communities ^[2]. That formative experience instilled a commitment to grassroots service that would define her career. After completing her undergraduate degree at San Francisco State University, she settled in Tracy with her husband, where the couple raised three children and became deeply embedded in civic life ^[1][3].

Ransom's formal entry into government came when she was appointed to the Tracy Planning Commission in 2009, where she served for seven years overseeing land use, zoning, and development policy ^[2][3]. In 2016, she won election to the Tracy City Council, where she secured funding for the city's first permanent homeless shelter and shepherded the first affordable housing project Tracy had seen in two decades ^[1].

Her 13.8% Biblical Values Scorecard rating across 29 scored floor votes reflects consistent divergence from CFC's worldview framework. Her voting record has supported abortion access expansion over the sanctity of human life, government-directed education over parental authority and school choice, and progressive social mandates over religious liberty protections.

In 2024, Ransom initially entered the race for State Senate District 5 but withdrew after the primary and instead won the Assembly District 13 contest, defeating Republican Denise Aguilar Mendez with 56.9 percent of the general election vote ^[1]. She was sworn in by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas on December 2, 2024, and quickly earned a reputation as an active legislator ^[5].