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California's 48th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 top-two primary)

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California's 48th Congressional District
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Top-two primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: December 8, 2023
Primary: March 5, 2024
General: November 5, 2024
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting in California
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican
DDHQ and The Hill: Safe Republican
Inside Elections: Solid Republican
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
See also
California's 48th Congressional District
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California elections, 2024
U.S. Congress elections, 2024
U.S. Senate elections, 2024
U.S. House elections, 2024

A top-two primary took place on March 5, 2024, in California's 48th Congressional District to determine which two candidates would run in the district's general election on November 5, 2024.

Incumbent Darrell Issa and Stephen Houlahan advanced from the primary for U.S. House California District 48.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
December 8, 2023
March 5, 2024
November 5, 2024



California uses a top-two primary system, in which all candidates appear on the same ballot. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, move on to the general election. In states that do not use a top-two system, all parties are usually able to put forward a candidate for the general election if they choose to.[1][2]

Unlike the top-two format used in some states (Louisiana and Georgia special elections for example), a general election between the top-two candidates in California occurs regardless of whether the top candidate received 50% of the vote in the first round of elections.

As of June 2025, California was one of five states to use a top-two primary system, or a variation of the top-two system. See here for more information.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

This page focuses on California's 48th Congressional District's top-two primary. For more in-depth information on the district's general election, see the following page:

Candidates and election results

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 48

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 48 on March 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Darrell Issa
Darrell Issa (R)
 
62.4
 
111,510
✔
Image of Stephen Houlahan
Stephen Houlahan (D)
 
14.9
 
26,601
Image of Whitney Shanahan
Whitney Shanahan (D) Candidate Connection
 
12.2
 
21,819
Image of Mike Simon
Mike Simon (D) Candidate Connection
 
7.2
 
12,950
Image of Matthew Rascon
Matthew Rascon (D)
 
2.2
 
3,988
Image of Lucinda Jahn
Lucinda Jahn (No party preference)
 
1.1
 
1,959

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 178,827
Candidate Connection = 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

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.

Whitney Shanahan

Image of Whitney Shanahan

WebsiteFacebookTwitter

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "Whitney Shanahan lives in Fallbrook. She's a mother, proud bisexual and Reproductive Rights advocate. As your Congresswoman she'll work to make sure our rights and freedoms are protected and that families can safely and affordably thrive. She explains her drive to run, "In 2019 I was pregnant and in a red. I went to the ER with pregnancy complications and was questioned about what I had done to cause my possible miscarriage. Because in the state I was in the Republican legislature was working on passing a 6 week abortion ban - before most women even know they are pregnant and effectively criminalizing not just abortion but miscarriage too. My life changed in that moment and I became a pro choice advocate. I have spent the last 5 years holding hundreds of Pro-Choice rallies across the country to DEFEND ROE, collected over 270,000 signatures to go to DC and defend abortion rights and amassed a social media following of over half a million. And now that Roe v Wade has fallen this can't wait, we need Nationwide, Federal Protections to Abortion, Bodily Autonomy and Lgbtq rights." Shanahan is the only Democrat in the Primary election that has a path to victory against Conservative Incumbent Rep. Issa, because she has the power of the pro choice movement behind her!"

Key Messages

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

Whitney Shanahan will reinstate the protections of Roe v Wade to ensure nationwide protection to reproductive rights in all 50 states.

Whitney Shanahan lost her brother to gun violence as a child and now that she is a mother will work to keep our families and kids safe in congress with common sense prevention.

As your Congresswoman Shanahan understands how hard it is to make ends meet, between grocery bills, housing costs and childcare it's untenable for many families. As a millennial she has worked multiple jobs most of her life. She will work to to make life more affordable for the families in her district.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House California District 48 in 2024.

Mike Simon

Image of Mike Simon

WebsiteFacebookTwitterYouTube

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "I am a serial entrepreneur who has founded and led four high-tech companies over the past 30 years, following more than a decade of work as an engineer working on advanced space projects (popularly referred to as a "rocket scientist"). I am an environmentalist and energy expert, and the last three companies I started have developed numerous electric vehicle, hydrogen fuel cell, and renewable energy technologies that have been utilized around the world for the past quarter century. I started designing electric vehicles when Elon Musk of Tesla was still in college, and produced my first electric trucks more than 20 years before Tesla rolled out their first electric truck. I have a strong and diverse educational background, having studied engineering, economics, and political science at Stanford University. At Stanford, I earned a Bachelors degree in Political Science-Social Science with a concentration in Economics in 1980, and then received a Masters degree in Engineering-Economic Systems (now called "Management Science and Engineering") in 1981. Before attending Stanford, I grew up in New York City and attended public schools from kindergarten through high school. Throughout my life, I have learned to work with people of varying backgrounds and with differing political ideologies to solve complex problems, which is one of the many important skill sets I intend to bring to Congress if I am elected."

Key Messages

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

My first key message is that our nation is dangerously divided and that this is largely because too many Members of Congress have adopted the strategy of sowing discontent as a way to preserve political power. A prime example of this problem is "election denialism." Nearly 200 Members of Congress have falsely claimed that the 2020 Presidential election was "stolen," mainly because they are afraid they will be voted out of office if they tell the truth. The main reason I decided to run for Congress was because I feel we need more political leaders with the courage to tell Americans the truth and to work with members of the other party to solve our problems, even if it's not politically advantageous.

My second key message is that one of the truths we are not being told by our political leaders is that we can't keep "kicking the can down the road" by failing to address critical problems facing our society today. We need immigration reform and, once again, certain Members of Congress are holding up a bipartisan deal to achieve this because they want to use this problem as an election issue, rather than solving it. We also have to address the growing federal debt, even if this means cutting spending on some popular programs or raising taxes on certain wealthy individuals to balance the budget. I will be up front with the American people on such problems and I will work hard to find compromises so we can solve them.

My third key message is that I am the right candidate to address the problems I've just described, based on my intellect, strong business background, and demonstrated ability to assemble diverse coalitions to find "common ground" and solve complex problems. Immediately upon taking office, I will propose balanced solutions to our most pressing problems that will appeal to every rational thinker in Congress, whether Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative. Together, we will make smart investments to protect Social Security, defend women's reproductive rights, develop new energy resources, reform immigration, combat the opioid crisis, defend democracy at home and abroad, and bring our fiscal house in order.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House California District 48 in 2024.

Voting information

See also: Voting in California

Election information in California: March 5, 2024, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

  • In-person: March 5, 2024
  • By mail: Postmarked by Feb. 20, 2024
  • Online: Feb. 20, 2024

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

N/A

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

  • In-person: N/A
  • By mail: N/A by N/A
  • Online: N/A

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

  • In-person: March 5, 2024
  • By mail: Postmarked by March 5, 2024

Was early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What were the early voting start and end dates?

Varies to March 4, 2024

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (PST)


Campaign finance

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Darrell Issa Republican Party $1,782,412 $755,386 $1,644,616 As of December 31, 2024
Stephen Houlahan Democratic Party $29,975 $33,263 $7,947 As of December 31, 2024
Matthew Rascon Democratic Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Whitney Shanahan Democratic Party $24,248 $24,052 $196 As of December 31, 2024
Mike Simon Democratic Party $136,294 $135,922 $372 As of September 30, 2024
Lucinda Jahn No party preference $0 $0 $0 Data not available***

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. 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.
*** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

  • District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
  • Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2024 U.S. House elections in the state.
  • Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
  • State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.


Below was the map in use at the time of the election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

2023_01_03_ca_congressional_district_048.jpg
See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2024

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in California.

California U.S. House primary competitiveness, 2014-2024
Office Districts/
offices 		Seats Open seats Candidates Possible primaries Contested top-two primaries % of contested primaries Incumbents in contested primaries % of incumbents in contested primaries
2024 52 52 7 241 52 42 80.8% 36 80.0%
2022 52 52 5 272 52 52 100.0% 47 100.0%
2020 53 53 4 262 53 47 88.7% 32 64.0%
2018 53 53 2 244 53 41 77.4% 39 76.5%
2016 53 53 4 202 53 40 75.5% 36 73.5%
2014 53 53 6 209 53 38 71.7% 32 68.1%

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in California in 2024. Information below was calculated on 1/16/2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

Two-hundred forty-one candidates filed to run for California's 52 U.S. House districts in 2024, including 125 Democrats, 88 Republicans, and 28 independent or minor party candidates. That’s 4.63 candidates per district. In 2022, the first election after the number of congressional districts in California decreased from 53 to 52 following the 2020 census, 5.2 candidates filed per district. In 2020, when the state still had 53 Congressional districts, 4.94 candidates filed per district. In 2018, 4.6 candidates filed.

The 241 candidates who ran in California in 2024 were the fewest total number of candidates since 2016, when 202 candidates ran. Forty-five incumbents—34 Democrats and 11 Republicans—ran for re-election. That was fewer than in 2022, when 47 incumbents ran. Six districts were open, one more than in 2022, and the most since 2014, when six districts were also open.

Incumbents Barbara Lee (D-12th), Adam Schiff (D-30th), and Katie Porter (D-47th) ran for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat. Incumbent Sen. Laphonza Butler (D) didn't run for re-election. Incumbents Grace Napolitano (D-31st), Tony Cárdenas (D-29th), and Anna Eshoo (D-16th) retired from public office. One incumbent—Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-20th)—left Congress before the end of his term. A special election was held to fill his seat before the general election.

Fifteen candidates—12 Democrats, two Republicans, and one nonpartisan—ran in the open 30th district, the most candidates running for a seat in 2024.

Forty-two primaries were contested, the fewest since 2018, when 41 were contested. All 52 primaries were contested in 2022, and 47 were in 2020. In California, which uses a top-two primary system, a primary is contested if more than two candidates file to run.

Incumbents ran in 35 of the 42 contested primaries. That’s lower than 2022, when 47 incumbents ran in contested primaries, but higher than every other year since 2014. In 2020, 32 incumbents faced contested primaries. Thirty-nine incumbents did so in 2018, 36 in 2016, and 32 in 2014.

Democratic candidates ran in every district. Republican candidates ran in every district except one—the 37th. Two Democrats, including incumbent Sydney Kamlage-Dove, one nonpartisan candidate, and one Peace and Freedom Party member ran in that district.

Partisan Voter Index

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

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+9. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 9 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made California's 48th the 151st most Republican district nationally.[3]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2020 presidential election would have been in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

2020 presidential results in California's 48th based on 2024 district lines
Joe Biden Democratic Party Donald Trump Republican Party
42.7% 55.0%

Inside Elections Baselines

See also: Inside Elections

Inside Elections' Baseline is a figure that analyzes all federal and statewide election results from the district over the past four election cycles. The results are combined in an index estimating the strength of a typical Democratic or Republican candidate in the congressional district.[4] The table below displays the Baseline data for this district.

Inside Elections Baseline for 2024
Democratic Baseline Democratic Party Republican Baseline Republican Party Difference
39.5 60.2 D+20.7

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in California, 2020

California presidential election results (1900-2020)

  • 15 Democratic wins
  • 15 Republican wins
  • 1 other win
Year 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Winning Party R R R P[5] D R R R D D D D D R R R D R R R R R R D D D D D D D D
See also: Party control of California state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of California's congressional delegation as of May 2024.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from California
Party U.S. Senate U.S. House Total
Democratic 2 43 45
Republican 0 9 9
Independent 0 0 0
Vacancies 0 0 0
Total 2 52 54

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in California's top four state executive offices as of May 2024.

State executive officials in California, May 2024
Office Officeholder
Governor Democratic Party Gavin Newsom
Lieutenant Governor Democratic Party Eleni Kounalakis
Secretary of State Democratic Party Shirley Weber
Attorney General Democratic Party Rob Bonta

State legislature

California State Senate

Party As of February 2024
     Democratic Party 32
     Republican Party 8
     Other 0
     Vacancies 0
Total 40

California State Assembly

Party As of February 2024
     Democratic Party 62
     Republican Party 18
     Independent 1
     Other 0
     Vacancies 0
Total 80

Trifecta control

The table below shows the state's trifecta status from 1992 until the 2024 election.

California Party Control: 1992-2024
Nineteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Governor R R R R R R R D D D D D R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
Senate D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
Assembly D D D S R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in California in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in California, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2024
State Office Party Signatures required Filing fee Filing deadline Source
California U.S. House All candidates 40-60 $1,740.00[6] 12/8/2023 Source

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Primary Election Types," accessed August 13, 2024
  2. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Primary Elections in California," accessed August 13, 2024
  3. ↑ Cook Political Report, "The 2022 Cook Partisan Voting Index (Cook PVI℠)," accessed January 10, 2024
  4. ↑ Inside Elections, "Methodology: Inside Elections’ Baseline by Congressional District," December 8, 2023
  5. ↑ Progressive Party
  6. ↑ 2,000 signatures can be provided in lieu of the filing fee


California's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Alex Padilla (D)
Adam Schiff (D)
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
Ami Bera (D)
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
Adam Gray (D)
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
Ro Khanna (D)
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
Jim Costa (D)
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
Raul Ruiz (D)
District 26
District 27
District 28
Judy Chu (D)
District 29
Luz Rivas (D)
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
Ted Lieu (D)
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
Young Kim (R)
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
District 45
District 46
District 47
Dave Min (D)
District 48
District 49
District 50
District 51
District 52
Democratic Party (45)
Republican Party (9)


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