Flora is seeking his sixth term in the Assembly and has lived in the 9th District his entire life.

A native of Ripon, he is a lifelong farmer who spent three summers as a firefighter for Cal Fire.

He currently works for a business that manufactures nut harvesting and forcible entry equipment for firefighting, and owns a company that sells used agricultural equipment.

“I’m a candidate for State Assembly to continue the work I’ve been doing,” he said. “I was recently elected to be the leader of the Republican Caucus in the State Assembly. We are working together with our federal partners to route out waste, fraud and abuse in our state government.”

Flora said what sets him apart from the other candidates is his experience working in the California Capitol, as none of the other five have ever been elected to public office.

He said the biggest need in the district is a strong agriculture industry, and if elected, he will continue to weed out waste, fraud and abuse in Sacramento.

Shoemaker is a familiar face to voters, having run unsuccessfully for the State Senate District 5 in 2000 and 2024. He also ran unsuccessfully against Rep. Josh Harder in 2022 for the 9th Congressional District seat.

Born in San Pedro, Calif., Shoemaker has lived in the district for the last 34 years, and has worked in a variety of industries, including agriculture, construction, life insurance and real estate.

He moved to South Dakota as a teenager to work on his uncle’s farm after his father passed away when he was 10 years old. It was there that he learned to plant and harvest grain, operate tractors and combines, and run harvest operations from Texas to Canada.

After returning to California, he worked as a truck driver and became a member of the Teamsters Union — experience that later inspired him to launch his own trucking company.

Over the years, Shoemaker owned and operated multiple businesses throughout the county and led the California Republican Assembly for more than 20 years.

He is running for Assembly because he said residents are being overlooked while their representatives in Sacramento do little to improve their lives.

“What I see today is a government that makes it harder to build, harder to farm, and harder to afford to live here,” he said. “Meanwhile, career politicians, including my opponent, have had years to fix these problems and haven’t. I’m running to bring accountability, real-world experience, and results back to this seat.”

Shoemaker said what sets him apart from the other candidates is that he is not a career politician, while at the same time the district has seen an increased cost of living, continued water uncertainty and delays in infrastructure projects over the last 12 years.

He said water reliability, infrastructure investment, protecting agriculture and improving public safety and the cost of living are the biggest needs in the district, all of which will be his main priorities if elected.

Nobriga is also a familiar face in this race, as she ran against Flora in 2024, making the November general election ballot. She garnered 29.9% of the vote that year. An advertising and marketing consultant, Nobriga said jumping into politics was not something she planned. She ran as an American-Independent in 2024, and is now running as one of four Republican candidates along with Shoemaker, Flora and Owen.

She said she is running for the seat to save the district’s future and its children as a conservative Christian.

“I believe in God, family, the Second Amendment and ‘America first,’” she said. I’ll pass legislation to put child traffickers in prison for life (without parole) and armed security in schools. I’ll fight to outlaw big Pharma ads on radio and television and I will never accept donations from big Pharma or special interests. I’ll fight to reverse gas taxes and ignorant regulations and abide by our great Constitution. I will fight the corruption in Sacramento and the fake Republicans, such as whom I’m running against.”

Nobriga said what sets her apart from the other candidates is that she cannot be bought or influenced, and that the biggest needs facing the district are high taxes and adults preying on children.

If elected, she will work to change the voting system.

Adams, a Woodbridge resident, substitute teacher and community organizer, is making his first venture into politics. He has taught middle school and high school students in mathematics, science and social studies, and has mentored students as a High School League Director, teaching them the skills of improvisation, teamwork, and confidence.

In addition, Adams has led voter registration and education campaigns as a regional field organizer for Equality California, and served as a volunteer services coordinator for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento, where he managed volunteers, coordinated events, and enhanced the organization’s outreach efforts through social media.

Adams said he has also brought people together through the power of performance and storytelling. As a longtime performer and referee with ComedySportz Sacramento, he’s used improv comedy to connect with audiences and foster creativity.

“I’m running for Assembly to put the community, not corporate interests, at the center of our democracy,” he said. “Because until we fix the corruption of big money, nothing will truly change.”

What sets him apart from the other candidates, he said. is that he has worked directly with the people of the 9th District as both a teacher and community organizer.

He added he’s the only candidate in the race to sign the Money Out of Politics pledge to remove corporate dollars from American politics.

Affordability, access to quality healthcare at a reasonable price, access to a quality and affordable education, and protecting natural resources are the district’s biggest needs, he said, and if elected, he will make community the focus of democracy.

Owen is also making his first venture into the political arena, and said the state has been overtaken by political careerism, hidden agendas, a system increasingly disconnected from the people.

A real estate broker and founder of Max Muscle Nutrition & Wellness, Owen said his priorities are to support law enforcement, strengthen local emergency response, and help create safer neighborhoods for families and businesses; protect small businesses and reduce unnecessary regulations; and lower costs for working families and promote fiscal responsibility in at the Capitol.

Other priorities include strengthening schools, supporting parental rights and improving accountability in education; addressing the rising costs of homeowner and automobile insurance; improving access to mental health support; and focusing on practical solutions that move people out of homelessness and toward stability while protecting public spaces and neighborhoods.