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Reality Check is a Fresno Bee series holding those in power to account and shining a light on their decisions. Have a tip? Email [email protected].
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Esmeralda Soria moved out of the Assembly district she represents. Her office said she can still legally continue her job as a legislator.
Soria, D-Fresno, won election to Assembly District 27 — representing Fresno, Madera and Merced counties — in 2022, and again in 2024. She’s running this November for state Senate District 14.
Voting registration records show that Soria — and her husband, developer Terance Frazier who is running for a local community college district board seat — re-registered July 21 at a home near North Van Ness Boulevard and East Clinton Avenue.
That places her in the adjacent Assembly District 31, represented by Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno.
To support her position, Soria’s office cited a 1983 AG opinion that answered a question about residency requirements when legislative districts are re-drawn. The reference came from Assembly legal counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, her office said.
In Soria’s case, the district did not change and she moved. Her office did not respond to a follow-up question asking about that difference. The legislature is currently out of session; Aug. 31 was the last day to vote on bills.
“Assemblymember Soria’s move is fully consistent with California law. State law does not require legislators to remain residents of their districts for the remainder of the terms to which they were elected (),” Soria’s office told The Fresno Bee.
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But a 2018 state law, SB 1250, establishes a legislator’s official address as “the residence address indicated on that person’s currently filed affidavit of voter registration is conclusively presumed to be that person’s domicile.”
The law differentiates a domicile — a legislator’s permanent address — from residence, where the legislator actually lives.
Soria and Frazier’s previous address for voter registration since Sept. 2024 — near West Barstow and North Valentine Avenues — intersected the current Assembly district she represents, as well as the state Senate district she seeks. It also includes the State Center Community College District 5 sought by Frazier, her husband.
A representative of either branch of the state legislature, and community college district, must live in the district they represent. For state Senate, a candidate must live in the district at the time nomination papers are issued — which Soria would presumably qualify for.
Since changing her voter registration to her new address, Soria voted on several bills, according to Bill Track 50. She introduced a bill on Aug. 6, AB 1923, that required a Fresno County transportation tax measure be placed on the November ballot. The measure became law, paving the way for voters to decide Measure S on Nov. 3.
It’s not immediately clear what the consequences are — if any — for moving out of the district in the middle of a term. SB 1250, tying residency to the registered voting address, does not list any penalties for noncompliance.
This story was originally published October 9, 2026 at 12:51 PM with the headline “State assemblywoman in Fresno doesn’t live in the district anymore. She says it’s legal.”
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