California's 12th Congressional District

The boundaries of this district may change as a result of California Proposition 50, which voters will decide on November 5, 2025. Click here to read more about the mid-decade redistricting effort in California and other states.

California's 12th Congressional District

Incumbent

Lateefah Simon

Assumed office: January 3, 2025

California's 12th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by Lateefah Simon (D).

As of the 2020 Census, California representatives represented an average of 761,091 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 704,566 residents.

Elections

2024

See also: California's 12th Congressional District election, 2024

California's 12th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 top-two primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 12

Lateefah Simon defeated Jennifer Tran in the general election for U.S. House California District 12 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lateefah Simon (D)	65.4	185,176
		Jennifer Tran (D)	34.6	97,849

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 283,025
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 12

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 12 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lateefah Simon (D)	55.9	86,031
✔		Jennifer Tran (D)	14.9	22,999
		Tony Daysog (D)	11.2	17,222
	Submit photo	Stephen Slauson (R)	6.3	9,710
		Glenn Kaplan (D)	4.4	6,799
		Eric Wilson (D)	2.8	4,252
		Abdur Sikder (D)	1.9	2,857
	Submit photo	Ned Nuerge (R)	1.6	2,535
		Andre Todd (D)	1.1	1,632

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 154,037
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jason Woody (D)
• Denard Ingram (D)
• Tim Sanchez (D)
• John Marks (D)

2022

See also: California's 12th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 12

Incumbent Barbara Lee defeated Stephen Slauson in the general election for U.S. House California District 12 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Barbara Lee (D)	90.5	217,110
	Submit photo	Stephen Slauson (R)	9.5	22,859

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 239,969
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 12

Incumbent Barbara Lee and Stephen Slauson defeated Glenn Kaplan, Eric Wilson, and Ned Nuerge in the primary for U.S. House California District 12 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Barbara Lee (D)	87.7	135,892
✔	Submit photo	Stephen Slauson (R)	5.3	8,274
		Glenn Kaplan (No Party Affiliation)	3.3	5,141
		Eric Wilson (D)	2.4	3,753
	Submit photo	Ned Nuerge (R)	1.2	1,902

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 154,962
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Greg Lentz (R)
• Eric Curry (D)

2020

See also: California's 12th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 12

Incumbent Nancy Pelosi defeated Shahid Buttar in the general election for U.S. House California District 12 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Nancy Pelosi (D)	77.6	281,776
		Shahid Buttar (D)	22.4	81,174

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 362,950
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 12

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 12 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Nancy Pelosi (D)	74.0	190,590
✔		Shahid Buttar (D)	13.0	33,344
		John Dennis (R)	7.7	19,883
		Tom Gallagher (D)	2.0	5,094
		DeAnna Lorraine (R)	1.8	4,635
		Agatha Bacelar (D)	1.5	3,890

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 257,436
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2018

See also: California's 12th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 12

Incumbent Nancy Pelosi defeated Lisa Remmer in the general election for U.S. House California District 12 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Nancy Pelosi (D)	86.8	275,292
		Lisa Remmer (R)	13.2	41,780

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 317,072
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 12

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 12 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Nancy Pelosi (D)	68.5	141,365
✔		Lisa Remmer (R)	9.1	18,771
		Shahid Buttar (D)	8.5	17,597
		Stephen Jaffe (D)	5.9	12,114
		Ryan Khojasteh (D)	4.6	9,498
		Barry Hermanson (G)	2.0	4,217
	Submit photo	Michael Goldstein (Independent)	1.4	2,820

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 206,382
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Chase Demasi (R)

2016

See also: California's 12th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Nancy Pelosi (D) defeated Preston Picus (Independent) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Pelosi and Picus defeated Bob Miller (R) and Barry Hermanson (G) in the top-two primary on June 7, 2016.

U.S. House, California District 12 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi Incumbent	80.9%	274,035
	Independent	Preston Picus	19.1%	64,810
Total Votes				338,845
Source: California Secretary of State

U.S. House, California District 12 Primary, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi Incumbent	78.1%	169,537
	Independent	Preston Picus	7.7%	16,633
	Republican	Bob Miller	7.6%	16,583
	Green	Barry Hermanson	6.6%	14,289
Total Votes				217,042
Source: California Secretary of State

2014

See also: California's 12th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 12th Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Nancy Pelosi (D) defeated John Dennis (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 12 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi Incumbent	83.3%	160,067
	Republican	John Dennis	16.7%	32,197
Total Votes				192,264
Source: California Secretary of State

2012

See also: California's 12th Congressional District elections, 2012

The 12th Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. The incumbent from District 8, Nancy Pelosi, won election in the district.

U.S. House, California District 12 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi Incumbent	85.1%	253,709
	Republican	John Dennis	14.9%	44,478
Total Votes				298,187
Source: California Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2010
On November 2, 2010, Jackie Speier won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Mike Moloney (R), Mark Paul Williams (L) and Joseph Michael Harding (Write-in) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 12 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jackie Speier incumbent	75.6%	152,044
	Republican	Mike Moloney	22.1%	44,475
	Libertarian	Mark Paul Williams	2.3%	4,611
	Write-in	Joseph Michael Harding	0%	32
Total Votes				201,162

2008
On November 4, 2008, Jackie Speier won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Greg Conlon (R), Nathalie Hrizi (P&F), Barry Hermanson (G) and Kevin Dempsey Peterson (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 12 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jackie Speier incumbent	75.1%	200,442
	Republican	Greg Conlon	18.5%	49,258
	Peace and Freedom	Nathalie Hrizi	2.2%	5,793
	Green	Barry Hermanson	2.2%	5,776
	Libertarian	Kevin Dempsey Peterson	2.1%	5,584
Total Votes				266,853

2008 special
On April 8, 2008, Jackie Spier won election to the United States House. He defeated 5 candidates in the special general election.

U.S. House, California District 12 Special election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jackie Spier	77.7%	66,279
	Republican	Greg Conlon	9.4%	7,990
	Republican	Mike Moloney	5.3%	4,517
	Democratic	Michelle T. McMurry	5.3%	4,546
	Green	Barry Hermanson	2.3%	1,947
	Write-in	Kevin Dempsey Peterson	0%	2
Total Votes				85,281
Source: Results via California State Board of Elections

2006
On November 7, 2006, Tom Lantos won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Mike Moloney (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 12 General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Tom Lantos incumbent	76%	138,650
	Republican	Mike Moloney	24%	43,674
Total Votes				182,324

2004
On November 2, 2004, Tom Lantos won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Mike Garza (R), Pat Gray (G) and Harland Harrison (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 12 General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Tom Lantos incumbent	68%	171,852
	Republican	Mike Garza	20.8%	52,593
	Green	Pat Gray	9.1%	23,038
	Libertarian	Harland Harrison	2%	5,116
Total Votes				252,599

2002
On November 5, 2002, Tom Lantos won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Michael Moloney (R) and Maad Abu-Ghazalah (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 12 General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Tom Lantos incumbent	68.1%	105,597
	Republican	Michael Moloney	24.8%	38,381
	Libertarian	Maad Abu-Ghazalah	7.1%	11,006
Total Votes				154,984

2000
On November 7, 2000, Tom Lantos won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Mike Garza (R), Barbara Less (L) and Rifkin Young (Natural Law) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 12 General Election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Tom Lantos incumbent	74.5%	158,404
	Republican	Mike Garza	20.8%	44,162
	Libertarian	Barbara Less	3%	6,431
	Natural Law	Rifkin Young	1.7%	3,559
Total Votes				212,556

1998
On November 3, 1998, Tom Lantos won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Robert Evans, Jr. (R) and Michael Moloney (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 12 General Election, 1998
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Tom Lantos incumbent	74%	128,135
	Republican	Robert Evans, Jr.	21.1%	36,562
	Libertarian	Michael Moloney	4.9%	8,515
Total Votes				173,212

1996
On November 5, 1996, Tom Lantos won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Storm Jenkins (R), Christopher Schmidt (L) and Richard Borg (Natural Law) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 12 General Election, 1996
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Tom Lantos incumbent	71.7%	149,049
	Republican	Storm Jenkins	23.7%	49,276
	Libertarian	Christopher Schmidt	2.9%	6,111
	Natural Law	Richard Borg	1.7%	3,472
Total Votes				207,908

1994
On November 8, 1994, Tom Lantos won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Deborah Wilder (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 12 General Election, 1994
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Tom Lantos incumbent	67.4%	118,408
	Republican	Deborah Wilder	32.6%	57,228
Total Votes				175,636

1992
On November 3, 1992, Tom Lantos won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Jim Tomlin (R), Mary Weldon (P&F) and George O'Brien (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 12 General Election, 1992
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Tom Lantos incumbent	68.8%	157,205
	Republican	Jim Tomlin	23.3%	53,278
	Peace and Freedom	Mary Weldon	4.4%	10,142
	Libertarian	George O'Brien	3.4%	7,782
Total Votes				228,407

1990
On November 6, 1990, Tom Campbell won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Robert Palmer (D) and Chuck Olson (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 12 General Election, 1990
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Tom Campbell incumbent	60.8%	125,157
	Democratic	Robert Palmer	33.7%	69,270
	Libertarian	Chuck Olson	5.5%	11,271
Total Votes				205,698

Redistricting

2020-2021

See also: Redistricting in California after the 2020 census

The California Citizens Redistricting Commission voted 14-0 in favor of a new congressional district map on December 20, 2021, and delivered those maps to the secretary of state on December 27, 2021. California was apportioned 52 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2020 census, a net loss of one seat compared to apportionment after the 2010 census. This map took effect for California's 2022 congressional elections.

How does redistricting in California work? In California, a non-politician commission draws both congressional and state legislative district lines. Established in 2008 by ballot initiative, the commission comprises 14 members: five Democrats, five Republicans, and four belonging to neither party. A panel of state auditors selects the pool of nominees from which the commissioners are appointed. This pool comprises 20 Democrats, 20 Republicans, and 20 belonging to neither party. The majority and minority leaders of both chambers of the state legislature may each remove two members from each of the aforementioned groups. The first eight commission members are selected at random from the remaining nominees. These first eight comprise three Democrats, three Republicans, and two belonging to neither party. The first eight commissioners appoint the remaining six, which must include two Democrats, two Republicans, and two belonging to neither party.

Commissioners must meet the following requirements in order to serve:

1. Members must have voted in at least two of the last three statewide elections.
2. Members cannot have switched party affiliation for at least five years.
3. "Neither commissioners nor immediate family may have been, within 10 years of appointment, a candidate for federal or state office or member of a party central committee; an officer, employee, or paid consultant to a federal or state candidate or party; a registered lobbyist or paid legislative staff; or a donor of more than $2,000 to an elected candidate."
4. Members cannot be "staff, consultants or contractors for state or federal government" while serving as commissioners. The same prohibition applies to the family of commission members.

In order to approve a redistricting plan, nine of the commission's 14 members must vote for it. These nine must include three Democrats, three Republicans, and three belonging to neither party. Maps drawn by the commission may be overturned by public referendum. In the event that a map is overturned by the public, the California Supreme Court must appoint a group to draw a new map.

The California Constitution requires that districts be contiguous. Further, the state constitution mandates that "to the extent possible, [districts] must ... preserve the geographic integrity of cities, counties, neighborhoods and communities of interest." Districts must also "encourage compactness." State Senate and Assembly districts should be nested within each other where possible.

California District 12
until January 2, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

California District 12
starting January 3, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

2010-2011

This is the 12th Congressional District of California after the 2001 redistricting process.

See also: Redistricting in California after the 2010 census

In 2011, the California State Legislature re-drew the congressional districts based on updated population information from the 2010 census.

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

2026

Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is D+39. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 39 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 12th the 2nd most Democratic district nationally.

2024

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+40. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 40 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 12th the most Democratic district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have defeated Donald Trump (R) 89.3%-8.6%.

2022

Heading into the 2022 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+40. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 40 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 12th the most Democratic district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have received 89.3% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 8.6%.

2018

Heading into the 2018 elections, based on results from the 2016 and 2012 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+37. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 37 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 12th Congressional District the seventh most Democratic nationally.

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 0.83. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.83 points toward that party.

See also

• Redistricting in California
• California's 12th Congressional District election, 2024
• California's 12th Congressional District election, 2022
• California's 12th Congressional District election, 2020
• California's 12th Congressional District election, 2018

External links

• GovTrack District 12

Footnotes

[show]

California's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Alex Padilla (D)

Adam Schiff (D)

Representatives

District 1

Doug LaMalfa (R)

District 2

Jared Huffman (D)

District 3

Kevin Kiley (R)

District 4

Mike Thompson (D)

District 5

Tom McClintock (R)

District 6

Ami Bera (D)

District 7

Doris Matsui (D)

District 8

John Garamendi (D)

District 9

Josh Harder (D)

District 10

Mark DeSaulnier (D)

District 11

Nancy Pelosi (D)

District 12

Lateefah Simon (D)

District 13

Adam Gray (D)

District 14

Eric Swalwell (D)

District 15

Kevin Mullin (D)

District 16

Sam Liccardo (D)

District 17

Ro Khanna (D)

District 18

Zoe Lofgren (D)

District 19

Jimmy Panetta (D)

District 20

Vince Fong (R)

District 21

Jim Costa (D)

District 22

David Valadao (R)

District 23

Jay Obernolte (R)

District 24

Salud Carbajal (D)

District 25

Raul Ruiz (D)

District 26

Julia Brownley (D)

District 27

George Whitesides (D)

District 28

Judy Chu (D)

District 29

Luz Rivas (D)

District 30

Laura Friedman (D)

District 31

Gil Cisneros (D)

District 32

Brad Sherman (D)

District 33

Pete Aguilar (D)

District 34

Jimmy Gomez (D)

District 35

Norma Torres (D)

District 36

Ted Lieu (D)

District 37

Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D)

District 38

Linda Sánchez (D)

District 39

Mark Takano (D)

District 40

Young Kim (R)

District 41

Ken Calvert (R)

District 42

Robert Garcia (D)

District 43

Maxine Waters (D)

District 44

Nanette Barragán (D)

District 45

Derek Tran (D)

District 46

Lou Correa (D)

District 47

Dave Min (D)

District 48

Darrell Issa (R)

District 49

Mike Levin (D)

District 50

Scott Peters (D)

District 51

Sara Jacobs (D)

District 52

Juan Vargas (D)

Democratic Party (45)

Republican Party (9)