David J. Tangipa, a Republican, represents California’s 8th Assembly District, covering Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, Tuolumne, Calaveras, Inyo, and Mono counties. He took office in December 2024 after defeating fellow Republican and former U.S. Representative George Radanovich in the general election. Born in Sacramento in 1995 to a military-veteran father and Tongan mother, Tangipa grew up partly in Sacramento and has lived his adult life in Fresno. He played tight end for the Fresno State Bulldogs and holds a B.S. in political science and criminology and an MBA from Fresno State. Before running for office, he worked as a field representative for Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig.
Tangipa authored AB 377, which requires the California High-Speed Rail Authority to submit a detailed funding plan for the Merced-to-Bakersfield segment in its 2026 business plan; it passed with bipartisan support and was signed into law. He has been a vocal critic of high-speed rail spending and proposed mileage-tax studies, and has focused on water policy, rural healthcare access, insurance-market conditions, and utility costs.
In February 2025, Tangipa was one of five Republican Assembly members abruptly stripped of their committee leadership posts by Democratic Speaker Robert Rivas, losing his role on the Utilities and Insurance committee with no public explanation given; he attributed the move to his outspokenness on insurance and utility issues affecting his district. He has since publicly accused Attorney General Rob Bonta of improperly rewriting ballot language for a 2025 voter-ID measure, and in November 2025 joined a federal lawsuit, alongside the state Republican Party and 18 California voters, challenging Proposition 50’s redistricting maps as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
