Before Sacramento, Al Muratsuchi served as a trustee for the Torrance Unified School District and the Southern California Regional Occupation Center and as a Deputy Attorney General. He also worked as a prosecutor in the California Department of Justice and served as regional director of the Japanese American Citizens League’s Pacific Southwest District. These roles included work in education, law enforcement and a regional civic organization. Muratsuchi was first elected to the Assembly in 2012 and now represents the 66th Assembly District. His tenure includes a narrow defeat in 2014, followed by a return two years later.
BACKGROUND AND FORMATION
Albert Yasuro Muratsuchi was born on September 4, 1964, and grew up on U.S. military bases in Okinawa, Japan. His father, a second-generation Japanese American, was a civilian employee of the United States Army. His mother was born in Gifu Prefecture on Honshu, Japan.
Muratsuchi attended the University of California, Berkeley, and UCLA School of Law. He became a prosecutor in the California Department of Justice and served as a Deputy Attorney General. He also served as regional director of the Japanese American Citizens League Pacific Southwest District.
His local public record includes two education posts: trustee for Torrance Unified and trustee for the Southern California Regional Occupation Center. In Sacramento, education finance became one of his committee responsibilities.
THE PATH TO OFFICE
Muratsuchi first won the 66th District seat in 2012. He was narrowly defeated during the 2014 Republican wave, then won back the seat in a 2016 rematch. He has held it since.
The elections that followed were less close. Muratsuchi was easily reelected over former Torrance Mayor Frank A. Scotto in 2018. In 2020, he won by a wide margin over Arthur C. Schaper. Former Hermosa Beach Mayor George Barks challenged him in 2022; Muratsuchi prevailed, 59.9% to 40.1%.
Term limits prevented him from seeking legislative reelection in 2026. He also ran unsuccessfully for Superintendent of Public Instruction, receiving 8% of the vote. His career included a local school district, the state Department of Justice and the Assembly seat he lost once and recovered.
THE WORK
Muratsuchi’s committee assignments cover the budget, schools, the environment, the courts, veterans and aerospace. He has served as chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies. He is chairman of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance and the Assembly Select Committee on Aerospace.
He is also a member of the Assembly committees on Natural Resources, Judiciary, Budget and Veterans Affairs. Outside the committee rooms, he was appointed to the California Coastal Conservancy and Governor Brown’s Military Council. He served on the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission and the Inter-agency Veterans Council.
His appointments and commission service span coastal conservation and bay restoration, military affairs and veterans. His chairmanships give him defined responsibilities in three areas—climate policy, education finance and aerospace—while his other committee seats extend into natural resources, the judiciary and the state budget.
THE POLICY SIGNATURE
Education is the clearest through line in Muratsuchi’s record. He served as a Torrance Unified trustee, sat on the Southern California Regional Occupation Center board, chairs the Assembly budget subcommittee responsible for education finance and later sought the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. The documented offices and assignments repeatedly return to schools and their funding.
His environmental record is most concrete in AB-345, which he introduced in 2020. The bill sought a minimum setback of 2,500 feet between oil wells and public areas where children are present. It did not become law: the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee rejected it on a 5–4 vote. His climate chairmanship, Natural Resources Committee membership, Coastal Conservancy appointment and Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission service provide the institutional side of that work.
The interests most plainly present in his record are students and education systems, children near oil wells, coastal and climate programs, veterans, military affairs and aerospace. His record includes committee chairmanships, committee memberships and appointments alongside the AB-345 proposal.
- State Assembly · Assembly District 66 · 2016–present
Before Sacramento, Al Muratsuchi served as a trustee for the Torrance Unified School District and the Southern California Regional Occupation Center and as a Deputy Attorney General. He also worked as a prosecutor in the California Department of Justice and served as regional director of the Japanese American Citizens League’s Pacific Southwest District. These roles included work in education, law enforcement and a regional civic organization. Muratsuchi was first elected to the Assembly in 2012 and now represents the 66th Assembly District. His tenure includes a narrow defeat in 2014, followed by a return two years later.
BACKGROUND AND FORMATION
Albert Yasuro Muratsuchi was born on September 4, 1964, and grew up on U.S. military bases in Okinawa, Japan. His father, a second-generation Japanese American, was a civilian employee of the United States Army. His mother was born in Gifu Prefecture on Honshu, Japan.
Muratsuchi attended the University of California, Berkeley, and UCLA School of Law. He became a prosecutor in the California Department of Justice and served as a Deputy Attorney General. He also served as regional director of the Japanese American Citizens League Pacific Southwest District.
His local public record includes two education posts: trustee for Torrance Unified and trustee for the Southern California Regional Occupation Center. In Sacramento, education finance became one of his committee responsibilities.
THE PATH TO OFFICE
Muratsuchi first won the 66th District seat in 2012. He was narrowly defeated during the 2014 Republican wave, then won back the seat in a 2016 rematch. He has held it since.
The elections that followed were less close. Muratsuchi was easily reelected over former Torrance Mayor Frank A. Scotto in 2018. In 2020, he won by a wide margin over Arthur C. Schaper. Former Hermosa Beach Mayor George Barks challenged him in 2022; Muratsuchi prevailed, 59.9% to 40.1%.
Term limits prevented him from seeking legislative reelection in 2026. He also ran unsuccessfully for Superintendent of Public Instruction, receiving 8% of the vote. His career included a local school district, the state Department of Justice and the Assembly seat he lost once and recovered.
THE WORK
Muratsuchi’s committee assignments cover the budget, schools, the environment, the courts, veterans and aerospace. He has served as chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies. He is chairman of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance and the Assembly Select Committee on Aerospace.
He is also a member of the Assembly committees on Natural Resources, Judiciary, Budget and Veterans Affairs. Outside the committee rooms, he was appointed to the California Coastal Conservancy and Governor Brown’s Military Council. He served on the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission and the Inter-agency Veterans Council.
His appointments and commission service span coastal conservation and bay restoration, military affairs and veterans. His chairmanships give him defined responsibilities in three areas—climate policy, education finance and aerospace—while his other committee seats extend into natural resources, the judiciary and the state budget.
THE POLICY SIGNATURE
Education is the clearest through line in Muratsuchi’s record. He served as a Torrance Unified trustee, sat on the Southern California Regional Occupation Center board, chairs the Assembly budget subcommittee responsible for education finance and later sought the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. The documented offices and assignments repeatedly return to schools and their funding.
His environmental record is most concrete in AB-345, which he introduced in 2020. The bill sought a minimum setback of 2,500 feet between oil wells and public areas where children are present. It did not become law: the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee rejected it on a 5–4 vote. His climate chairmanship, Natural Resources Committee membership, Coastal Conservancy appointment and Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission service provide the institutional side of that work.
The interests most plainly present in his record are students and education systems, children near oil wells, coastal and climate programs, veterans, military affairs and aerospace. His record includes committee chairmanships, committee memberships and appointments alongside the AB-345 proposal.
The record
4,225 events, each with its sourceSB 634 Pérez Senate Third Reading By Bryan
AB 341 Arambula Concurrence in Senate Amendments
SB 779 Archuleta Senate Third Reading By Berman
AB 1312 Schiavo Concurrence in Senate Amendments
SB 88 Caballero Senate Third Reading By Aguiar-Curry
SB 413 Allen Senate Third Reading By McKinnor
AB 1123 Muratsuchi Concurrence in Senate Amendments
SB 41 Wiener Senate Third Reading By Bonta
SB 580 Durazo Senate Third Reading By Bryan
AB 1318 Bonta Concurrence in Senate Amendments
SB 571 Archuleta Senate Third Reading By Gabriel
AB 797 Harabedian Concurrence in Senate Amendments
SB 307 Cervantes Senate Third Reading By Fong
AB 893 Fong Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 399 Boerner Concurrence in Senate Amendments
SB 410 Grayson Senate Third Reading By Quirk-Silva
SB 827 Gonzalez Senate Third Reading By Wicks
SB 625 Wahab Senate Third Reading By Irwin
SB 317 Hurtado Senate Third Reading By Michelle Rodriguez
AB 774 Bauer-Kahan Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1076 Addis Concurrence in Senate Amendments
SB 701 Wahab Senate Third Reading By Alanis
SB 253 Umberg Senate Third Reading By Kalra
AB 769 Wilson Concurrence in Senate Amendments
SB 340 Laird Senate Third Reading By Ávila Farías
SB 86 McNerney Senate Third Reading By Wilson
SB 82 Umberg Senate Third Reading By Connolly
SB 78 Seyarto Senate Third Reading By Lackey
SB 830 Arreguín Senate Third Reading By Bonta
SB 68 Menjivar Senate Third Reading By Elhawary
SB 748 Richardson Senate Third Reading By Jackson
AB 759 Valencia Concurrence in Senate Amendments
SB 345 Hurtado Senate Third Reading By Irwin
SCR 85 Archuleta Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
SB 597 Cortese Senate Third Reading By Kalra
SB 54 Umberg Senate Third Reading By Schiavo
AB 592 Gabriel Concurrence in Senate Amendments
SB 595 Choi Senate Third Reading By Hoover
SB 50 Ashby Senate Third Reading By Bonta
SB 593 Hurtado Senate Third Reading By Bains
SB 852 Elections and Constitutio Senate Third Reading By PELLERIN
SB 279 McNerney Senate Third Reading By Soria
SCR 91 Alvarado-Gil Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
SB 582 Stern Senate Third Reading By Lee
AB 310 Alanis Concurrence in Senate Amendments
SCR 93 Ochoa Bogh Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
SCR 95 Choi Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
SB 278 Cabaldon Senate Third Reading By Mark González
SCR 96 Wahab Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
SB 568 Niello Senate Third Reading By Wallis