GOP sees mixed results in California congressional races

By Madeline Shannon
The Center Square

As numbers come in for California’s congressional races, incumbents Adam Gray and Ken Calvert are pulling ahead in their races late Tuesday.

In House District 13, which includes parts of the San Joaquin Valley in the middle of the state, incumbent Rep. Adam Gray, D-Merced, defeated Kevin Lincoln II, a Republican and former mayor of Stockton. Gray led Lincoln by 42,049 voters to 27,190, or 60.7% to 39.3% with 99.2% of precincts reporting.

Notably, Gray voted against H.R. 1, commonly called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” or the federal government’s budget bill that Congress passed in July 2025. Gray, who is running for re-election for the first time, ran on a platform of lowering costs for Californians and supporting Central California’s agricultural industry, according to previous reporting by The Center Square.

California’s 22nd Congressional District, which consists primarily of parts of Central California from Bakersfield to Hanford, saw Republican incumbent David Valado running against Randy Villegas, a Democrat. Valadao is trailing Villegas 35.1% compared to Villegas’ 64.9% as of Tuesday evening, with 36.9% of precincts reporting.

Valadao voted in favor of H.R. 1, according to the U.S. Congressional bill tracker. He ran on a campaign of supporting agriculture, supporting veterans and protecting California’s water supply. Valadao also aimed to increase jobs and strengthen the economy, decrease healthcare costs and bolster federally-funded programs that support seniors, like Social Security and Medicare, according to his campaign website.

Villegas also proposed to tackle the rising cost of living, make healthcare more affordable, create jobs and strengthen the economy. He also campaigned on fixing a broken immigration system and increasing housing supply in the state, among other campaign issues.

In the race for California’s Congressional District 40, two incumbent Republicans, U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert, a Rocklin independent who caucuses with Republicans, and Rep. Young Kim, R-Anaheim are facing off in the race. This Southern California district saw Calvert leading Kim by 54% of the vote versus Kim’s 46%, with 58,385 supporting Calvert and 49,726 supporting Kim. This race, in which no Democratic candidate pulled ahead in the June primary, offers a conservative district the choice between two candidates of the same party, which Calvert highlighted in a recent social media post. As of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, 42.8% of precincts were reporting.

Calvert and Kim both voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and Calvert previously pointed to his efforts to bring funding to his district to pay for infrastructure, while Kim has supported efforts to increase energy supply in the state and lower fuel prices in California, according to previous reporting by The Center Square.

The two incumbents ended up in the same district after Democrats redraw congressional boundaries under Proposition 50, which voters approved.

Another Southern California district, House District 48, is seeing its incumbent representative, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, retiring from public office. Voters in this district will decide between Marni von Wilpert, a Democrat, versus Jim Desmond, a Republican. Von Wilpert is on the San Diego City Council, while Desmond is on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. Von Wilpert was leading Desmond by 84,279 votes against Desmond’s 57,647, or 59.4% to 40.6% of the vote with 71.8% of precincts reporting.

Von Wilpert ran on a platform of instituting more accountability measures for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She criticized corruption in the federal government, proposed lowering healthcare costs and raising wages, according to her campaign website. Desmond proposed solutions to lower the cost of living, reduce homelessness, increase border security and promoted affordable energy.

“This community made me who I am. It’s an honor to be your voice in the United States Congress,” von Wilpert wrote on Facebook late Tuesday. “Thank you, CA-48!”

Desmond did not post on Facebook after polling precincts started reporting on Tuesday. A victory by Von Wilpert would give Democrats an additional seat in the U.S. House.

In the 1st Congressional District, Republican incumbent James Gallagher, R-Nicolaus, is running against California state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Sonoma County. Gallagher won the seat in a special election in the June primary this year after the previous representative, Republican Doug LaMalfa, died in office in January. Gallagher was elected to serve the remaining months of LaMalfa’s term, but has to run again in the midterm election to retain his seat.

As of 9 p.m. on Tuesday, 58% of voters, or 76,175, voted in favor of McGuire, with 55,164, or 42%, of voters supporting Gallagher. A victory by McGuire would give Democrats another seat in the House.

In District 6, which includes parts of Northern California north of Sacramento, incumbent Kevin Kiley, a Rocklin independent who caucuses with Republicans, appeared to be losing to Democrat Richard Pan, a former California state senator who left office in 2022.

Kiley was trailing Pan 39.4% to 60.6%, or 46,836 to Pan’s 72,153, with 67.3% of precincts reporting.

Last November’s special election, in which California voters approved mid-decade redistricting, redrew California’s congressional district lines, making Kiley’s district in the November 2026 election the 6th district, a departure from his current 3rd Congressional District.

The November 2025 election was criticized by Republican lawmakers as a political gerrymander, which Kiley reiterated in a Nov. 2 Facebook post.

Pan also posted on social media frequently in recent days, criticizing the administration of President Donald Trump and urging for voters to support him in the race against Kiley.

“The Republican Congress, at the direction of Donald Trump, passed the largest cut to healthcare in history,” Pan wrote on Facebook on Sunday. “Now, families are struggling to afford healthcare or giving up their health insurance entirely. Vote to save healthcare.”

In California’s 41st Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Linda Sánchez, D-Whittier, is running against Democrat Mitch Clemmons. Sánchez was leading Clemmons by 86,594 votes, or 66.8% of the vote against Clemmons’ 43,102, or 33.2% with 65.1% of precincts reporting.

Currently, 43 Democrats make up California’s delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives, along with eight Republicans. In California’s state Legislature, there are currently 89 Democrats and 30 Republicans.