California's 20th 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 20th Congressional District

Incumbent

Vince Fong

Assumed office: June 3, 2024

California's 20th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by Vince Fong (R).

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

Special

See also: California's 20th Congressional District special election, 2024

A special election to fill the seat representing California's 20th Congressional District in the U.S. House was held in 2024. A primary was scheduled for March 19, 2024. The general election was held May 21, 2024. The filing deadline for the primary was January 25, 2024, and the deadline for write-in candidates was March 5, 2024.

The special election filled the vacancy left by Kevin McCarthy (R), who resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives on December 31, 2023.

General election

Special general election for U.S. House California District 20

Vince Fong defeated Mike Boudreaux in the special general election for U.S. House California District 20 on May 21, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Vince Fong (R)	60.6	50,643
		Mike Boudreaux (R)	39.4	32,952

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 83,595
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Special nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 20

The following candidates ran in the special primary for U.S. House California District 20 on March 19, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Vince Fong (R)	42.3	51,194
✔		Mike Boudreaux (R)	25.8	31,202
		Marisa Wood (D)	22.6	27,337
		Kyle Kirkland (R)	4.9	5,941
		Harmesh Kumar (D)	2.4	2,885
		Ben Dewell (No party preference)	0.9	1,074
	Submit photo	David Fluhart (No party preference)	0.7	878
		James Cardoza (No party preference)	0.2	298
		Anna Zoë Cohen (R)	0.2	289

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 121,098
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Regular

See also: California's 20th Congressional District election, 2024

California's 20th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 top-two primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 20

Incumbent Vince Fong defeated Mike Boudreaux (Unofficially withdrew) in the general election for U.S. House California District 20 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Vince Fong (R)	65.1	187,862
		Mike Boudreaux (R) (Unofficially withdrew)	34.9	100,926

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 288,788
= 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 20

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 20 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Vince Fong (R)	41.9	66,160
✔		Mike Boudreaux (R)	24.0	37,883
		Marisa Wood (D)	21.2	33,509
		Kyle Kirkland (R)	4.1	6,429
		Andy Morales (D)	2.8	4,381
		Stan Ellis (R)	2.1	3,252
		David Giglio (R) (Unofficially withdrew)	1.4	2,224
		Ben Dewell (No party preference)	1.0	1,509
		Matt Stoll (R)	0.7	1,131
	Submit photo	Kelly Kulikoff (R)	0.5	724
		T.J. Esposito (No party preference)	0.3	541
		James Cardoza (No party preference) (Write-in)	0.0	9

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 157,752
= 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

• Matthew Piatt (R)
• Nathaniel Bruce (R)
• Johnathon Burrows (D)

2022

See also: California's 20th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 20

Incumbent Kevin McCarthy defeated Marisa Wood in the general election for U.S. House California District 20 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kevin McCarthy (R)	67.2	153,847
		Marisa Wood (D)	32.8	74,934

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 228,781
= 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 20

Incumbent Kevin McCarthy and Marisa Wood defeated Ben Dewell, James Davis, and James Macauley in the primary for U.S. House California District 20 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kevin McCarthy (R)	61.3	85,748
✔		Marisa Wood (D)	24.0	33,511
		Ben Dewell (D)	6.3	8,757
	Submit photo	James Davis (R)	4.6	6,382
		James Macauley (R)	3.9	5,488

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 139,886
= 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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2020

See also: California's 20th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 20

Incumbent Jimmy Panetta defeated Jeff Gorman in the general election for U.S. House California District 20 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jimmy Panetta (D)	76.8	236,896
		Jeff Gorman (R)	23.2	71,658

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 308,554
= 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 20

Incumbent Jimmy Panetta and Jeff Gorman defeated Adam Bolaños Scow in the primary for U.S. House California District 20 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jimmy Panetta (D)	66.2	123,615
✔		Jeff Gorman (R)	20.3	38,001
		Adam Bolaños Scow (D)	13.5	25,172

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 186,788
= 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 20th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 20

Incumbent Jimmy Panetta defeated Ronald Paul Kabat in the general election for U.S. House California District 20 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jimmy Panetta (D)	81.4	183,677
		Ronald Paul Kabat (Independent)	18.6	42,044

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 225,721
= 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 20

Incumbent Jimmy Panetta and Ronald Paul Kabat defeated Douglas Deitch in the primary for U.S. House California District 20 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jimmy Panetta (D)	80.7	102,828
✔		Ronald Paul Kabat (Independent)	15.4	19,657
		Douglas Deitch (D)	3.9	4,956

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 127,441
= 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

• Robert Neil Cheader (Independent)

2016

See also: California's 20th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Sam Farr (D) did not seek re-election in 2016. Jimmy Panetta (D) defeated Casey Lucius (R) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Panetta and Lucius defeated Joe Williams (Peace and Freedom), Jack Digby (Independent), and Barbara Honegger (Independent) in the top-two primary on June 7, 2016.

U.S. House, California District 20 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jimmy Panetta	70.8%	180,980
	Republican	Casey Lucius	29.2%	74,811
Total Votes				255,791
Source: California Secretary of State

U.S. House, California District 20 Primary, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jimmy Panetta	70.8%	116,826
	Republican	Casey Lucius	19.8%	32,726
	Peace and Freedom	Joe Williams	3.9%	6,400
	Independent	Barbara Honegger	3.7%	6,054
	Independent	Jack Digby	1.8%	2,932
Total Votes				164,938
Source: California Secretary of State

2014

See also: California's 20th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 20th Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Sam Farr (D) defeated Ronald Paul Kabat (I) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 20 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Sam Farr Incumbent	75.2%	106,034
	Independent	Ronald Paul Kabat	24.8%	35,010
Total Votes				141,044
Source: California Secretary of State

2012

See also: California's 20th Congressional District elections, 2012

The 20th Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. The incumbent from the 17th District, Sam Farr, won election in the district.

U.S. House, California District 20 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Sam Farr Incumbent	74.1%	172,996
	Republican	Jeff Taylor	25.9%	60,566
Total Votes				233,562
Source: California Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2010
On November 2, 2010, Jim Costa won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Andy Vidak (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 20 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jim Costa incumbent	51.7%	46,247
	Republican	Andy Vidak	48.3%	43,197
Total Votes				89,444

2008
On November 4, 2008, Jim Costa won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Jim Lopez (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 20 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jim Costa incumbent	74.3%	93,023
	Republican	Jim Lopez	25.7%	32,118
Total Votes				125,141

2006
On November 7, 2006, Jim Costa won re-election to the United States House. He ran unopposed in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 20 General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jim Costa incumbent	0%	0
Total Votes				61,120

2004
On November 2, 2004, Jim Costa won election to the United States House. He defeated Roy Ashburn (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 20 General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jim Costa	53.4%	61,005
	Republican	Roy Ashburn	46.6%	53,231
Total Votes				114,236

2002
On November 5, 2002, Calvin Dooley won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Andre Minuth (R) and Varrin Swearingen (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 20 General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Calvin Dooley incumbent	63.7%	47,627
	Republican	Andre Minuth	34.3%	25,628
	Libertarian	Varrin Swearingen	2%	1,515
Total Votes				74,770

2000
On November 7, 2000, Calvin Dooley won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Rich Rodriguez (R), Walter Kenneth Ruehlig (Natural Law) and Arnold Kriegbaum (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 20 General Election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Calvin Dooley incumbent	52.3%	66,235
	Republican	Rich Rodriguez	45.5%	57,563
	Natural Law	Walter Kenneth Ruehlig	1.1%	1,416
	Libertarian	Arnold Kriegbaum	1%	1,320
Total Votes				126,534

1998
On November 3, 1998, Calvin Dooley won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Cliff Unruh (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 20 General Election, 1998
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Calvin Dooley incumbent	60.7%	60,599
	Republican	Cliff Unruh	39.3%	39,183
Total Votes				99,782

1996
On November 5, 1996, Calvin Dooley won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Trice Harvey (R) and Jonathan Richter (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 20 General Election, 1996
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Calvin Dooley incumbent	56.5%	65,381
	Republican	Trice Harvey	39.1%	45,276
	Libertarian	Jonathan Richter	4.4%	5,048
Total Votes				115,705

1994
On November 8, 1994, Calvin Dooley won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Paul Young (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 20 General Election, 1994
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Calvin Dooley incumbent	56.7%	57,394
	Republican	Paul Young	43.3%	43,836
Total Votes				101,230

1992
On November 3, 1992, Calvin Dooley won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Ed Hunt (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 20 General Election, 1992
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Calvin Dooley incumbent	64.9%	72,679
	Republican	Ed Hunt	35.1%	39,388
Total Votes				112,067

1990
On November 6, 1990, William Thomas won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Michael Thomas (D), William Dilbeck (L) and Lita Martin Reid (Write-in) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 20 General Election, 1990
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	William Thomas incumbent	59.8%	112,962
	Democratic	Michael Thomas	34.5%	65,101
	Libertarian	William Dilbeck	5.6%	10,555
	Peace and Freedom	Lita Martin Reid	0.2%	307
Total Votes				188,925

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 20
until January 2, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

California District 20
starting January 3, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

2010-2011

This is the 20th 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 R+15. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 15 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made California's 20th the 76th most Republican 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 R+16. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 16 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made California's 20th the 78th most Republican district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Donald Trump (R) would have defeated Joe Biden (D) 61.3%-36.4%.

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 R+16. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 16 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made California's 20th the 81st most Republican 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 36.4% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 61.3%.

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+23. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 23 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 20th Congressional District the 53rd 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 0.88. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.88 points toward that party.

See also

• Redistricting in California
• California's 20th Congressional District election, 2024
• California's 20th Congressional District election, 2022
• California's 20th Congressional District election, 2020
• California's 20th Congressional District election, 2018

External links

• GovTrack District 20

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)