SACRAMENTO, California — Voters settled House of Representatives primaries across California this week, with all eyes on a handful of swing districts whose November contests will help determine which party controls Congress for the next two years.
Primary elections for all 52 congressional seats in California were held on Tuesday. The top two vote-getters in each race advance to the general election, regardless of political party. About ten of those seats are competitive, and a handful are considered toss-ups.
These races will be among the most competitive in the country this fall, and the outcomes will help determine which political party controls Congress. Currently, Republicans have 219 seats in the House of Representatives, while Democrats have 213. There are three vacancies.
“Californians are accustomed to our state being a national leader, and our role in the 2024 elections is no different,” said California U.S. Rep. Pete Aguilar, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. “I will do everything I can to ensure we are successful in November.”
California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson said voters are “fed up.”
“Voters are ready to send a clear message to radical, far-left Democrats this November that they have had enough, and it is time to put California and our nation back on the path to success,” she said .
The outcome of some races will not be known for days or even weeks. That’s because most people vote by mail with ballots that, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day, can arrive a week later and still be counted.
That has turned ballot counting in California into a weeklong drama that, in close contests, could turn Election Day into an election month.
Here’s a look at the most competitive House races in California:
Incumbent Republican David Valadao and Democrat Rudy Salas led early returns in this Central Valley farming district seen by Democrats as a crucial stepping stone.
Republican farmer Chris Mathys and Democratic Senator Melissa Hurtado followed.
Democrats worry that Salas and Hurtado — two state lawmakers well known in the district — could splinter the Democratic vote and push both Republicans into the general election. That would be a great shame for the Democrats, while it would be a major blow to their chances of retaking the House of Representatives.
Salas has the support of the Democratic Party and prominent state officials such as Governor Gavin Newsom. Newsom recently made a fundraising pitch on behalf of Salas, warning of a “Deep risk of two Republicans reaching the general election.”
Republican Scott Baugh advanced to the general election in a key Orange County seat that his party hopes to capture in November. The seat is currently held by Democrat Katie Porter, who is running for the U.S. Senate.
Baugh, a former member of the state Assembly, narrowly lost to Porter in 2022 in a district that had once been reliably Republican.
Democratic state Sen. Dave Min was leading early returns to also advance. Democrat Joanna Weiss, who founded an organization to promote progressive candidates, backed Min and Baugh.
The race between Min and Weiss was one of the nastiest of this cycle, with each campaign relentlessly attacking the other. That also meant that they easily handed out election fodder to the Republicans.
Weiss’ campaign has criticized Min for a drunk driving arrest last year. Min has accused Weiss of funding her campaign with money her husband earned as a lawyer defending Catholic priests found guilty of abusing children. Weiss’ campaign says her husband never defended a Catholic priest, saying she lent money to the campaign from a home equity line of credit.
Porter is backing Min, who also has the backing of the state party. Weiss is endorsed by Emily’s List, which supports Democratic women who support abortion rights, and by Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis.
Republican U.S. Rep. Michelle Steel has moved up to defend her Orange County seat in November.
Steel, a South Korean immigrant who has served in Congress since 2020, represents a district drawn to give Asian Americans a stronger voice in Washington. It is home to the largest Vietnamese community in the country.
It was not yet clear who Steel will face in the general election.
Democrats Derek Tran, the son of Vietnamese refugees, and Kim Nguyen-Penaloza, the daughter of a Vietnamese refugee father, and two others followed Steel. Nguyen-Penaloza has the support of the state Democratic Party.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Levin has moved on to defend his seat in this Southern California district, which includes parts of Orange and San Diego counties.
He will face Republican car dealer Matt Gunderson, who defeated three other Republican candidates in the primaries and also advances to the November ballot.
California’s coastal districts lean Democratic, but Republicans believe they have a chance to oust Levin.
Voters elected Levin in 2018 to replace longtime Republican Darrell Issa, who has since returned to Congress in a neighboring district. Levin has since been re-elected twice: by six points in 2020 and by five points in 2022.
“I think we have built the best ground operation of any congressional campaign in the United States,” Levin said in a video on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday.
Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Garcia has advanced to the November general election, where he will defend his position as the final Republican House member in Los Angeles County. He will face Democrat George Whitesides, a former NASA chief of staff.
Garcia has repeatedly won the seat despite a significant advantage for registered Democratic voters in the district.
“Tonight’s results are a testament to the fact that our mission and message resonate with CA-27: Keeping California Families Safe,” Garcia said in a statement Tuesday.
Whitesides, who also emerged, has campaigned on abortion rights and environmental protections while trying to portray Garcia as out of step with the district.
Garcia gets help from both his background as a former Marine fighter pilot and his last name, which comes from his Mexican immigrant father and is well-known in a district with a sizable Latino population.
Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert has moved up to defend his seat in November and will face Democrat Will Rollins.
Calvert is the longest-serving Republican in California’s congressional delegation and has held his seat in this district east of Los Angeles since 1993. He won in 2022 by about 5 percentage points in a district roughly evenly split between Republican and Democratic voters.
Rollins, a former federal prosecutor who lost to Calvert in 2022, will get another chance this year. Rollins, who is gay, could gain significant support in the city of Palm Springs, which has a sizable LGBTQ+ population.
