Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced the 63rd Assembly District in Riverside County will have a special election to fill the seat vacated when former Assemblyman Bill Essayli was appointed to a federal prosecutor post.
The special election will take place Aug. 26, according to the governor’s office.
Essayli, a Republican, is the interim U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California. He resigned the Assembly seat April 1.
Essayli won a second term in November with over 57% of the vote, defeating Democrat Chris Shoults who received 42.7%. He was first elected in 2022.
Before his election to the Assembly, Essayli was a Riverside County prosecutor. He then became an assistant U.S. Attorney for California’s Central District, where one of the cases he worked on was the 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino.
The 63rd District includes the cities of Menifee and Norco, about half of Corona and parts of Eastvale, Lake Elsinore and Riverside.
