has cast more than 6,000 votes since he joined the state Assembly in 2022 and never once voted 鈥渘o.鈥� is newer to the Assembly, but she has yet to vote 鈥渘o鈥� after more than 2,000 opportunities.
Remarkably, their Democratic colleagues in the Legislature are not much different. Using our new database, CalMatters examined more than 1 million votes cast by current legislators since 2017 and found Democrats vote 鈥渘o鈥� on average less than 1% of the time.
Why? It鈥檚 not something they want to talk about. Democrats have had super-majorities in both legislative chambers since 2019, so most votes involve bills from their political colleagues. But the legislative leaders and lawmakers contacted by CalMatters declined repeated requests to explain a pattern that might appear like a rubber stamp for deals made out of public view. And it seems to be sanctioned by leaders.
鈥淭here鈥檚 only two fucking buttons on your desk: There鈥檚 a green button, and there鈥檚 a red button,鈥� then-Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon told the California Labor Federation last year in remarks . 鈥淣inety-nine percent of the time, the green button is the labor button. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the green button means you鈥檙e doing the right thing, and the red button means that you鈥檙e an asshole.鈥�
Rendon鈥檚 office declined to comment or make him available for an interview.
Instead of voting 鈥渘o,鈥� the data, video and transcripts in CalMatters鈥� Digital Democracy project reveals that legislators will often decline to cast a vote. Lawmakers widely use the tactic as a courtesy to avoid irking fellow legislators who鈥檇 get upset if they vote 鈥渘o鈥� on their bills, but it鈥檚 a controversial practice that critics say allows them to avoid accountability.
鈥淭here are a lot of people who abstain and who years later will claim, 鈥極h, I was in the bathroom,鈥� or 鈥業 was gone,鈥� or 鈥業 was in a meeting,鈥欌�� said Mike Gatto, a former Democratic Assemblymember from Los Angeles. 鈥淚t provides them an excuse after the fact to claim that they were not there. I always thought that was cowardly, the opposite of courageous.鈥�
Last year, at least 15 bills died due to lack of votes instead of lawmakers actually voting 鈥渘o鈥� to kill them.
The most notorious example was when a bill to increase penalties for child sex trafficking died in the Assembly Public Safety Committee because Democrats did not vote. After widespread condemnation, Gov. Gavin Newsom got involved, prompting some committee Democrats to apologize and that .
At least three fentanyl-related bills also died last year due to Democrats refusing to vote on them, infuriating Regina Chavez, who advocated for the legislation. Her 15-year-old daughter, Jewels Marie Wolf, died from the drug in 2022.
鈥淚 personally am insulted, because I think everything should be on the record when you hold a state title,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat is what they signed up for to represent us.鈥�
Chavez along with a group of mothers of youth who died from fentanyl learned about the prevalence of non-votes by exploring the Digital Democracy database.
In a glaring example they found, a bill had 22 bipartisan cosponsors and would likely pass if it reached the Senate floor, but it died in the Senate Public Safety Committee when the four Democrats 鈥� Nancy Skinner, Steven Bradford, Aisha Wahab and Scott Wiener 鈥� declined to vote by staying silent during the roll call. None of them responded to interview requests.
The bill, called 鈥淎lexandra鈥檚 Law鈥� for a young woman who died from the drug, would have required judges to read a warning to defendants who鈥檇 been convicted of dealing fentanyl that if they dealt the drugs again, they could be charged with murder if someone died after taking their fentanyl.
More than 100 people testified in the hearing, almost all in support of the bill and many sharing their own experiences with fentanyl deaths. Some of the Democrats who did not vote had a lengthy discussion with the bill鈥檚 author, Sen. , a Democrat and former federal prosecutor. (This to Digital Democracy includes information about the bill, SB 44, as well as video and transcripts of the hearing).
鈥淚t鈥檚 beyond frustrating,鈥� said Laura Didier, who has testified several times in Sacramento about fentanyl legislation and whose 17-year-old son, Zach, died from the drug in 2020 (See of all Laura Didier鈥檚 testimony).
Didier said it took an enormous amount of work to assemble the bipartisan group of bill sponsors and the supporters who testified. 鈥淭o me, it just makes no sense that 鈥� people, by withholding their vote, can kill that momentum. You know, it鈥檚 very, very frustrating.鈥�
In another example last year, the former chairperson of the Assembly Public Safety Committee cast a 鈥渘o鈥� vote to kill a bill, , that would have led to longer prison sentences for fentanyl dealers. Seconds later, he withdrew his vote after all five of his fellow Democrats on the committee killed the bill by not voting.
The then-chairperson, , a Los Angeles Democrat who is running for Los Angeles City Council when his term expires this year, didn鈥檛 return a message from CalMatters.
He that he was a mortician during the crack cocaine epidemic, so he empathized with families who lost loved ones to fentanyl, but he sided with activists who testified that people of color have unfairly and disproportionately .
鈥淥ur communities were decimated by the War on Drugs,鈥� he said.
Digital Democracy鈥檚 analysis
The CalMatters data analysis included more than 1 million votes currently sitting lawmakers have taken since 2017 in committees and on the Senate or Assembly floors. The analysis only included votes on actual bills. Routine resolutions were not included. The data was collected by Digital Democracy from the Legislature鈥檚 .
The site records each lawmaker鈥檚 鈥渁ye,鈥� and 鈥渘o鈥� votes. If a lawmaker does not vote on a bill, it鈥檚 listed as 鈥淣VR,鈥� short for 鈥淣o Vote Recorded.鈥� The online system does not distinguish between a vote to abstain, an absence or when the legislator is present but no vote is cast.
The CalMatters analysis reveals that 38 of the 94 members of the Democratic caucus have voted 鈥渘o鈥� 20 or fewer times since 2017. This, despite each senator and Assemblymember having thousands of opportunities to vote. Some of those lawmakers have served since 2017.
While all Democrats rarely vote 鈥渘o,鈥� some members stand out in the analysis.
They include Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel of Encino. He鈥檚 been in office since 2018 and has cast more than 12,000 鈥渁ye鈥� votes. He鈥檚 voted 鈥渘o鈥� just nine times. Lisa Calderon of City of Industry has served in the Assembly since 2020 and cast nearly 9,000 鈥渁ye鈥� votes. She鈥檚 voted 鈥渘o鈥� once.
Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia of Coachella has cast more than 15,000 鈥渁ye鈥� votes since 2017. He鈥檚 only voted 鈥渘o鈥� eight times. Assemblymembers Schiavo of Santa Clarita Valley and Fong of Los Angeles are the two current members who have never voted 鈥渘o.鈥�
None of those lawmakers responded to CalMatters鈥� interview requests
Meanwhile, the Digital Democracy analysis showed wide discrepancies in not voting. Garcia, the Assemblymember from Coachella, had more than 2,000 NVRs, the most of any of his Democratic colleagues since 2017.
Fong, who serves on the powerful Appropriations Committee, stood out for another reason other than never voting 鈥渘o.鈥� As of last week, he only had 25 NVRs, the lowest abstention or absence rate of any lawmaker.
Robert Rivas, who became speaker of the Assembly last year, has only voted 鈥渘o鈥� nine out of 12,308 times since he joined the Assembly in 2018. He abstained or was absent from voting 673 times during that period.
鈥淭he Speaker will not be available for your story,鈥� his press secretary, Cynthia Moreno, said in an emailed response to CalMatters鈥� request to discuss his voting record and the records of his fellow Democratic lawmakers.
Republicans and the red button
It鈥檚 no surprise that vastly outnumbered Republicans in the Legislature regularly vote 鈥渘o鈥� on Democratic bills. They do so on average 21% of the time. But CalMatters鈥� analysis shows they tend not to vote on bills at higher rates than Democrats.
The average Republican 鈥淣o Vote Recorded鈥� rate is around 12%. The average rate for Democrats is 4.5%.
, the Assembly鈥檚 minority leader, said it鈥檚 due to Democrats largely cutting the Republicans out of bill discussions, leading to situations where Republicans might not oppose a bill鈥檚 intent, but they don鈥檛 feel comfortable voting for language they can鈥檛 change.
鈥淭hat (bill) might be at a place where you sort of agree with where they鈥檙e trying to go with it,鈥� said Gallagher, a Republican from Chico. 鈥淏ut you鈥檙e just not really sure that the policy is really right and it鈥檚 taking into account all the different unintended consequences.鈥�
Gallagher has voted 鈥渘o鈥� 3,236 times since 2017, and he鈥檚 been listed as a 鈥淣o Vote Recorded鈥� 1,708 times.
Gallagher said he鈥檇 support making the process more transparent by requiring lawmakers to officially declare an abstention instead of the way it鈥檚 reported now, where the public has no easy way of knowing whether a member was actually absent or just declined to vote on a bill.
, a Corona Republican who鈥檚 served in the Assembly since 2022, has the highest percentage of NVRs in the Legislature. Twenty-three percent of his votes are NVRs.
Essayli said he learned it鈥檚 better to abstain on some bills instead of voting 鈥渘o鈥� to avoid retaliation from Democrats. He said Democrats are 鈥渧ery sensitive鈥� and punish legislators of both parties when they vote 鈥渘o.鈥�
He noted that last year, Democrats briefly stripped Bakersfield Democratic Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains of a committee assignment after she sided with Republicans and against Gov. Newsom鈥檚 gas-price windfall tax bill.
Essayli said he鈥檚 taken to abstaining from votes on bills he doesn鈥檛 support when he鈥檚 not trying to make a strong political statement. 鈥淣ot voting is a polite 鈥榥o,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淎nd then hitting the red button is like an 鈥楩 no.鈥欌��
Essayli said Democrats have targeted him after voting 鈥渘o.鈥� The California Democratic Party put up a billboard in his district, accusing him of voting against fentanyl victims. He said it was retaliation for him voting 鈥渘o鈥� on legislation that contained a fentanyl provision that he supported buried in a large budget bill that he did not.
Former Assemblymember Gatto has heard all of the excuses about why lawmakers choose not to vote. Sometimes, lawmakers abstain to avoid an activist group or political opponent using their vote against them. Other times, they don鈥檛 want to irk a colleague who might feel passionately about a bill that a lawmaker doesn鈥檛 particularly care for. Other times, Gatto said, a non-vote is a lawmaker鈥檚 way of saying, 鈥淐ourt me. I want you to gather around my desk and promise me something I want.鈥�
He said it鈥檚 better to just cast a 鈥渘o鈥� vote, when a lawmaker doesn鈥檛 support legislation.
鈥淲hen people talk about how a very strange or poorly conceived proposal made it all the way through the Legislature, the answer is because very few people stood up and said, 鈥楾his is bunk.鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淲hen people do, and they do it with something as clear and unambiguous as a 鈥榥o鈥� vote, it encourages other people to have the same courage to tell a lawmaker, politely, that this idea might not be the best one.鈥�
The team that performed the data analysis for this story included Foaad Khosmood, Forbes professor of computer engineering at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; Thomas Gerrity, data scientist and product manager for Digital Democracy; and Zhi He, a Cal Poly student research fellow.
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