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
4,579 events, each with its sourceSB 419 Caballero Senate Third Reading By Gipson
SB 275 Smallwood-Cuevas Senate Third Reading By Ortega
SB 78 Seyarto Senate Third Reading By Lackey
SB 278 Cabaldon Senate Third Reading By Mark González
SB 68 Menjivar Senate Third Reading By Elhawary
SB 279 McNerney Senate Third Reading By Soria
SB 437 Weber Pierson Senate Third Reading By JACKSON
SB 54 Umberg Senate Third Reading By Schiavo
SB 50 Ashby Senate Third Reading By Bonta
SB 454 McNerney Senate Third Reading By Connolly
SB 39 Weber Pierson Third Reading Urgency By Irwin
AB 769 Wilson Concurrence in Senate Amendments
SB 470 Laird Senate Third Reading By Hart
SB 291 Grayson Senate Third Reading By Carrillo
SB 21 Durazo Senate Third Reading By Mark González
SB 355 Pérez Senate Third Reading By Ortega
SB 20 Menjivar Senate Third Reading By Celeste Rodriguez
SB 345 Hurtado Senate Third Reading By Irwin
SB 5 Cabaldon Senate Third Reading By Wilson
SB 317 Hurtado Senate Third Reading By Michelle Rodriguez
SB 3 Cervantes Senate Third Reading By Berman
SB 504 Laird Senate Third Reading By Mark González
SB 312 Umberg Senate Third Reading By Bennett
AB 1344 Irwin Concurrence in Senate Amendments
SB 514 Cabaldon Senate Third Reading By Bryan
SB 516 Ashby Senate Third Reading By Haney
SB 306 Becker Senate Third Reading By Harabedian
SB 517 Niello Senate Third Reading By Hoover
SB 520 Caballero Senate Third Reading By Bonta
AB 931 Kalra Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 42 Bryan Concurrence in Senate Amendments
SB 524 Arreguín Senate Third Reading By Schultz
SB 525 Jones Senate Third Reading By Wallis
SB 233 Seyarto Senate Third Reading By Alanis
AB 542 Celeste Rodriguez Concurrence in Senate Amendments By LOWENTHAL
AB 1374 Berman Concurrence in Senate Amendments
SB 567 Limón Senate Third Reading By Bryan
SB 568 Niello Senate Third Reading By Wallis
AB 987 Sharp-Collins Concurrence in Senate Amendments
SB 582 Stern Senate Third Reading By Lee
SB 593 Hurtado Senate Third Reading By Bains
SB 595 Choi Senate Third Reading By Hoover
SB 597 Cortese Senate Third Reading By Kalra
SB 625 Wahab Senate Third Reading By Irwin
AB 399 Boerner Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 645 Carrillo Concurrence in Senate Amendments
SB 642 Limón Senate Third Reading By Kalra
AB 806 Connolly Concurrence in Senate Amendments
SB 670 Cervantes Senate Third Reading By Pacheco
AB 1415 Bonta Concurrence in Senate Amendments