Richard Pan

Pan describes himself as the son of Taiwanese immigrants who received a good public school education.[2] He earned a B.S. from Johns Hopkins University, an M.A. in public health from Harvard University, and an M.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.[3] He worked as a physician at UC Davis Children's Hospital and as an associate professor of pediatrics at UC Davis, and, according to his campaign website, led UC Davis' Pediatric Residency Program.[3][2] The website also says he founded Communities and Physicians Together, a program partnering pediatricians with neighborhoods, and co-founded 'Healthy Kids Healthy Future,' which it says provided health, dental and vision coverage to over 65,000 children in the Sacramento region.[2]

Pan was elected to the California State Assembly in 2010 and served District 9 until 2014.[3][2] He was then elected to the California State Senate, took office in December 2014 and represented District 6 until December 2022, chairing the Senate Health Committee and the Public Employment and Retirement Committee.[3][2] His campaign website says TIME magazine named him a 'hero' for legislation to increase school vaccination rates after the 2015 Disneyland measles outbreak, and that he authored state laws on pre-existing conditions, youth sports smoking bans and prescription drug costs.[2]

Pan advanced from the June 2, 2026 top-two primary, finishing second behind Kiley, to the general election in the 6th District.[5] During the campaign, he ran as a Democrat on a platform of protecting health care and basing federal policy on science.[2] He won the November 3, 2026 general election with 58.6% of the vote to Kevin Kiley's 41.4%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[1]