Agoura’s Klein Lopez takes 42nd Assembly seat

Agoura Hills Mayor Pro Tem Deborah Klein Lopez, a Democrat, has won election to the California State Assembly's 42nd District, defeating Republican Ted Nordblum by an unofficial margin of 12 percentage points in last Tuesday's election, The Acorn (Agoura Hills) reported.

Klein Lopez earned 81,717 votes, nearly 56%, to Nordblum's 64,387 votes, or 44% — a margin of 17,330 votes. The results remain unofficial until certification, which is scheduled for Dec. 11.

For Agoura Hills residents, the win means their city council member and former mayor is headed to Sacramento to represent a district that spans western Los Angeles and eastern Ventura counties, including Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Malibu, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Simiville, Moorpark and parts of Camarillo — though the city will also need to manage the transition as she leaves the council she has served since 2018.

A Win on Both Sides of the County Line

Klein Lopez carried both counties that make up the sprawling district, according to The Acorn's tally of unofficial results.

In Los Angeles County, she led with 28,038 votes, or 58.45%, to Nordblum's 19,930 votes, or 41.55% — an 8,108-vote margin. In Ventura County, where Nordblum, a Newbury Park businessman, was expected to run stronger, Klein Lopez still prevailed with 53,679 votes, or 54.7%, compared with 44,457 votes, or 45.3%, for Nordblum, a margin of 9,222 votes.

The win followed a June primary in which Klein Lopez finished first, entering the general election as the front-runner. Her path was aided in part by the disqualification of fellow Democrat Kelly Honig, a Westlake Village City Council member who had been viewed as a serious contender. Honig was knocked from the race after filing her declaration of candidacy in Ventura County rather than L.A. County, where she resides, as state election law requires.

'The Real Work Is Just Beginning'

Klein Lopez, greeted by well-wishers at a Tuesday victory party where she delivered a victory speech, struck a note of both gratitude and urgency in a statement to The Acorn.

"I'm thrilled by the strong early results and deeply honored by the opportunity to serve this community that means so much to me," she said. "There is important work ahead, from addressing the everyday pocketbook issues families are facing to strengthening our climate resilience."

She added: "I will work hard every single day to represent every member of this district. The real work is just beginning, and I couldn't be more honored to get started."

Her campaign platform centered on issues that resonate throughout the fire-prone district: disaster preparedness, public safety, and housing and homelessness. Those priorities reflect her local government experience. Klein Lopez serves on the board of the Clean Power Alliance, the Los Angeles-Ventura County renewable energy provider, and on the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains — posts that have kept her engaged on energy and wildfire-adjacent environmental issues in the Santa Monica Mountains region she will now represent at the state level.

Succeeding Jacqui Irwin

Klein Lopez will succeed Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, a Democrat who has represented the region since 2014 and was term-limited out of the seat. Irwin endorsed Klein Lopez as her successor.

Irwin was not out of electoral politics for long: she ran for California's 26th Congressional District and defeated Republican Sam Gallucci to win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to The Acorn.

The handoff marks a generational continuity of sorts for the region — Irwin, like Klein Lopez, came to the Assembly from a local city council background, and the 42nd District seat has now passed from one Ventura County-rooted Democrat with municipal governing experience to another based in Agoura Hills.

What It Means for Agoura Hills

Klein Lopez's election is a milestone for Agoura Hills, a city of roughly 20,000 residents that rarely sees one of its own elevated to the state Legislature. First elected to the Agoura Hills City Council in 2018, she rose to mayor and currently serves as mayor pro tem.

Her departure from the council will trigger a local transition — under typical city procedures, vacancies can be filled by council appointment or a special election, though the city has not yet announced its plans.

For constituents across the 42nd District, the practical impact will come in the legislative session that follows her swearing-in, when Klein Lopez said she intends to focus on cost-of-living concerns, climate resilience, and public safety. In a district scarred by repeated wildfire threats — from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Conejo and Simi valleys — her emphasis on disaster preparedness signals that emergency readiness will be a hallmark of her agenda in Sacramento.

The official outcome will be finalized when election officials certify the results on Dec. 11. Until then, Klein Lopez faces a compressed transition: assembling a district staff, opening constituency offices across the two-county district, and preparing to introduce herself to colleagues in a Legislature where she will be one of 80 Assembly members.

"I couldn't be more honored to get started," she said.