California's 6th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 top-two primary)
A top-two primary took place on March 5, 2024, in California's 6th Congressional District to determine which two candidates would run in the district's general election on November 5, 2024.
Incumbent Ami Bera and Christine Bish advanced from the primary for U.S. House California District 6.
| Candidate filing deadline | Primary election | General election |
|---|---|---|
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 October 2025, California was one of five states to use a top-two primary system, or a variation of the top-two system for some or all statewide primaries. See here for more information.
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
This page focuses on California's 6th 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 6
The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 6 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Ami Bera (D) | 51.8 | 76,605 | |
| ✔ | Christine Bish (R) ![]() | 20.1 | 29,628 | |
| Raymond Riehle (R) | 10.7 | 15,779 | ||
Craig DeLuz (R) ![]() | 9.7 | 14,361 | ||
Adam Barajas (D) ![]() | 5.9 | 8,711 | ||
| Chris Richardson (G) | 1.8 | 2,661 | ||
| Total votes: 147,745 | ||||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Omba Kipuke (D)
- Bret Daniels (R)
- Marshall Martin (R)
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.
Party: Democratic Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Submitted Biography: "I'm a Bernie Sanders progressive Democrat. I take no money from corporations, billionaires, Super PACs or lobbyists. I've worked as a delivery driver at Amazon, overnight stocker at Walmart, dishwasher and food prep at local diners, and currently work as a retail worker at a grocery store. I was inspired by Bernie Sanders and Martin Luther King to get into politics and now I want to follow in their foot steps and continue their work in fighting for the impoverished not only in this country but eventually around the world. "
This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House California District 6 in 2024.
Party: Republican Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Submitted Biography: "I am Christine Bish, a seasoned small business owner and Sacramento resident with a residency spanning over three decades. Throughout my tenure in this community, I have actively contributed to various community-based organizations, including the Boy Scouts of America and serving as the Vice-Chair for the Oakmont High School Site Council. Notably, I assumed the role of Sacramento Area Chair for the Educational Freedom Initiative, an initiative championed by Dr. Milton Friedman. In my capacity as a guest speaker for The Conservative Voice in Riverside, California, I engaged in a compelling debate on the imperative of School Choice in the state. As a local Realtor deeply embedded in the community, I possess a keen understanding of its needs and aspirations. Employing a "boots on the ground" approach, I am committed to assisting individuals in securing affordable, quality housing while adeptly navigating the intricacies of Federal, State, and Local laws and regulations. Drawing upon my extensive experience, I command a profound knowledge of the mortgage industry and State and Federal loan programs. My professional background includes over fifteen years as a skip tracer, specializing in locating witnesses, assets, and conducting background investigations. During my decade-long tenure with a local law firm, I garnered national recognition for my achievements with key clients. I pledge to represent all constituents of my district regardless of political views."
This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House California District 6 in 2024.
Party: Republican Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Submitted Biography: "Craig DeLuz is a small business owner and elected official with more than 30 years of experience in California politics. DeLuz was elected to Robla School District in 2005 where he has served as President for over 10 years on the Board. During his term, he has made STEAM education a priority and led the charge to transform Robla campuses into state-of-the-art facilities that prepare students for the jobs of the future. WORKING CLASS ROOTS Craig’s Mom and Dad Originally from the Bay Area, DeLuz grew up in a working-class household, where his father, John DeLuz, a WW2 Air Force Veteran, worked as a warehouse supervisor, and his mother, El Vera, took care of Craig and his brothers and sisters. DeLuz learned the values of hard work, commitment, and integrity through his parents who were dedicated to making ends meet for their family. He went on to receive his bachelor’s degree in business finance from California State University, Chico, where he was elected as the first Black President of the Associated Student Government in the University’s 100-year history. DeLuz has also served as a legislative staffer to California Assemblymen Kevin Jeffries and Tim Leslie and has an extensive history as a media professional, policy analyst, and grassroots activist in the Greater Sacramento region. Craig and his wife Sobna live in North Sacramento. They have two children, Craig Jr. and Jazmine."
This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House California District 6 in 2024.
Voting information
- See also: Voting in California
Campaign finance
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ami Bera | Democratic Party | $1,250,011 | $1,111,772 | $1,873,372 | As of December 31, 2024 |
| Adam Barajas | Democratic Party | $450 | $0 | $450 | As of March 31, 2024 |
| Christine Bish | Republican Party | $182,260 | $182,368 | $50 | As of December 31, 2024 |
| Craig DeLuz | Republican Party | $32,126 | $32,079 | $47 | As of December 31, 2024 |
| Raymond Riehle | Republican Party | $48,647 | $48,107 | $540 | As of December 31, 2024 |
| Chris Richardson | Green Party | $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." |
|||||
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.

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
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+7. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 7 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 6th the 148th most Democratic 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 6th based on 2024 district lines | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Biden |
Donald Trump | |||
| 57.9% | 39.4% | |||
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 |
Republican Baseline |
Difference | ||
| 56.4 | 43.0 | R+13.3 | ||
Presidential voting history
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 |
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 | |
| Lieutenant Governor | |
| Secretary of State | |
| Attorney General | |
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
- California's 6th Congressional District election, 2024
- United States House elections in California, 2024 (March 5 top-two primaries)
- United States House Democratic Party primaries, 2024
- United States House Republican Party primaries, 2024
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2024
- U.S. House battlegrounds, 2024
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ California Legislative Information, "California Constitution, Article II, Section 5," accessed October 29, 2025
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Primary Elections in California," accessed October 29, 2025
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "The 2022 Cook Partisan Voting Index (Cook PVI℠)," accessed January 10, 2024
- ↑ Inside Elections, "Methodology: Inside Elections’ Baseline by Congressional District," December 8, 2023
- ↑ Progressive Party
- ↑ 2,000 signatures can be provided in lieu of the filing fee
