Dawn Addis was elected to the California State Assembly in 2022, and reelected in 2024. She represents the coastal 30th Assembly District that includes large portions of San Luis Obispo, Monterey, and Santa Cruz Counties
Addis is the Chair of the Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health, a member of the Budget, Education, Heath, and Insurance Standing Committees, and the Assembly Speaker appointee to the Ocean Protection Council, the Council of State Governments West Energy and the Grid Committee, and the National Conference of State Legislators Natural Resources, Energy and Environment Committee. Additionally, Dawn chairs the Assembly Select Committee on Serving Students with Disabilities. She is the inaugural chair of the California Legislative Central Coast Caucus, a Vice-Chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, and a member of the Progressive Caucus, the Tech Caucus, and the Women’s Caucus. Since being elected to the legislature, she has been honored with the Reproductive Freedom Champion Award from Reproductive Freedom for All California, recognized by the Monterey Bay Aquarium as a California Ocean Champion, named the 2023 Champion of Public Higher Education Award from the California Coalition for Public Higher Education, and has been recognized by the by The Utility Reform Network (TURN), the Paso Robles Public Educators, California Environmental Voters, and SEIU California.
Over the 2023-2024 session, she has fought for critical investments and policies that deliver real results for our communities: securing millions in state funding for local projects to passing key legislation on healthcare, environmental protection, consumer rights, and public safety. She has authored bills to increase transparency in utility rates and strengthen protections for vulnerable communities.
A special education teacher who taught in public schools for over 20 years, Dawn served in her teacher’s union holding leadership positions at the school site and executive board levels. Dawn is a Golden Apple Award recipient for her work in special education.
She holds a Master of Arts (MA) in special education from San Francisco State University. She has teaching credentials in elementary education, secondary education and special education and is fluent in Spanish.
In 2017, she was named a Congressional Woman of the Year. Dawn's long record of community involvement includes co-founding the Women's March in San Luis Obispo and being a Planned Parenthood Central Coast Action Fund board member. In 2018, she won her first elected office to the Morro Bay City Council where she served from 2018 to 2022. Prior to that she served on her city’s Citizen Finance Advisory Committee. Dawn and her husband Marcus have raised two children on the Central Coast. They also have two rescues: a tabby cat named Oppenheimer and a chowski dog named Beef.