California's 49th Congressional District

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

California's 49th Congressional District

Incumbent

Mike Levin

Assumed office: January 3, 2019

California's 49th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by Mike Levin (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

• 2030
• 2028
• 2026
• 2024
• 2022
• 2020
• 2018

See also: California's 49th Congressional District election, 2030

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2028

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: California's 49th Congressional District election, 2026

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 49

Incumbent Mike Levin (D), Jim Desmond (R), Star Parker (R), Eli Stern (R), and Julian Arellano (No party preference) are running in the general election for U.S. House California District 49 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Mike Levin (D)
		Jim Desmond (R)
	Submit photo	Star Parker (R)
	Submit photo	Eli Stern (R)
	Submit photo	Julian Arellano (No party preference)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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See also: California's 49th Congressional District election, 2024

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 49

Incumbent Mike Levin (D) defeated Matt Gunderson (R) in the general election for U.S. House California District 49 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Levin (D)	52.2	197,397
		Matt Gunderson (R)	47.8	180,950

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 378,347
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary

Nonpartisan primary election for U.S. House California District 49

Incumbent Mike Levin (D) and Matt Gunderson (R) defeated Margarita Wilkinson (R), Kate Monroe (R), and Sheryl Adams (R) in the primary for U.S. House California District 49 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Levin (D)	51.0	97,275
✔		Matt Gunderson (R)	25.7	49,001
		Margarita Wilkinson (R)	11.0	20,900
		Kate Monroe (R)	10.0	19,026
		Sheryl Adams (R)	2.4	4,617

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 190,819
= 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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See also: California's 49th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 49

Incumbent Mike Levin (D) defeated Brian Maryott (R) in the general election for U.S. House California District 49 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Levin (D)	52.6	153,541
		Brian Maryott (R)	47.4	138,194

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 291,735
= 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

Nonpartisan primary election for U.S. House California District 49

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 49 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Levin (D)	48.9	92,211
✔		Brian Maryott (R)	19.0	35,805
		Lisa Bartlett (R)	10.7	20,163
		Christopher Rodriguez (R)	9.7	18,248
		Josiah O'Neil (R)	7.8	14,746
		Nadia Smalley (D)	2.5	4,804
		Renee Taylor (R)	1.4	2,597

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 188,574
= 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

• Anne Elizabeth (R)

See also: California's 49th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 49

Incumbent Mike Levin (D) defeated Brian Maryott (R) in the general election for U.S. House California District 49 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Levin (D)	53.1	205,349
		Brian Maryott (R)	46.9	181,157

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 386,506
= 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

Nonpartisan primary election for U.S. House California District 49

Incumbent Mike Levin (D) and Brian Maryott (R) advanced from the primary for U.S. House California District 49 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Levin (D)	56.6	125,639
✔		Brian Maryott (R)	43.4	96,424

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 222,063
= 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

• Nadia Smalley (D)
• Mara Fortin (R)
• Steven Craig Knoblock (R)
• Ryan Doheny (Independent)

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 49

Mike Levin (D) defeated Diane Harkey (R) in the general election for U.S. House California District 49 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mike Levin (D)	56.4	166,453
		Diane Harkey (R)	43.6	128,577

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 295,030 (100% precincts reporting)
= 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

Nonpartisan primary election for U.S. House California District 49

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 49 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Diane Harkey (R)	25.5	46,468
✔		Mike Levin (D)	17.5	31,850
		Sara Jacobs (D)	15.8	28,778
		Douglas Applegate (D)	13.1	23,850
		Kristin Gaspar (R)	8.5	15,467
		Rocky Chávez (R)	7.5	13,739
		Paul Kerr (D)	4.4	8,099
		Brian Maryott (R)	3.0	5,496
	Submit photo	Mike Schmitt (R)	1.3	2,379
		Joshua Schoonover (R)	0.7	1,362
		Craig Nordal (R)	0.6	1,156
		David Medway (R)	0.6	1,066
		Robert Pendleton (Independent)	0.5	905
		Danielle St. John (G)	0.4	690
		Joshua Hancock (L)	0.3	552
	Submit photo	Jordan Mills (Peace and Freedom Party)	0.1	233

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 182,090
= 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

• Christina Prejean (D)

Previous election results

2016

See also: California's 49th Congressional District election, 2016

California's 49th Congressional District was a battleground district in 2016. Incumbent Darrell Issa (R) defeated Douglas Applegate (D) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Issa and Applegate defeated Ryan Glenn Wingo (independent) in the top-two primary on June 7, 2016.

U.S. House, California District 49 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Darrell Issa Incumbent	50.3%	155,888
	Democratic	Douglas Applegate	49.7%	154,267
Total Votes				310,155
Source: California Secretary of State

U.S. House, California District 49 General Primary, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Darrell Issa Incumbent	50.8%	84,626
	Democratic	Douglas Applegate	45.5%	75,808
	Independent	Ryan Wingo	3.7%	6,087
Total Votes				166,521
Source: California Secretary of State

2014

See also: California's 49th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 49th Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Darrell Issa (R) defeated Dave Peiser (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 49 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Darrell Issa Incumbent	60.2%	98,161
	Democratic	Dave Peiser	39.8%	64,981
Total Votes				163,142
Source: California Secretary of State

2012

See also: California's 49th Congressional District elections, 2012

The 49th Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Darrell Issa won re-election in the district.

U.S. House, California District 49 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Darrell Issa Incumbent	58.2%	159,725
	Democratic	Jerry Tetalman	41.8%	114,893
Total Votes				274,618
Source: California Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2010
On November 2, 2010, Darrell Issa won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Howard Katz (D), Dion Clark (American Independent) and Mike Paster (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 49 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Darrell Issa incumbent	62.8%	119,088
	Democratic	Howard Katz	31.5%	59,714
	American Independent	Dion Clark	3.5%	6,585
	Libertarian	Mike Paster	2.3%	4,290
Total Votes				189,677

2008
On November 4, 2008, Darrell Issa won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Robert Hamilton (D) and Lars Grossmith (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 49 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Darrell Issa incumbent	58.3%	140,300
	Democratic	Robert Hamilton	37.5%	90,138
	Libertarian	Lars Grossmith	4.3%	10,232
Total Votes				240,670

2006
On November 7, 2006, Darrell Issa won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Jeeni Criscenzo (D) and Lars Grossmith (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 49 General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Darrell Issa incumbent	63.3%	98,831
	Democratic	Jeeni Criscenzo	33.4%	52,227
	Libertarian	Lars Grossmith	3.2%	4,952
	N/A	Write-in	0.1%	127
Total Votes				156,137

2004
On November 2, 2004, Darrell Issa won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Mike Byron (D) and Lars Grossmith (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 49 General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Darrell Issa incumbent	62.6%	141,658
	Democratic	Mike Byron	34.9%	79,057
	Libertarian	Lars Grossmith	2.5%	5,751
Total Votes				226,466

2002
On November 5, 2002, Darrell Issa won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Karl Dietrich (L) and Michael Byron (Write-in) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 49 General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Darrell Issa incumbent	77.2%	94,594
	Libertarian	Karl Dietrich	22%	26,891
	Write-in	Michael Byron	0.8%	1,012
Total Votes				122,497

2000
On November 7, 2000, Susan Davis won election to the United States House. She defeated incumbent Brian Bilbray (R), Doris Ball (L) and Tahir Bhatti (Natural Law) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 49 General Election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Susan Davis	49.7%	113,400
	Republican	Brian Bilbray incumbent	46.2%	105,515
	Libertarian	Doris Ball	2.7%	6,256
	Natural Law	Tahir Bhatti	1.3%	3,048
Total Votes				228,219

1998
On November 3, 1998, Brian Bilbray won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Christine Kehoe (D), Ernest Lippe (L), Julia Simon (Natural Law) and Janice Jordan (P&F) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 49 General Election, 1998
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Brian Bilbray incumbent	48.8%	90,516
	Democratic	Christine Kehoe	46.6%	86,400
	Libertarian	Ernest Lippe	1.8%	3,327
	Natural Law	Julia Simon	1.5%	2,829
	Peace and Freedom	Janice Jordan	1.3%	2,447
Total Votes				185,519

1996
On November 5, 1996, Brian Bilbray won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Peter Navarro (D), Ernie Lippe (L), Kevin Philip Hambsch (Reform) and Peter Sterling (Natural Law) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 49 General Election, 1996
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Brian Bilbray incumbent	52.6%	108,806
	Democratic	Peter Navarro	41.9%	86,657
	Libertarian	Ernie Lippe	2%	4,218
	Reform	Kevin Philip Hambsch	1.8%	3,773
	Natural Law	Peter Sterling	1.6%	3,314
Total Votes				206,768

1994
On November 8, 1994, Brian Bilbray won election to the United States House. He defeated Lynn Schenk (D), Chris Hoogenboom (L) and Renate Kline (P&F) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 49 General Election, 1994
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Brian Bilbray	48.5%	90,283
	Democratic	Lynn Schenk incumbent	46%	85,597
	Libertarian	Chris Hoogenboom	2.8%	5,288
	Peace and Freedom	Renate Kline	2.7%	4,948
	N/A	Write-in	0%	2
Total Votes				186,118

1992
On November 3, 1992, Lynn Schenk won election to the United States House. She defeated Judy Jarvis (R), John Wallner (L) and Milton Zaslow (P&F) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 49 General Election, 1992
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Lynn Schenk	51.1%	127,280
	Republican	Judy Jarvis	42.7%	106,170
	Libertarian	John Wallner	4.3%	10,706
	Peace and Freedom	Milton Zaslow	1.9%	4,738
	N/A	Write-in	0%	4
Total Votes				248,898

District map

Redistricting

2025-2026

See also: Redistricting in California ahead of the 2026 elections

After Texas Republicans launched their congressional redistricting effort, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) tweeted on July 15, 2025, "two can play that game." In August 2025, California began taking official action toward congressional redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections. Redistricting in California required the passage of a constitutional amendment in a November special election to permit the adoption of a replacement map through 2030. On August 21, 2025, the California Legislature passed a redistricting plan setting a special election for a constitutional amendment to redraw the state's congressional district boundaries. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed the two bills and scheduled a Nov. 4, 2025, special election. Voters approved the proposition by a 65%-35% vote, allowing the map that would make five districts more favorable to Democrats to take effect.

2020-2021

See also: Redistricting in California after the 2020 census

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.

2020

2024

2010-2011

This is the 49th 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+4. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 4 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 49th the 165th 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+3. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 3 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 49th the 184th 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) 54.6%-43.2%.

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+3. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 3 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 49th the 184th 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 54.6% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 43.2%.

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 R+1. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 1 percentage point more Republican than the national average. This made California's 49th Congressional District the 228th most Republican 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 0.91. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.91 points toward that party.

See also

• Redistricting in California
• California's 49th Congressional District election, 2024
• California's 49th Congressional District election, 2022
• California's 49th Congressional District election, 2020
• California's 49th Congressional District election, 2018

External links

• GovTrack District 49

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)