California's 24th Congressional District election, 2026

← 2024
California's 24th Congressional District
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: March 6, 2026
Primary: Pending General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting in California
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic DDHQ and The Hill: Pending Inside Elections: Solid Democratic Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
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All U.S. House districts, including the 24th Congressional District of California, are holding elections in 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026. To learn more about other elections on the ballot, click here.

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

• Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
• Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House California District 24

Incumbent Salud Carbajal and Bob Smith are running in the general election for U.S. House California District 24 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Salud Carbajal (D)
		Bob Smith (R)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= 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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Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Bob Smith

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "Bob Smith is a retired U.S. Navy officer and combat veteran who served our country for over 26 years. He is currently a Senior Engineering Fellow for a defense contractor based in Washington, D.C. He enlisted in 1998. He served five years as an enlisted sailor, working as a technician on the formidable AEGIS Weapon System, before being selected for the Navy’s prestigious Seaman to Admiral program, which allowed him to attend Old Dominion University for a B.S. in General Engineering Technology. After commissioning as a Navy officer in 2006, he served as a Surface Warfare Officer, leading the enlisted men and women he once was part of through multiple combat deployments. He earned an M.S. in Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. He spent the remainder of his career as an Engineering Duty Officer, directing development programs for the Navy’s newest weapon systems. Bob has exemplified leadership in serving our country, progressing from a junior enlisted member to a senior officer in the U.S. Navy. He has excelled through significant challenges in our national defense by building diverse teams and guiding those perspectives to successful solutions, including delivering the Navy’s newest ballistic missile defense platform, which earned him the U.S. Navy’s Best Engineer of the Year award for 2023. Bob aims to bring that bipartisan leadership to the U.S. House of Representatives."

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Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

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Bob retired after 26 years of service in the U.S. Navy. He worked his way up from an enlisted recruit to a senior officer, serving in multiple combat deployments and working with great Americans from every walk of life in stressful situations. After hanging up his uniform, he quickly realized that he was not finished serving our country.

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We need to heal the extreme partisan divide in our politics. The decline of the middle class is a significant factor in the ongoing extreme shift to the left and the right. We must heal this country and start communicating with one another. If we remain toxic, so will our representation.

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The world faces numerous geopolitical issues today that require strong American leadership. Our Congress cannot afford to be ineffective. The 24th district owes it to our country to provide the most capable leadership possible, not career campaigners.

Voting information

See also: Voting in California

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Expand all | Collapse all

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Bob Smith (R)

Bob retired after 26 years of service in the U.S. Navy. He worked his way up from an enlisted recruit to a senior officer, serving in multiple combat deployments and working with great Americans from every walk of life in stressful situations. After hanging up his uniform, he quickly realized that he was not finished serving our country.

We need to heal the extreme partisan divide in our politics. The decline of the middle class is a significant factor in the ongoing extreme shift to the left and the right. We must heal this country and start communicating with one another. If we remain toxic, so will our representation.

The world faces numerous geopolitical issues today that require strong American leadership. Our Congress cannot afford to be ineffective. The 24th district owes it to our country to provide the most capable leadership possible, not career campaigners.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Bob Smith (R)

1. Home ownership - the social contract in CA is broken. Equity has been stripped from the middle class which has adversely impacted partisan politics, crime, decline in public school education, neighborhood stability, and local civic engagement. When Americans own homes, have financial stability, save for retirement, and save for children’s college, everyone benefits.

2. Peace through Strength - Our military has lost decades on our competitors. We must be so far ahead technologically, that war with the U.S. is not an option for anyone.

3. Jobs - space industry, AI, and fusion energy are the future. The 24th district should strive to bring these tech jobs here and stop the hemorrhage of tech companies to other states.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Bob Smith (R)

George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Washington had absolute power and twice willingly gave it up. Washington showed us that term limits and lifetime elected office corruption contradict our American ideals. These acts by Washington solidified our Constitution and made him a model of our virtues. Lincoln, at a time when our country was most fractured, sought to heal our partisan and national divide. Lincoln led our country through its darkest hour and saved the United States.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Bob Smith (R)

The Gettysburg Address. Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address reminds us that democracy is not self-sustaining—it relies on the living to carry forward its ideals. Today, we must strive for equality and a government serving the people.

Lincoln called for “a new birth of freedom,” and that challenge still stands. We must elect leaders who reflect the people's will and work to improve the nation, not for power, but for purpose. Our democracy, just like in Lincoln’s time, is only as strong as our commitment to it.

If America fails to lead with integrity, the world becomes a less hopeful. This is more than a reflection—it’s a call to action. Our responsibility is to preserve a government of the people, by the people, for the people.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Bob Smith (R)

Leadership, Work Ethic, Servitude, Active Listening, and Problem-Solving Ability.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Bob Smith (R)

Our country needs leaders in Congress who can find solutions and heal the partisan divide. The world, nation, state, and the 24th District face too many complex challenges. We require principled yet practical leaders who can build consensus and pursue common ground.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Bob Smith (R)

The Challenger disaster was the first historical event that I remember having a significant impact on me. I was in Catholic School at the time, in second grade. Our classroom watched the launch live, since Christa McAuliffe was a highly publicized school teacher on that space flight.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Bob Smith (R)

I served in the U.S. Navy for over 26 years. I enlisted at age 18. I earned a commission as a Surface Warfare Officer and then Engineering Duty Officer. I retired as a Commander.

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

Bob Smith (R)

The two-year term limit for representatives results in perpetual campaigning. I propose four-year term limits, with states staggering their districts equally between presidential and midterm elections. This approach would allow our legislators to exit the campaign cycle and focus on crafting legislation.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

Bob Smith (R)

I support term limits and firmly believe career politicians are detrimental to our government. While there is value in having decades of experience in elected office, those with that experience often use it for their own special interests and personal gain. Moreover, having experience in the workforce and being accountable for delivering results cultivates skills that many career politicians lack. Imagine working in a career where deadlines, due dates, product development, or service delivery have never impacted your career advancement or your ability to support your family. The life of a career politician and the personal gain from it seems nonsensical to the rest of us hardworking Americans.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Bob Smith (R)

Congress should work across party lines to achieve bipartisan solutions. They should strive to adequately represent all individuals in their districts, regardless of party affiliation.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Bob Smith (R)

The Federal and State Government owe complete transparency and auditing of where tax dollars are spent.

You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:

• Salud Carbajal

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Salud Carbajal	Democratic Party	$811,728	$319,139	$3,136,459	As of June 30, 2025
Bob Smith	Republican Party	$29,399	$16,145	$13,254	As of June 30, 2025
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

General election race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

• Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
• Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
• Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.
• Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.

Race ratings: California's 24th Congressional District election, 2026
Race tracker	Race ratings
	9/2/2025	8/26/2025	8/19/2025	8/12/2025
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Ballot access

This section will contain information on ballot access related to this state's elections when it is available.

District history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2020.

2024

See also: California's 24th Congressional District election, 2024

California's 24th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 top-two primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 24

Incumbent Salud Carbajal defeated Thomas Cole in the general election for U.S. House California District 24 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Salud Carbajal (D)	62.7	214,724
		Thomas Cole (R)	37.3	127,755

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 342,479
= 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 24

Incumbent Salud Carbajal and Thomas Cole defeated Helena Pasquarella in the primary for U.S. House California District 24 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Salud Carbajal (D)	53.7	102,516
✔		Thomas Cole (R)	37.2	71,089
		Helena Pasquarella (D)	9.1	17,293

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 190,898
= 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.

2022

See also: California's 24th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 24

Incumbent Salud Carbajal defeated Brad Allen in the general election for U.S. House California District 24 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Salud Carbajal (D)	60.6	159,019
		Brad Allen (R)	39.4	103,533

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 262,552
= 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 24

Incumbent Salud Carbajal and Brad Allen defeated Michele Weslander Quaid and Jeff Frankenfield in the primary for U.S. House California District 24 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Salud Carbajal (D)	60.0	111,199
✔		Brad Allen (R)	31.0	57,532
		Michele Weslander Quaid (Independent)	7.5	13,880
		Jeff Frankenfield (Independent)	1.5	2,732

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 185,343
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Gurpinder Singh Sagoo (R)
• Kenneth Young (Independent)

2020

See also: California's 24th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 24

Incumbent Salud Carbajal defeated Andy Caldwell in the general election for U.S. House California District 24 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Salud Carbajal (D)	58.7	212,564
		Andy Caldwell (R)	41.3	149,781

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 362,345
= 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 24

Incumbent Salud Carbajal and Andy Caldwell defeated Kenneth Young in the primary for U.S. House California District 24 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Salud Carbajal (D)	57.8	139,973
✔		Andy Caldwell (R)	38.2	92,537
		Kenneth Young (Independent)	4.0	9,650

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 242,160
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Angela Kennedy (D)
• Michael Erin Woody (R)

District analysis

This section will contain facts and figures related to this district's elections when those are available.

See also

California	2026 primaries	2026 U.S. Congress elections
California congressional delegation Voting in California California elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018	Democratic primary battlegrounds Republican primary battlegrounds U.S. Senate Democratic primaries U.S. Senate Republican primaries U.S. House Democratic primaries U.S. House Republican primaries	U.S. Congress elections U.S. Senate elections U.S. House elections Special elections Ballot access

External links

• Search Google News for this topic

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)

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