Before Sacramento, Al Muratsuchi served as a trustee for the Torrance Unified School District and the Southern California Regional Occupation Center and as a Deputy Attorney General. He also worked as a prosecutor in the California Department of Justice and served as regional director of the Japanese American Citizens League’s Pacific Southwest District. These roles included work in education, law enforcement and a regional civic organization. Muratsuchi was first elected to the Assembly in 2012 and now represents the 66th Assembly District. His tenure includes a narrow defeat in 2014, followed by a return two years later.
BACKGROUND AND FORMATION
Albert Yasuro Muratsuchi was born on September 4, 1964, and grew up on U.S. military bases in Okinawa, Japan. His father, a second-generation Japanese American, was a civilian employee of the United States Army. His mother was born in Gifu Prefecture on Honshu, Japan.
Muratsuchi attended the University of California, Berkeley, and UCLA School of Law. He became a prosecutor in the California Department of Justice and served as a Deputy Attorney General. He also served as regional director of the Japanese American Citizens League Pacific Southwest District.
His local public record includes two education posts: trustee for Torrance Unified and trustee for the Southern California Regional Occupation Center. In Sacramento, education finance became one of his committee responsibilities.
THE PATH TO OFFICE
Muratsuchi first won the 66th District seat in 2012. He was narrowly defeated during the 2014 Republican wave, then won back the seat in a 2016 rematch. He has held it since.
The elections that followed were less close. Muratsuchi was easily reelected over former Torrance Mayor Frank A. Scotto in 2018. In 2020, he won by a wide margin over Arthur C. Schaper. Former Hermosa Beach Mayor George Barks challenged him in 2022; Muratsuchi prevailed, 59.9% to 40.1%.
Term limits prevented him from seeking legislative reelection in 2026. He also ran unsuccessfully for Superintendent of Public Instruction, receiving 8% of the vote. His career included a local school district, the state Department of Justice and the Assembly seat he lost once and recovered.
THE WORK
Muratsuchi’s committee assignments cover the budget, schools, the environment, the courts, veterans and aerospace. He has served as chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies. He is chairman of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance and the Assembly Select Committee on Aerospace.
He is also a member of the Assembly committees on Natural Resources, Judiciary, Budget and Veterans Affairs. Outside the committee rooms, he was appointed to the California Coastal Conservancy and Governor Brown’s Military Council. He served on the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission and the Inter-agency Veterans Council.
His appointments and commission service span coastal conservation and bay restoration, military affairs and veterans. His chairmanships give him defined responsibilities in three areas—climate policy, education finance and aerospace—while his other committee seats extend into natural resources, the judiciary and the state budget.
THE POLICY SIGNATURE
Education is the clearest through line in Muratsuchi’s record. He served as a Torrance Unified trustee, sat on the Southern California Regional Occupation Center board, chairs the Assembly budget subcommittee responsible for education finance and later sought the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. The documented offices and assignments repeatedly return to schools and their funding.
His environmental record is most concrete in AB-345, which he introduced in 2020. The bill sought a minimum setback of 2,500 feet between oil wells and public areas where children are present. It did not become law: the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee rejected it on a 5–4 vote. His climate chairmanship, Natural Resources Committee membership, Coastal Conservancy appointment and Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission service provide the institutional side of that work.
The interests most plainly present in his record are students and education systems, children near oil wells, coastal and climate programs, veterans, military affairs and aerospace. His record includes committee chairmanships, committee memberships and appointments alongside the AB-345 proposal.
- State Assembly · Assembly District 66 · 2016–present
Before Sacramento, Al Muratsuchi served as a trustee for the Torrance Unified School District and the Southern California Regional Occupation Center and as a Deputy Attorney General. He also worked as a prosecutor in the California Department of Justice and served as regional director of the Japanese American Citizens League’s Pacific Southwest District. These roles included work in education, law enforcement and a regional civic organization. Muratsuchi was first elected to the Assembly in 2012 and now represents the 66th Assembly District. His tenure includes a narrow defeat in 2014, followed by a return two years later.
BACKGROUND AND FORMATION
Albert Yasuro Muratsuchi was born on September 4, 1964, and grew up on U.S. military bases in Okinawa, Japan. His father, a second-generation Japanese American, was a civilian employee of the United States Army. His mother was born in Gifu Prefecture on Honshu, Japan.
Muratsuchi attended the University of California, Berkeley, and UCLA School of Law. He became a prosecutor in the California Department of Justice and served as a Deputy Attorney General. He also served as regional director of the Japanese American Citizens League Pacific Southwest District.
His local public record includes two education posts: trustee for Torrance Unified and trustee for the Southern California Regional Occupation Center. In Sacramento, education finance became one of his committee responsibilities.
THE PATH TO OFFICE
Muratsuchi first won the 66th District seat in 2012. He was narrowly defeated during the 2014 Republican wave, then won back the seat in a 2016 rematch. He has held it since.
The elections that followed were less close. Muratsuchi was easily reelected over former Torrance Mayor Frank A. Scotto in 2018. In 2020, he won by a wide margin over Arthur C. Schaper. Former Hermosa Beach Mayor George Barks challenged him in 2022; Muratsuchi prevailed, 59.9% to 40.1%.
Term limits prevented him from seeking legislative reelection in 2026. He also ran unsuccessfully for Superintendent of Public Instruction, receiving 8% of the vote. His career included a local school district, the state Department of Justice and the Assembly seat he lost once and recovered.
THE WORK
Muratsuchi’s committee assignments cover the budget, schools, the environment, the courts, veterans and aerospace. He has served as chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies. He is chairman of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance and the Assembly Select Committee on Aerospace.
He is also a member of the Assembly committees on Natural Resources, Judiciary, Budget and Veterans Affairs. Outside the committee rooms, he was appointed to the California Coastal Conservancy and Governor Brown’s Military Council. He served on the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission and the Inter-agency Veterans Council.
His appointments and commission service span coastal conservation and bay restoration, military affairs and veterans. His chairmanships give him defined responsibilities in three areas—climate policy, education finance and aerospace—while his other committee seats extend into natural resources, the judiciary and the state budget.
THE POLICY SIGNATURE
Education is the clearest through line in Muratsuchi’s record. He served as a Torrance Unified trustee, sat on the Southern California Regional Occupation Center board, chairs the Assembly budget subcommittee responsible for education finance and later sought the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. The documented offices and assignments repeatedly return to schools and their funding.
His environmental record is most concrete in AB-345, which he introduced in 2020. The bill sought a minimum setback of 2,500 feet between oil wells and public areas where children are present. It did not become law: the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee rejected it on a 5–4 vote. His climate chairmanship, Natural Resources Committee membership, Coastal Conservancy appointment and Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission service provide the institutional side of that work.
The interests most plainly present in his record are students and education systems, children near oil wells, coastal and climate programs, veterans, military affairs and aerospace. His record includes committee chairmanships, committee memberships and appointments alongside the AB-345 proposal.
The record
4,990 events, each with its sourceAB 113 GABRIEL Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1128 Muratsuchi Concurrence in Senate Amendments
SB 931 Grove Third Reading Urgency By Krell
AB 28 Schiavo Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 187 BUDGET Concurrence in Senate Amendments By GABRIEL
AB 190 BUDGET Concurrence in Senate Amendments By GABRIEL
AB 192 BUDGET Concurrence in Senate Amendments By GABRIEL
AB 353 BOERNER Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 605 Muratsuchi Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 611 LEE Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 664 Alvarez Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 760 Ta Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 817 GONZÁLEZ, M. Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 904 Aguiar-Curry Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1099 Bryan Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1156 WICKS Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1159 Addis Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1199 Patterson Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1294 Haney Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1301 PETRIE-NORRIS Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1307 Ávila Farías Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1331 Elhawary Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1349 BRYAN Concurrence in Senate Amendments Move The Previous Question By AGUIAR-CURRY
AB 1349 BRYAN Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1546 SCHULTZ Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1575 Arambula Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1609 Zbur Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1642 HARABEDIAN Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1646 Bryan Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1680 Calderon Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1707 Davies Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1709 Lowenthal Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1795 GIPSON Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1813 Ward Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1816 Davies Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1841 Ramos Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1871 Fong Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1896 GONZÁLEZ, M. Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1969 BONTA Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1976 Wicks Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 1981 Aguiar-Curry Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 2012 Hoover Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 2020 Gabriel Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 2047 Bauer-Kahan Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 2059 Wilson Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 2061 Chen Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 2065 Petrie-Norris Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 2071 Hoover Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 2086 Ellis Concurrence in Senate Amendments
AB 2103 Irwin Concurrence in Senate Amendments