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
4,754 events, each with its sourceAB 250 Aguiar-Curry Assembly Third Reading
AJR 7 Addis Assembly Third Reading
AB 65 Aguiar-Curry Assembly Third Reading
AB 671 Wicks Assembly Third Reading
AB 1387 Quirk-Silva Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 1056 Bennett Assembly Third Reading
AB 1470 Haney Assembly Third Reading
AB 940 Wicks Assembly Third Reading
AB 665 Chen Assembly Third Reading
AB 615 Davies Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 967 Valencia Assembly Third Reading
AB 424 Davies Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 648 Zbur Assembly Third Reading
AB 1410 Garcia Assembly Third Reading
AB 546 Caloza Third Reading Urgency
AB 1376 Bonta Assembly Third Reading
AB 317 Jackson Assembly Third Reading
AB 1021 Wicks Assembly Third Reading
AB 1318 Bonta Third Reading Urgency
AB 1272 Dixon Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 682 Ortega Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 1338 Solache Assembly Third Reading
AB 686 Berman Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 1390 Solache Assembly Third Reading
AB 49 Muratsuchi Third Reading Urgency
AB 1104 Pellerin Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 1207 Irwin Assembly Third Reading
AB 1130 Berman Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
ACR 84 Hoover Consent Calendar Second Day
AB 1299 Bryan Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 968 Boerner Assembly Third Reading
AB 527 Papan Assembly Third Reading
AB 408 Berman Assembly Third Reading
AB 1112 Wallis Assembly Third Reading
AB 1199 Patterson Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 1430 Bennett Assembly Third Reading
AB 415 Chen Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 1214 Patterson Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 385 Ramos Consent Calendar Second Day
AB 1114 Ávila Farías Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 1197 Calderon Assembly Third Reading
AB 1125 Nguyen Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 1139 Rogers Assembly Third Reading
AB 507 Haney Assembly Third Reading
AB 875 Muratsuchi Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 1141 Lee Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 1155 Fong Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 953 Pacheco Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 447 Mark González Consent Calendar Second Day Regular Session
AB 1412 Jeff Gonzalez Assembly Third Reading