Dave Jones and Angelique Ashby will face off in fall for California Senate District 8

Two candidates who have spent months scuffling to represent Sacramento in the State Senate will continue their fight into the fall.

City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby and former insurance commissioner Dave Jones, both Democrats, took the top two spots in Tuesday’s primary for Senate District 8 seat.

Jones has 45.8% of the vote and Ashby 42.1% in unofficial returns.

Union representative Rafael Garcia, also a Democrat, trailed in third place with 12%.

The top two finishers advance to the November general election.

The District 8 seat opened up to newcomers because incumbent Sen. Richard Pan is termed out. Ashby and Jones, both longtime local political figures, had the most name recognition and raised substantial amounts of money.

Political Action Committees (PACs) and independent expenditures have also factored into the District 8 race in a big way.

Moderate Democratic PACs brought together a variety of interest groups, including oil and energy companies, to spend millions of dollars advertising against Jones.

One of the PACs, Californians for Jobs and a Strong Economy, also made a large donation to Ashby’s campaign. The PAC receives a chunk of funding from Chevron and other oil companies, which prompted Jones to label her as a “corporate candidate” taking money from “big oil.”

Ashby has attempted to refute these claims, saying she signed a pledge against taking oil money and has not accepted funds directly from the companies.

This story was originally published June 7, 2022 at 8:29 PM.