California's 38th Congressional District election, 2026
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| California's 38th Congressional District |
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| 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. |
| Race ratings |
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 38th 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
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for U.S. House California District 38
Incumbent Linda Sánchez, Thomas Adams-Falconer, and Hilda Solis are running in the general election for U.S. House California District 38 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Linda Sánchez (D) | |
| Thomas Adams-Falconer (D) | ||
| Hilda Solis (D) | ||
| ||||
 = 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. | ||||
Candidate profiles
There are currently no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles will appear here as they are created. Encourage the candidates in this race to complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey so that their profile will appear here. You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:
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. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
No candidate in this race has completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Ballotpedia is seeking 100 percent participation so voters can learn more about all the candidates on their ballots.
You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:
Campaign finance
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linda Sánchez | Democratic Party | $378,543 | $303,150 | $501,180 | As of June 30, 2025 |
| Thomas Adams-Falconer | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Hilda Solis | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
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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." |
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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.[1]
- 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.[2][3][4]
| Race ratings: California's 38th 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 38th Congressional District election, 2024
California's 38th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 top-two primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House California District 38
Incumbent Linda Sánchez defeated Eric Ching in the general election for U.S. House California District 38 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Linda Sánchez (D) | 59.8 | 165,110 |
 | Eric Ching (R) | 40.2 | 110,818 | |
| Total votes: 275,928 | |||
| = 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 38
Incumbent Linda Sánchez and Eric Ching defeated John Sarega and Robert Zhang Ochoa in the primary for U.S. House California District 38 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Linda Sánchez (D) | 56.2 | 62,325 |
| ✔ | | Eric Ching (R) | 24.1 | 26,744 |
| John Sarega (R) | 12.5 | 13,841 | ||
 | Robert Zhang Ochoa (R) | 7.2 | 8,034 | |
| Total votes: 110,944 | |||
| = 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
General election
General election for U.S. House California District 38
Incumbent Linda Sánchez defeated Eric Ching in the general election for U.S. House California District 38 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Linda Sánchez (D) | 58.1 | 101,260 |
| Eric Ching (R) | 41.9 | 73,051 | |
| Total votes: 174,311 | |||
| = 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 38
Incumbent Linda Sánchez and Eric Ching defeated John Sarega in the primary for U.S. House California District 38 on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Linda Sánchez (D) | 58.7 | 58,586 |
| ✔ | | Eric Ching (R) | 30.5 | 30,436 |
| John Sarega (R) | 10.8 | 10,768 | ||
| Total votes: 99,790 | |||
| = 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
- Elizabeth Moreira (D)
- Sylvester Ani (D)
- Mitch Clemmons (R)
2020
General election
General election for U.S. House California District 38
Incumbent Linda Sánchez defeated Michael Tolar in the general election for U.S. House California District 38 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Linda Sánchez (D) | 74.3 | 190,467 |
 | Michael Tolar (D) | 25.7 | 65,739 | |
| Total votes: 256,206 | |||
| = 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 38
Incumbent Linda Sánchez and Michael Tolar advanced from the primary for U.S. House California District 38 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Linda Sánchez (D) | 77.7 | 90,872 |
| ✔ | | Michael Tolar (D) | 22.3 | 26,075 |
| Total votes: 116,947 | |||
| = 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
- Paul Irving Jones (Independent)
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 |
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Voting in California California elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 |
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. Senate elections U.S. House elections Special elections Ballot access |
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
