Real-Time Election Results: CA Congressional Primary Election 2026

UPDATE: At 8:50 p.m.: The Associated Press has called several U.S. House primaries with a fraction of the votes yet tallied.

The include:

• Democrat Jared Huffman advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 2nd Congressional District
• Republican Tom McClintock advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 5th Congressional District
• Democrat John Garamendi advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 8th Congressional District
• Democrat Mark DeSaulnier advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 10th Congressional District
• Democrat Judy Chu advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 28th Congressional District
• Democrat Gil Cisneros advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 31st Congressional District
• Democrat Kevin Mullin advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 15th Congressional District
• Democrat Sam Liccardo advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 16th Congressional District
• Democrat Ro Khanna advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 17th Congressional District
• Republican Vince Fong advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 20th Congressional District
• Republican Jay Obernolte advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 23rd Congressional District
• Democrat Raul Ruiz advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 25th Congressional District
• Democrat Laura Friedman advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 30th Congressional District
• Democrat Ted Lieu advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 36th Congressional District
• Democrat Sydney Kamlager-Dove advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 37th Congressional District
• Democrat Hilda Solis advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 38th Congressional District
• Democrat Robert Garcia advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 42nd Congressional District
• Maxine Waters advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 43rd Congressional District
• Democrat Derek Tran advances to the general election for U.S. House in California's 45th Congressional District

ORIGINAL POST: Polls are closed, and voters in California and nationwide will soon get a good look at how the mid-decade gerrymander war will play out in California, the state with the most potential pickups for Democrats.

Following the passage of Proposition 50, which gerrymandered several congressional districts in favor of California Democrats, a few Republican strongholds have been eliminated from San Diego to Northern California, giving Democrats a chance to pick up between three and five seats in California from the GOP.

Scroll down for real-time California primary election congressional results. The Registrar of Voters and Patch will update the results throughout the night as votes are tallied, and the page will be refreshed for the latest updates.

All 52 of California's congressional districts will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot.

California has been the bright spot for Democrats in a redistricting war kicked off by President Donald Trump to help his party retain control of the House. After Texas redrew its map to make as many as five more seats winnable for the GOP, California voters allowed Democrats to suspend their state’s own independent redistricting commission and create a new map in retaliation.

RELATED: Real-Time Election Results: CA Governor's Primary Election 202

However, the process has been a rocky one. The worst case scenario for Republicans is that they are left with only four House seats in a state with nearly 6 million registered Republican voters. For Democrats, the worst case scenario would be that so many candidates could split the vote in some new districts, locking Democrats out of the general election in the very districts they tilted in their favor. Such a scenario is the major concern for Democrats in the newly gerrymandered District 48 in San Diego and Riverside counties.

That’s because California’s primary awards spots on the November ballot to the top two vote-getters, regardless of political party. Nine Democrats are on the ballot in the 48th District, so many that some in the party worry the two Republicans will nab the top two slots while the Democrats split the majority of the vote and get locked out of the general election.

Scroll the unofficial real-time results below. Can't see the results? Click here for all June 2, 2026, California election updates.

How We Got Here

The national gerrymander war began last year when President Donald Trump, with his approval rating sinking, began pressuring legislators in red states such as Texas to pursue an unorthodox mid-decade gerrymander. California Gov. Gavin Newsom responded by introducing Proposition 50. Soon legislators or voters in several red and blue states entered the fray. In the spring, the United States Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, enabling Southern states to go after majority minority districts that had been off limits since 1965. It delivered a decisive win in the gerrymander war to Republicans, but it may not be enough to withstand a potential blue wave — especially if California Democrats succeed in flipping more than three seats come the Nov. 3 general election.

California has been the biggest prize for House Democrats, who think they can pick up between three and five seats from state Republicans. Democrats nationally have been encouraged by a string of election results in advance of the midterms, which typically favor the party not holding the presidency. Trump, meanwhile, has reinforced his continuing party clout by ousting several incumbents who ran afoul of the White House. Republicans hold a fragile 217-212 majority in the House, with one independent and five vacancies.

In the race for control of the narrowly divided U.S. House, the new California congressional map favorable to Democrats has complicated the reelection bids of several Republican House incumbents.

In the 6th Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley considered his limited options and left the Republican Party in March to run for reelection as an independent.
Republican U.S. Reps. Ken Calvert and Young Kim are competing against each other in the 40th Congressional District, which means that at least one of them will lose their seat. Democrat Esther Kim Varet is one of several challengers hoping to snag one of two spots in the general election.

Also on the ballot is a special election in the 1st Congressional District to complete the term of the late Republican U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, who died in January. The five-person field pits the Democratic state Senate President against the Republican state Assembly Minority Leader. If no candidate receives a majority of votes, the top two finishers will compete one-on-one on Aug. 4. The winner will serve under the current district boundaries, not the new map going into effect in the next Congress.

Races To Watch

District 40

Perhaps the state’s most closely watched Congressional race is in Southern California’s District 40, where redistricting has pitted two Republican incumbents against each other in a vicious primary contest.

The Inland Empire’s Calvert, the longest-serving Republican in the state’s House delegation, is running against Orange County’s Kim in a new district spanning both counties.
Calvert has run ads calling Kim a “traitor” to President Donald Trump and “a liberal and a liar.” His ads resurface past video clips of her criticizing Trump.

After once stressing her independence from the White House, Kim has dubbed herself a “Trump Republican” and aired spots accusing Calvert of “sabotaging President Trump’s agenda” and only “serving himself.” She claimed that he has been in “lockstep with Nancy Pelosi,” the former Democratic House speaker widely reviled by Republicans.

According to Ballotpedia, the district is 10 percent more Republican than it used to be, with Calvert currently representing 51 percent of the new district and Kim 35 percent. Calvert has been in office for more than 30 years. Kim was elected to Congress in 2020, when she won in a more competitive district in purple Orange County.

In all, eight candidates ran in the district primary, including Democrats Kim-Varet, Francis Xavier Hoffman, Claude M. Keissieh, Joe Kerr, Lisa Ramirez, and No Party Preference candidate Nina Linh.

District 1

The longtime Chico seat held by the late Rep. Doug LaMalfa is widely expected to swing Democratic after Prop. 50 shifted the district westward and southward to include coastal Northern California and parts of Sonoma County. According to the Cook Partisan Voter Index, the district went from being 12 percent more Republican than the national average to 7 percent more Democratic than the national average.

Voters in the changing district faced a confusing election day. That’s because they voted in a special election in the current right-leaning District 1 for someone to finish out LaMalfa’s term, which expires Jan. 3. At the same time, voters in the new left-leaning District 1 voted in the primary with the top two vote-getters heading to the Nov. 3 general election.

Candidates in the primary election included Democrats Audrey Denney, Janice Karrman, State Senator Mike McGuire of Healdsburg, and Republican State Assemblyman James Gallagher. No Party Preference candidates include Timothy Sean Kelly and Richard T. Minner.

District 6

District 6 in the suburbs of Sacramento is also one in which incumbents are playing musical chairs, thanks to Prop. 50. Democratic incumbent Rep. Ami Bera ran in the new District 3, and District 3 Republican incumbent Kiley is running in District 6 as an Independent who will caucus with the Republicans. The party change would seem to give him a fighting chance in a new District 6 that leans Democratic.
Closely aligned with Trump, Kiley ran against a large field of Democratic contenders, including Lauren Babb Tomlinson, Martha Guerrero, Thien Ho, Richard Pan, and Tyler Vandenberg. Republican Michael Stansfield was also on the ballot.

District 22

District 22 was always going to be a challenge for incumbent Republican Rep. David Valadao, who won his Central Valley seat in a Democratic-leaning district in 2024. After Prop. 50, it’s even more Democratic leaning, with additional communities in Fresno and Madera counties.

The change in the district’s voter registration comes on top of Valadao’s party-line vote last year for Trump’s megabill that slashed taxes for wealthy Americans and cut $1 trillion in Medicaid funding over the next 10 years.

According to CalMatters, “Valadao’s district has the highest Medicaid enrollment rate of any Republican seat in the country.”

His Democratic opponents, Assemblywoman Jasmeet Bains and Randy Villegas hammered him on the issue. The Cook Political Report rates this district as a ‘Toss-Up.’

District 48

District 48 doesn’t have an incumbent candidate after longtime Republican Rep. Darrell Issa decided to retire after his current term ends, rather than run for reelection in a district that now leans Democratic.

The new district covers parts of San Diego and Riverside counties, including Ramona, Escondido, Santee, Poway, Temecula, and Palm Springs.

Nine Democrats are on the ballot in the 48th District, so many that some in the party worry the two Republicans will nab the top two slots while the Democrats split the majority of the vote and get locked out of the general election.
Other Democrats are confident their voters will coalesce around one of the most prominent candidates — former Obama administration official Ammar Campa-Najjar or San Diego City Councilwoman Marni von Wilpert.

In his announcement, Issa endorsed 48th Congressional District candidate Jim Desmond, a Republican who currently sits on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.

"Jim is not only a personal friend, he’s a true patriot, a Navy veteran, a successful businessman, and has a 20-year record of public service," Issa said. "He understands this community, was born and raised here, and will make a terrific Congressman."

Desmond has a fight on his hands in a district that went for Kamala Harris over President Donald Trump. He faced 11 contenders Tuesday, including Democrats Campa-Najjar, Wilpert, and Abel Chavez, Stephen Clemons, Corinna Contreras, Ferguson Porter, Brandon Riker, Mike Schaefer, and Eric Shaw. Republican Kevin Patrick O'Neil and No Party Preference candidate Luis F. Reyna also ran.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.