Christopher Ward
- Assembly: 2020-present
News coverage of Christopher Ward
Bio
Chris Ward, 47, was co-author of a bill, modeled after Texas’s abortion legislation, that aims to open gun manufacturers up to lawsuits from victims of gun violence. He was appointed in 2023 to head the Assembly housing committee. Prior to his election to the Assembly, he was on the San Diego City Council. He was chief of staff to former Assemblymember and Senator Marty Block. He’s a member of the Assembly LGBTQ caucus. He was an environmental planner at the firm EDAW. He has a degree from Johns Hopkins University and a master’s in public policy and urban planning from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He and his partner have two children and a cairn terrier.
Leader Badges
Ideology
Left
Moderate
Right
Bill Activity
0
Of 55 bills:For this session year, this legislator initiated 55 bills: 13 passed, 4 failed, and 38 are currently pending.
Money Tracker
In the last session, this legislator received 47.0% less than their colleagues and at least $212,820.0 from the 'Labor' donor group, which represented 26.76% of their contributions.
Financials
This feature tracks three sources of money intended to help a candidate win election: 1-Money given directly to a candidate’s committee, 2-Money given to an Independent Expenditure Committee, 3-Money given to a political party. (NOTE: Senators are elected every four years. Twenty of the 40 Senators are on the ballot in even-numbered years, so Senators may do little or no fundraising in the first two-year session of their Senate term).
Election
This display shows money given directly to the incumbent’s campaign committee (NOTE: The industry categories for donors come from Open Secrets, a nonpartisan research organization for campaign finance. Some contributions are “uncoded,” meaning they have not been assigned to an industry sector. As a result, the total for each sector is also an estimate).
Agriculture
Communications & Electronics
Construction
Defense
Energy & Natural Resources
Finance, Insurance & Real Estate
General Business
Government Agencies/Education/Other
Health
Ideology/Single Issue
Labor
Lawyers & Lobbyists
Transportation
Uncoded
Unitemized Contributions
Candidate Donations
Individuals, corporations, organizations and committees are limited to a maximum donation to candidates of $5,500 for the primary and for the general elections.
29.0% lower than the average legislators
Party Committees
This is independent expenditure money spent by political parties for advertising, grassroots mobilization or other activities targeting this candidate. Separately, political parties can give an unlimited amount of money directly to a candidate's campaign committee. Digital Democracy tallies that money under "candidate donations".
96.0% lower than the average legislators
Independent Expenditures
Money from Independent Expenditure Committees (IEC) for advertising or grassroots activity to help a candidate win office is unlimited, but it cannot be spent in coordination with the candidate or the candidate's campaign.
100.0% lower than the average legislators
Grand Total for Elections
47.0% lower than the average legislators
This is a total of the money to help this legislator win office including direct donations to the candidate, money from Independent Expenditure Committees and money from political parties.
Influence
There are three categories of donations to legislators after they are elected that encourage a working relationship between the donor and the legislator. The three categories are: 1-Gifts, 2-Travel, 3-Behests.
Giver | Value | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viejas Tribal Council | $300 | Apr 22, 2022 | hotel stay |
| Illumina Geomics | $193.75 | Sep 28, 2022 | Event Admission |
| San Diego Labor Council | $150 | May 16, 2022 | lunch |
| California Jewish Legislative Caucus Leadership Foundation | $142.77 | Aug 16, 2022 | Dinner |
| Downtown San Diego Partnership | $105 | Mar 24, 2022 | Food and drink |
| CA Legislative LGBT Foundation | $99.53 | Jun 8, 2022 | Pride Celebration |
| California Faculty Association | $95.18 | Apr 19, 2022 | Food and Drink |
| Equality California | $90 | Mar 22, 2022 | Awards |
| San Diego State University | $78.12 | Oct 3, 2022 | tickets |
| California Democratic Party | $67.87 | Aug 16, 2022 | Lunch |
Personal Gifts
Legislators are not allowed to accept gifts of more than $10 per month from registered lobbyists. Gifts from any other single source are limited to $590 in a calendar year.
Gift Received Rating
This legislator is ranked 30th highest for the amount of personal gifts received.
Policy
Bills Authored by Chris Ward
Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Housing and Community Development
Committee: Assembly Standing Committee on Education
Committees
Most of the policy work in the state Capitol is done in “Standing” committees. Legislators also work on budget subcommittees. There are also “Special” and “Select” committees with a more narrow topic focus. And there are “Joint” committees with members from the Senate and Assembly.
Assembly Standing Committee on Housing and Community Development
Assembly Standing Committee on Budget
Assembly Standing Committee on Labor and Employment
Assembly Standing Committee on Local Government
Assembly Standing Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection
Assembly Standing Committee on Transportation
Interest Group Rankings
Generally Aligned
Hearings
Featured Comments
Below are links to the video and transcript of recent, substantive comments by this legislator in committee hearings or floor sessions.
District
Previous Election:
Party Registration
Key
District
State
Census Data
Median age