For 20 years in the San Luis Coastal Unified School District, Dawn Addis worked as an educator at schools including Morro Elementary, Pacific Beach Elementary, San Luis Obispo High School, Pacheco Elementary and Laguna Middle School. She taught special education, served as an English learner intervention specialist and sat on the executive board of the San Luis Coastal Teachers Association. She later served on the Morro Bay City Council, lost an Assembly race in 2020 and was elected to the Assembly in 2022. That election made Addis the first Democrat from San Luis Obispo County elected to the Assembly since 1922 and the first woman to represent Assembly District 30. Re-elected in 2024, she now chairs the Assembly budget panel responsible for health.
THE JOB BEFORE THE JOB
Addis, born July 12, 1972, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in art education and Spanish and a Master of Arts in special education from San Francisco State University. She holds credentials in elementary, secondary and special education. She worked in San Luis Coastal Unified for 20 years, teaching special education and serving as an English learner intervention specialist.
In 2016, she co-founded the San Luis Obispo chapter of the Women’s March. Its inaugural march in 2017 drew approximately 10,000 people. Addis also served on the board of the Planned Parenthood Central Coast Action Fund.
Addis worked in the school district and served on the executive board of its teachers association. She also co-founded the Women’s March chapter and served on the Planned Parenthood Central Coast Action Fund board before entering the Assembly.
THE PATH TO OFFICE
Morro Bay voters elected Addis to the City Council in 2018. She served from 2019 through 2022, including as mayor pro tempore from 2019 to 2021. Her first campaign for the Legislature came while she was still on the council. In 2020, she challenged incumbent Republican Jordan Cunningham in Assembly District 35 and lost, 55 percent to 45 percent.
Addis ran again in 2022, this time in Assembly District 30. She received 42 percent in the June 7 primary and then defeated Vicki Nohrden with 61 percent of the general-election vote on Nov. 8. She took office Dec. 5.
Addis was re-elected in 2024, defeating Republican Dalila Epperson with 62.4 percent. In the June 2, 2026 primary, Addis received 53.1 percent and advanced with Republican Shannon Kessler to the Nov. 3 general election. She received more than 60 percent of the vote in the 2022 and 2024 general elections.
THE POLICY SIGNATURE
Addis has authored legislation addressing housing affordability, healthcare access, environmental protection, education and survivor rights. Inside the Assembly, she serves as Chair of Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health, which oversees eight state departments and approximately $175 billion in state healthcare spending. She is also co-founder and co-chair of the California Legislative Central Coast Caucus, a bicameral caucus formed to coordinate legislative work on issues affecting the Central Coast. She chairs the Assembly Select Committee on Serving Students with Disabilities and has been appointed to state working groups on Safe Drinking Water and Wildfire Prevention.
Her signed legislation includes measures concerning community college student housing, civil actions related to childhood sexual abuse, multilingual learner education, terminology in the state education code, coastal and ocean protection, local authority over oil and gas operations, the environmental health workforce and liquor licenses in San Luis Obispo County. She has received Legislator of the Year recognitions from the California Faculty Association, SEIU-UHW, Disability Voices United and Equality California. She has a perfect voting-record score from the American Civil Liberties Union and an F rating from the NRA Political Victory Fund.
Her Assembly record includes legislation on housing affordability, healthcare access, environmental protection, education and survivor rights, along with leadership roles on the health budget subcommittee, the Central Coast caucus and the select committee serving students with disabilities.
- State Assembly · Assembly District 30 · 2022–present
For 20 years in the San Luis Coastal Unified School District, Dawn Addis worked as an educator at schools including Morro Elementary, Pacific Beach Elementary, San Luis Obispo High School, Pacheco Elementary and Laguna Middle School. She taught special education, served as an English learner intervention specialist and sat on the executive board of the San Luis Coastal Teachers Association. She later served on the Morro Bay City Council, lost an Assembly race in 2020 and was elected to the Assembly in 2022. That election made Addis the first Democrat from San Luis Obispo County elected to the Assembly since 1922 and the first woman to represent Assembly District 30. Re-elected in 2024, she now chairs the Assembly budget panel responsible for health.
THE JOB BEFORE THE JOB
Addis, born July 12, 1972, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in art education and Spanish and a Master of Arts in special education from San Francisco State University. She holds credentials in elementary, secondary and special education. She worked in San Luis Coastal Unified for 20 years, teaching special education and serving as an English learner intervention specialist.
In 2016, she co-founded the San Luis Obispo chapter of the Women’s March. Its inaugural march in 2017 drew approximately 10,000 people. Addis also served on the board of the Planned Parenthood Central Coast Action Fund.
Addis worked in the school district and served on the executive board of its teachers association. She also co-founded the Women’s March chapter and served on the Planned Parenthood Central Coast Action Fund board before entering the Assembly.
THE PATH TO OFFICE
Morro Bay voters elected Addis to the City Council in 2018. She served from 2019 through 2022, including as mayor pro tempore from 2019 to 2021. Her first campaign for the Legislature came while she was still on the council. In 2020, she challenged incumbent Republican Jordan Cunningham in Assembly District 35 and lost, 55 percent to 45 percent.
Addis ran again in 2022, this time in Assembly District 30. She received 42 percent in the June 7 primary and then defeated Vicki Nohrden with 61 percent of the general-election vote on Nov. 8. She took office Dec. 5.
Addis was re-elected in 2024, defeating Republican Dalila Epperson with 62.4 percent. In the June 2, 2026 primary, Addis received 53.1 percent and advanced with Republican Shannon Kessler to the Nov. 3 general election. She received more than 60 percent of the vote in the 2022 and 2024 general elections.
THE POLICY SIGNATURE
Addis has authored legislation addressing housing affordability, healthcare access, environmental protection, education and survivor rights. Inside the Assembly, she serves as Chair of Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health, which oversees eight state departments and approximately $175 billion in state healthcare spending. She is also co-founder and co-chair of the California Legislative Central Coast Caucus, a bicameral caucus formed to coordinate legislative work on issues affecting the Central Coast. She chairs the Assembly Select Committee on Serving Students with Disabilities and has been appointed to state working groups on Safe Drinking Water and Wildfire Prevention.
Her signed legislation includes measures concerning community college student housing, civil actions related to childhood sexual abuse, multilingual learner education, terminology in the state education code, coastal and ocean protection, local authority over oil and gas operations, the environmental health workforce and liquor licenses in San Luis Obispo County. She has received Legislator of the Year recognitions from the California Faculty Association, SEIU-UHW, Disability Voices United and Equality California. She has a perfect voting-record score from the American Civil Liberties Union and an F rating from the NRA Political Victory Fund.
Her Assembly record includes legislation on housing affordability, healthcare access, environmental protection, education and survivor rights, along with leadership roles on the health budget subcommittee, the Central Coast caucus and the select committee serving students with disabilities.
The record
3,813 events, each with its sourceAB 2378 Gabriel Assembly Third Reading
AB 2379 Solache Third Reading Urgency
AB 2383 Zbur Assembly Third Reading
AB 2393 Addis Assembly Third Reading
AB 2405 Gipson Assembly Third Reading
AB 2409 Valencia Assembly Third Reading
AB 2410 Ellis Assembly Third Reading
AB 2425 Chen Assembly Third Reading
AB 2433 Alvarez Assembly Third Reading
AB 2460 Celeste Rodriguez Assembly Third Reading
AB 2465 Ortega Assembly Third Reading
AB 2469 Papan Assembly Third Reading
AB 2471 Emergency Management Assembly Third Reading By RANSOM
AB 2473 Emergency Management Assembly Third Reading By RANSOM
AB 2475 Emergency Management Assembly Third Reading By RANSOM
AB 2495 Kalra Assembly Third Reading
AB 2510 Arambula Assembly Third Reading
AB 2521 Papan Assembly Third Reading
AB 2526 Muratsuchi Assembly Third Reading
AB 2564 Ward Assembly Third Reading
AB 2575 Ortega Assembly Third Reading
AB 2580 Muratsuchi Assembly Third Reading
AB 2598 Krell Assembly Third Reading
AB 2605 Arambula Assembly Third Reading
AB 2619 Papan Assembly Third Reading
AB 2626 Gabriel Assembly Third Reading
AB 2635 Celeste Rodriguez Assembly Third Reading By SCHULTZ
AB 2662 Carrillo Assembly Third Reading
AB 2679 Hadwick Assembly Third Reading
AB 2684 Nguyen Assembly Third Reading
AB 2716 Ávila Farías Assembly Third Reading
AB 2721 Carrillo Assembly Third Reading
AB 1539 Addis Assembly Third Reading
AB 1564 Ahrens Assembly Third Reading
AB 1568 Alanis Assembly Third Reading
AB 1576 Ortega Assembly Third Reading
AB 1577 Bauer-Kahan Assembly Third Reading
AB 1578 Jackson Assembly Third Reading
AB 1582 Ortega Assembly Third Reading
AB 1585 Connolly Assembly Third Reading
AB 1588 Stefani Assembly Third Reading
AB 1591 Michelle Rodriguez Assembly Third Reading
AB 1595 Schultz Assembly Third Reading
AB 1600 Arambula Assembly Third Reading
AB 1604 Stefani Assembly Third Reading
AB 1619 Valencia Assembly Third Reading
AB 1630 Caloza Assembly Third Reading
AB 1640 Stefani Assembly Third Reading
AB 1646 Bryan Assembly Third Reading
AB 1661 Bryan Assembly Third Reading