Six Candidates, Three Hometown Names: A Lodi Guide to the 9th Assembly District Primary
Six Candidates, Three Hometown Names: A Lodi Guide to the 9th Assembly District Primary
LodiEye — May 2026
Summary
The 9th Assembly District spans five counties — from the Elk Grove suburbs through Stockton, Lodi, Manteca, Ripon, and Modesto, into the Amador and Calaveras foothills — but its political center of gravity sits in Lodi. Three of the six candidates on the June 2 primary ballot live in our immediate area: Tami Nobriga in Lodi, Jim Shoemaker in Clements, and Matthew Adams in Woodbridge. Incumbent Heath Flora's official residence is in Ripon, with Brandon Owen of Galt and Michael Perez of Waterford rounding out the largest AD-9 field since Flora first won the seat in 2016.
The June 2 primary will narrow that field to two finalists for the November general election, regardless of party. This guide walks Lodi voters through who is running, what their priorities are, where their money and endorsements come from, and how each candidate's positions intersect with the issues that matter most in our part of the district.
Why this race runs through Lodi
AD-9 is an irregular, mostly rural district that links bedroom communities outside Sacramento with the agricultural heartland of San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. By population, Lodi is one of its larger anchors. By political infrastructure, it is the largest. The San Joaquin and Stanislaus county Republican central committees, the Greater Lodi Area Democrats, and the regional labor councils all draw their organizing strength from this part of the district.
That has produced the most contested AD-9 primary in a decade. The last time Flora faced more than a single token challenger in a primary was 2016. Since then, his victories have been landslides, including a 70-percent showing in 2022 against a third-party opponent when no Democrat filed at all. In 2024, Flora drew his first repeat challenger when Tami Nobriga ran as an American Independent and took 29.9 percent of the November general-election vote without a Democrat on the ballot. This cycle, he is facing five.
For Lodi voters, the practical question is whether the district's representative — currently the leader of the Assembly Republican Caucus — will be replaced by someone with a stronger local presence, or whether Flora's institutional position in Sacramento outweighs his diminishing presence at home. The Stanislaus, San Joaquin, and Amador Republican central committees have already answered that question by formally endorsing his challenger. Whether voters do the same depends on the structural facts of the district, the dynamics of a six-way ballot, and which candidates can break through in the final weeks of the campaign.
The six candidates at a glance
| Candidate | Party | Lives In | Background | Prior Runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heath Flora | Republican | Ripon (registered) | Assembly Republican Leader; farmer; firefighter equipment business | Five-term incumbent; first elected 2016 |
| Jim Shoemaker | Republican | Clements | Contractor; former president, California Republican Assembly | 2000 SD-5; 2022 CD-9; 2024 SD-5 (fourth run) |
| Tami Nobriga | Republican | Lodi | Marketing and advertising consultant | 2024 AD-9 (29.9% in November general) |
| Brandon Owen | Republican | Galt | Real estate broker; founder of Max Muscle Nutrition & Wellness | First run for office |
| Matthew Adams | Democrat | Woodbridge | Substitute teacher; community organizer; Lodi High alumnus | First run for office |
| Michael Perez | Democrat | Waterford | Water treatment operator | First run for office |
The Lodi-area three
Tami Nobriga (R) — Lodi
A 64-year-old Lodi-based advertising and marketing consultant, Tami Nobriga is running her second consecutive race for AD-9. In 2024 she advanced from the March primary as an American Independent and faced Flora in the November general, taking 55,169 votes — 29.9 percent of the total — without a Democrat on the ballot. This cycle she has switched to a Republican registration and is one of four Republicans in the field.
Her platform is built on what she describes as conservative Christian convictions: legislation imposing life-without-parole sentences for child traffickers, armed security in schools, banning pharmaceutical advertising on radio and television, opposing vaccine mandates, and reversing California's elder parole law. She has been explicit that she will not accept donations from "Big Pharma or special interests" and frames climate change as a hoax. She has not reported fundraising at levels meeting standard news coverage thresholds and has no major institutional endorsements in the 2026 race.
Her base of support rests on personal recognition from the 2024 race and her own social-media outreach rather than party infrastructure. With three other Republicans now on the ballot — including the incumbent and the candidate the local GOP central committees have rallied around — her structural path to a top-two finish is narrower than it was two years ago.
Jim Shoemaker (R) — Clements
A 63-year-old Clements-based contractor, Jim Shoemaker has lived in the immediate Lodi area for 34 years. After his father's death when he was 10, he moved to South Dakota as a teenager to work on his uncle's farm, where he learned grain harvesting and ran custom-harvest operations from Texas to Canada. He returned to California, drove truck as a Teamster, started his own trucking company, and has since worked in agriculture, construction, life insurance, and real estate. He led the California Republican Assembly — the state's oldest Republican volunteer organization — for more than 20 years.
This is Shoemaker's fourth run for elected office. He ran for State Senate District 5 in 2000, for U.S. Congress in 2022 against Rep. Josh Harder, and for State Senate District 5 again in 2024, when he won the primary against Carlos Villapudua and faced former U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerney in an unusual D-vs-R general — McNerney won. Shoemaker had been preparing a second run against Harder before pivoting to AD-9 in early December 2025.
His coalition is the most institutional of any challenger in the field. The Stanislaus, San Joaquin, and Amador county Republican central committees have all formally endorsed him over the incumbent. Rep. Tom McClintock, who recently received the California GOP's endorsement for CD-5, has also endorsed him. Lodi City Councilman Cameron Bregman is named in Shoemaker's own candidate questionnaire as a supporter, though Bregman has not made a public statement explaining his rationale. Shoemaker's largest single reported donor is Robert Beadles, a Reno-based investor whose $11,800 contribution dwarfs his other receipts; Beadles has been the subject of investigative reporting by The Nevada Independent, KUNR Public Radio, and APM Reports documenting his promotion of election-fraud conspiracy theories and his citation of antisemitic propaganda.
His platform centers on water reliability under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, infrastructure investment, protecting the wine and agriculture economy, public safety, and cost-of-living relief. He frames his candidacy as a rejection of career politics and emphasizes his decades of contracting experience over Sacramento credentials.
Matthew Adams (D) — Woodbridge
Matthew Adams is a Woodbridge-based teacher and community organizer making his first run for elected office. A Lodi High School alumnus, he earned a bachelor's degree in government from California State University, Sacramento, in 2017. He served as an intern under former Assemblyman Jim Cooper, who held the predecessor seat to AD-9 from 2014 to 2022 and now serves as Sacramento County Sheriff. Adams has taught middle and high school students in mathematics, science, and social studies; worked as a regional field organizer for Equality California, leading voter-registration and canvassing campaigns across the Central Valley; and served as a volunteer-services coordinator for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento. He is also a longtime performer with ComedySportz Sacramento.
Adams is the only Democrat in the field running an active campaign and the only candidate to sign the Money Out of Politics pledge, refusing corporate PAC contributions. The California Democratic Party formally endorsed him at its January 2026 pre-endorsing conference, where he received 36 of 39 votes — 92.31 percent — and was placed on the consent calendar for ratification at the February state convention. He has also received support from the Greater Lodi Area Democrats, including a $2,000 contribution. His campaign has reported approximately $21,500 in early fundraising activity, much of it from a $10,000 self-loan and small-dollar donors across Northern California.
His platform leans progressive: universal healthcare, expanded affordable housing through a market-rate linkage fee, universal rent control and right to counsel for tenants, aggressive enforcement of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, opposition to the Delta Conveyance Project, ranked-choice voting, and public campaign financing. The structural challenge facing his campaign is the district's voter registration: roughly 41 percent Republican to 33 percent Democrat. His path to a top-two finish depends on Republican vote-splitting between Flora, Shoemaker, Nobriga, and Owen.
The three candidates from elsewhere
Heath Flora (R) — Ripon (registered)
The incumbent. Heath Flora was born in Stanislaus County in 1983 and has represented this district since 2016 — first as AD-12, then as AD-9 after redistricting. He is a farmer who served as a Cal Fire firefighter from 2005 to 2007 and volunteered as a firefighter for over 15 years; he owns Golden Valley Equipment, a used agricultural equipment business, and works for a company that manufactures nut-harvesting and forcible-entry firefighting equipment. He was unanimously elected leader of the Assembly Republican Caucus on July 8, 2025, and assumed the role of Minority Leader on September 16, 2025, succeeding term-limited James Gallagher.
An October 2025 Sacramento Bee investigation by reporter Kate Wolffe found that Flora does not actually live at the Ripon address registered as his legal domicile. According to that reporting, his ex-wife confirmed his children stay with him every other weekend at a home in Sacramento's Arden neighborhood. The Bee documented that Flora collected approximately $46,000 in taxpayer-funded per-diem stipends during the first nine months of the 2025 legislative session — a stipend that is tax-free only for legislators living more than 50 miles from the Capitol — and spent over $600,000 in 2024 campaign contributions, with substantial portions going to Sacramento-area meals labeled as "district meetings." Court records cited in the same reporting show Flora was the subject of a wage-garnishment claim filed by his ex-wife for unpaid child support; a San Joaquin County Superior Court ordered him to pay $16,000 in past-due child support and uncovered healthcare expenses for their two daughters. Flora has not publicly addressed the investigation.
His 2026 fundraising — over $142,000 in direct contributions in the first quarter alone, plus a $49,500 independent-expenditure contribution from Keeping Californians Working to a new IE committee called Valley Taxpayers Defenders to Support Flora — gives him a financial advantage no challenger can match. Notably, the Stanislaus, San Joaquin, and Amador Republican central committees in his own district endorsed his challenger Shoemaker rather than him, and Flora declined to participate in the Sacramento Bee's editorial endorsement process and was therefore disqualified from consideration.
Brandon Owen (R) — Galt
A Galt-based real estate broker and the founder of Max Muscle Nutrition & Wellness on C Street in Galt, Brandon Owen is a first-time candidate. He has identified himself as a Herald resident in some forum appearances; the Sacramento Bee describes him as a rancher, real estate broker, and small business owner. He is married with three sons.
The defining feature of Owen's candidacy is the Sacramento Bee Editorial Board's endorsement on April 24, 2026 — an unusual outcome given Flora is the incumbent and an Assembly leader. The Bee's reasoning emphasized Owen's focus on the property-insurance crisis affecting foothill and rural portions of the district, his proposal to require single-subject legislation and limit last-minute amendments, and his "practical, lived experience." The board acknowledged that his policy framework is still developing but said he offers "the clearest combination of practical experience, relevant insight and a focus on issues directly affecting district residents."
His platform centers on supporting law enforcement, reducing regulations on small businesses, lowering insurance costs (particularly for homeowners and auto), strengthening parental rights in education, and improving mental-health access. At the April 17 candidate forum at San Joaquin Delta College, he proposed launching a website that would let district residents vote on issues he would address in the Assembly, with the results guiding his decisions. He has not reported fundraising at levels meeting standard news coverage thresholds.
Michael Perez (D) — Waterford
The thinnest paper trail in the race. Michael Perez is a Waterford-based water-treatment operator running as a Democrat. He has not filed fundraising information with the California Secretary of State, does not have an identifiable campaign website, and did not attend the April 17 candidate forum. The Lodi News-Sentinel's candidate-profile package on the AD-9 race covered the other five candidates and did not include a Perez entry. He is on the certified ballot but is running no visible campaign by any conventional measure.
In a low-turnout primary, even a passive Democratic candidate can pull thousands of voters who reflexively choose the only "D" they see — a dynamic that could split the Democratic vote between Perez and Adams and complicate either candidate's path past the top-two threshold.
The money flowing into the race
The fundraising disparity in this race is the largest in any AD-9 primary since the 2021 redistricting. Flora's combined direct and IE-committee total in the first quarter of 2026 alone exceeds $191,000 — nearly nine times Adams's reported activity and more than sixteen times Shoemaker's largest itemized donation.
Reported 2026 fundraising activity by candidate (U.S. dollars)
Flora figures combine direct campaign contributions ($142,000) and independent-expenditure committee support ($49,500 from Keeping Californians Working to Valley Taxpayers Defenders). Shoemaker figure reflects the single itemized $11,800 contribution from Robert Beadles documented in Sacramento Bee coverage; total may be higher. Adams figure combines $9,500 starting cash, a $10,000 candidate self-loan, and a $2,000 contribution from the Greater Lodi Area Democrats. Nobriga, Owen, and Perez have not reported activity at levels meeting news coverage thresholds. Source: California Secretary of State filings as reported by the Sacramento Bee, April 2026.
Three patterns are worth flagging. First, Flora's direct donor list is heavily institutional: maximum-allowed primary contributions of $5,900 each from PACs representing real estate (the California Real Estate Political Action Committee), public safety (the Police Officers Research Association of California), and firefighting (the Sacramento Area Firefighters Union PAC), plus $7,500 from the Virginia-based sports-betting company FanDuel.
Second, the Valley Taxpayers Defenders independent-expenditure committee — a brand-new entity formed in spring 2026 to support Flora — has so far received a single $49,500 contribution from Keeping Californians Working, a coalition committee that pools donations from energy, insurance, healthcare, and technology corporations. California law requires the coalition to disclose only its top three contributors over $50,000 in the prior 12 months, so the surface filing understates the underlying funder list. Past disclosures and CalMatters reporting have identified Chevron, DaVita, Edison International, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Independent Expenditure Committee, Uber, Farmers Insurance, and Sempra Energy among the coalition's recent funders.
Third, Adams's funding is the smallest of any actively campaigning candidate but the most distributed. Consistent with his Money Out of Politics pledge, his report shows no corporate PAC contributions and no contributions over $2,000 from any single source.
The endorsement landscape
The endorsement picture is unusually scrambled for an incumbent's reelection. Normally an incumbent has the home-district party apparatus, the regional newspaper, and the major industry PACs. Flora has only the third of those.
Two dynamics are worth understanding. First, the local-party rebellion against Flora is unusual in California politics. It is rare for an Assembly leader to lose his home-district central committees to a challenger; the chairs of the Stanislaus and San Joaquin GOPs have explained their decisions in terms of Flora's invisibility in the district and his pattern of donating to county committees outside AD-9 — including $25,000 to the Sutter and San Bernardino county committees in 2025 — while sending $750 to Stanislaus and zero to San Joaquin. Second, the California Federation of Labor Unions endorsed Flora — the Republican incumbent — in 2024, and PORAC and the Sacramento Area Firefighters Union PAC have already maxed out to him in 2026. Adams, despite holding the official state Democratic Party endorsement, is unlikely to draw significant labor money this cycle: state-level union organizations focus their resources on swing seats, and AD-9 is structurally Republican-leaning.
AD-9 voter registration by party
Approximate registration shares for California's 9th Assembly District, 2026 primary. Source: California Secretary of State; reported by the Sacramento Bee.
Five issues that matter to Lodi
Water reliability and the Delta tunnels
SGMA implementation, surface-water allocations, and the Delta Conveyance Project are the most consequential single set of issues for Lodi-area agriculture, particularly winegrape growers. Adams supports aggressive SGMA enforcement and opposes the Delta tunnels. Shoemaker calls for accelerated water-storage projects, common-sense groundwater management, opposition to the tunnels, and protection of Delta water resources. Flora has consistently opposed the Delta tunnels and supported above-ground storage expansion. Owen has not specified a detailed water position. Nobriga frames water shortages as a product of "purposeful mismanagement" by current regulators rather than infrastructure or climate constraints. Perez has not articulated a public water position.
Wine and the agriculture economy
Lodi's wine industry has faced years of contraction, including vineyard pull-outs, export disruption from tariffs, and labor-cost pressure. Shoemaker emphasizes regulatory rollback and protection of the wine and ag economies as a top priority and has the most explicitly Lodi-focused platform plank on the issue. Flora has consistently advocated for Central Valley agriculture in Sacramento and points to his record on PAGA reform and ag-related legislation. Adams emphasizes water justice and SGMA enforcement as the foundation of long-term agricultural sustainability. Owen has spoken generally about supporting small businesses but has not detailed an ag-specific platform. Nobriga calls for the reversal of "insane water, farming and gas regulations." Perez has not articulated a public position.
Highway 99 and infrastructure
Shoemaker has identified Highway 99 corridor improvements, local farm-to-market routes, and regional connectors as a top priority, and has faulted Caltrans for what he describes as cost-shifting to local governments on freeway-ramp projects. At the April 17 candidate forum, Owen focused on construction practices and state regulations on roadwork materials rather than overall funding levels. Adams supports increased local road funding and investment in alternatives to driving, including bus and rail. Flora has secured ongoing transportation funding through Sacramento channels but has not made highway investment a central platform plank. Nobriga frames infrastructure issues as misappropriation of existing funds rather than a funding shortfall. Perez has not articulated a public position.
Homelessness and housing affordability
Adams supports a housing-first approach to homelessness, universal rent control, a market-rate linkage fee to fund a state housing trust, and a right to counsel for tenants facing eviction. Flora has authored legislation establishing a Manteca-area homeless navigation center and emphasizes local-government control over state mandates. Shoemaker calls for reducing permitting delays and increasing housing supply alongside accountability for state homelessness spending. Owen emphasizes practical solutions that move people toward stability while protecting public spaces. Nobriga proposes tax breaks for landlords as an incentive to lower rents. Perez has not articulated a public position.
Cost of living and the insurance crisis
Owen's most distinctive platform plank is on the property-insurance crisis affecting foothill and rural portions of the district — the issue that drove the Sacramento Bee's endorsement. He calls for a "happy medium" that brings insurers, regulators, and property owners to the same table. Flora has worked on the state's broader fire-insurance regulatory environment. Shoemaker emphasizes lower energy costs and tax relief as core cost-of-living priorities. Adams supports a progressive tax code, increased corporate tax rates, and a state-level wealth tax to fund public services. Nobriga calls for tax breaks for landlords and reversal of state gas taxes. Perez has not articulated a public position.
How and when to vote
The June 2, 2026 California primary uses a top-two system: the two highest vote-getters advance to the November 3 general election regardless of party affiliation. Vote-by-mail ballots have already been mailed to all registered voters in San Joaquin County. Ballots can be returned by mail (postage paid), dropped at any official drop box, or returned in person at the Registrar of Voters office in Stockton. Voters can also vote in person at any vote center in the county during the ten days preceding Election Day.
This LodiEye voter guide was produced using artificial intelligence tools under the direction and editorial review of Lodi411's human editor. Lodi411 uses multiple AI platforms in its research and publication workflow, including Anthropic's Claude (primarily Opus and Sonnet models) and Perplexity AI across a variety of large language models offered by each. These tools were used in the following capacities:
Source Discovery: AI-assisted search and retrieval identified primary reporting from the Sacramento Bee, Lodi News-Sentinel, Modesto Focus / Ceres Courier / Turlock Journal, Stocktonia News, CalMatters, Yahoo News syndication, and the Nevada Independent / KUNR / APM Reports investigative consortium, plus official records from the California Secretary of State, the California Democratic Party pre-endorsing conference, the California Federation of Labor Unions COPE convention, and Ballotpedia. Perplexity AI was used for initial source discovery and real-time data retrieval; Claude was used for deeper analysis of identified sources.
Credibility Validation: AI cross-referenced claims across multiple independent sources, prioritizing California Secretary of State campaign-finance filings, court records cited in published reporting, official party endorsement records, and named reporters' bylined investigations over aggregator content or unsourced claims. Multiple AI models independently verified key data points — including fundraising totals, endorsement records, and the chronology of Flora's leadership election — and flagged inconsistencies for human review.
Analysis and Synthesis: Claude Opus and Sonnet assisted in identifying the structural pattern of the race (an Assembly Republican Leader losing his home-district party infrastructure to a challenger), in mapping the IE-committee donor pipeline through Keeping Californians Working, and in developing the Lodi-centric framing that organizes three of six candidates as the "hometown" group and three as candidates from elsewhere in the district.
Presentation: Claude assisted in drafting the candidate profiles, structuring the comparative table and endorsement grid, drafting the Kendo UI fundraising and registration charts, and shaping the issue-block framework comparing all six candidates' positions on five Lodi-relevant policy areas.
Final Review: Multiple AI models reviewed the completed draft for factual consistency, source attribution accuracy, logical coherence, balanced presentation across candidates, and adherence to the Lodi411 HTML conversion standard. All editorial judgments, analytical conclusions, candidate-emphasis decisions, and publication decisions were made by Lodi411's human editor.
Lodi411/LodiEye believes transparency about AI use in journalism serves both readers and the profession. We use multiple AI platforms — including Anthropic's Claude (Opus and Sonnet) and Perplexity AI — as research, analysis, and presentation tools, not as autonomous authors. All editorial judgments, analytical conclusions, and publication decisions are made by Lodi411's human editor, who directs and reviews all AI-assisted work.
References
- Wolffe, Kate. "Four takeaways from The Bee's investigation into Assemblymember Heath Flora." Sacramento Bee, October 2025. sacbee.com
- Sacramento Bee Editorial Board. "The Bee endorses a Republican for California's 9th Assembly District. Who?" Sacramento Bee, April 24, 2026. sacbee.com
- Bowers, Wes. "2026 California Primary: State Assembly 9th District: Incumbent Flora faces biggest challenge yet." Lodi News-Sentinel, April 28, 2026. lodinews.com
- Bowers, Wes. "Shoemaker announces another run for office." Lodi News-Sentinel, December 10, 2025. lodinews.com
- Bowers, Wes. "Woodbridge resident running for Assembly." Lodi News-Sentinel, December 30, 2025. lodinews.com
- "Sacramento politicians love Modesto conservative Heath Flora, but local Republicans have given up on him." The Modesto Focus / Ceres Courier / Turlock Journal, February 2026. modestofocus.com
- "Tom McClintock endorses GOP Assembly leader Heath Flora's opponent for 2026." Sacramento Bee / Yahoo News, February 17, 2026. yahoo.com
- "Your guide to California's 9th District Assembly primary race." Sacramento Bee / Yahoo News, April 2026. yahoo.com
- "Where Assembly District 9 race candidates land on water, transportation, public safety." Stocktonia News, April 2026. stocktonia.org
- "Voters can hear from office seekers at candidate forums." Stocktonia News, April 17, 2026. stocktonia.org
- California Democratic Party. "2026 Pre-Endorsing Conference Results." January 2026. cadem.org
- California Federation of Labor Unions. "2024 Pre-General Election COPE Endorsement Recommendations." San Diego, July 17, 2024. calaborfed.org
- The Nevada Independent / KUNR Public Radio / APM Reports. "GOP donor trying to reshape Nevada politics pushes radical conspiracy theories, repeatedly cites antisemitic propaganda." October 2022. thenevadaindependent.com
- California Secretary of State. "Certified List of Candidates for the June 2, 2026, Primary Election." March 2026. sos.ca.gov
- Ballotpedia. "California State Assembly District 9," "Heath Flora," "Jim Shoemaker," "Matthew Adams (California)," "Tami Nobriga." Accessed April 2026. ballotpedia.org
- "A gusher of campaign cash: Industry groups give big in California legislative races." CalMatters, November 2022. calmatters.org
- San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters. Voter information accessed April 2026. sjcrov.org
Questions or corrections: editor@lodi411.com