California's 6th Congressional District

California's 6th Congressional District

Incumbent

Ami Bera

Assumed office: January 3, 2023

California's 6th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by Ami Bera (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

2024

See also: California's 6th Congressional District election, 2024

California's 6th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 top-two primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 6

Incumbent Ami Bera defeated Christine Bish in the general election for U.S. House California District 6 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ami Bera (D)	57.6	165,408
		Christine Bish (R)	42.4	121,664

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 287,072
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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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

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 147,745
= 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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Omba Kipuke (D)
• Bret Daniels (R)
• Marshall Martin (R)

2022

See also: California's 6th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 6

Incumbent Ami Bera defeated Tamika Hamilton in the general election for U.S. House California District 6 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ami Bera (D)	55.9	121,058
		Tamika Hamilton (R)	44.1	95,325

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 216,383
= 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 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 June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ami Bera (D)	52.6	76,317
✔		Tamika Hamilton (R)	18.8	27,339
		Bret Daniels (R)	11.5	16,612
		Christine Bish (R)	7.9	11,421
		Mark Gorman (D)	5.2	7,528
		Karla Black (R)	2.4	3,553
		David Keith Langford (R)	1.6	2,272
		Chris Richardson (G) (Write-in)	0.0	15

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 145,057
= 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

• Mathew Ray Jedeikin (Independent)
• Jim Scott (R)

2020

See also: California's 6th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 6

Incumbent Doris Matsui defeated Christine Bish in the general election for U.S. House California District 6 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Doris Matsui (D)	73.3	229,648
		Christine Bish (R)	26.7	83,466

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 313,114
= 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 6

Incumbent Doris Matsui and Christine Bish defeated Benjamin Emard and Sherwood Ellsworth Haisty Jr. in the primary for U.S. House California District 6 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Doris Matsui (D)	70.2	119,408
✔		Christine Bish (R)	14.3	24,321
		Benjamin Emard (D)	7.8	13,253
		Sherwood Ellsworth Haisty Jr. (R)	7.7	13,137

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 170,119
= 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

• Kie'Marr Saleh (Communist Party)
• Ronald Muwereza Lutalo Sr. (R)

2018

See also: California's 6th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 6

Incumbent Doris Matsui defeated Jrmar Jefferson in the general election for U.S. House California District 6 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Doris Matsui (D)	80.4	162,411
		Jrmar Jefferson (D)	19.6	39,528

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 201,939
= 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 6

Incumbent Doris Matsui and Jrmar Jefferson advanced from the primary for U.S. House California District 6 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Doris Matsui (D)	87.9	99,789
✔		Jrmar Jefferson (D)	12.1	13,786

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 113,575
= 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.

2016

See also: California's 6th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Doris Matsui (D) defeated Robert Evans (R) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Matsui and Evans defeated Jrmar Jefferson (D), Mario Galvan (Independent), and Yuriy Seretskiy (Independent) in the top-two primary on June 7, 2016.

U.S. House, California District 6 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Doris Matsui Incumbent	75.4%	177,565
	Republican	Robert Evans	24.6%	57,848
Total Votes				235,413
Source: California Secretary of State

U.S. House, California District 6 Primary, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Doris Matsui Incumbent	70.5%	99,599
	Republican	Robert Evans	18.4%	26,000
	Democratic	Jrmar Jefferson	5.2%	7,361
	Independent	Mario Galvan	4.5%	6,354
	Independent	Yuriy Seretskiy	1.4%	1,930
Total Votes				141,244
Source: California Secretary of State

2014

See also: California's 6th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 6th Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Doris Matsui (D) defeated Joseph McCray, Sr. (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 6 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Doris Matsui Incumbent	72.7%	97,008
	Republican	Joseph McCray, Sr.	27.3%	36,448
Total Votes				133,456
Source: California Secretary of State

2012

See also: California's 6th Congressional District elections, 2012

The 6th Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. The incumbent from the 5th District, Doris Matsui, won election in the district.

U.S. House, California District 6 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Doris Matsui Incumbent	75.1%	160,667
	Republican	Joseph McCray, Sr.	24.9%	53,406
Total Votes				214,073
Source: California Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2010
On November 2, 2010, Lynn Woolsey won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Jim Judd (R), Eugene Ruyle (P&F) and Joel Smolen (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 6 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Lynn Woolsey incumbent	65.9%	172,216
	Republican	Jim Judd	29.6%	77,361
	Peace and Freedom	Eugene Ruyle	2.3%	5,915
	Libertarian	Joel Smolen	2.2%	5,660
Total Votes				261,152

2008
On November 4, 2008, Lynn Woolsey won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Mike Halliwell (R) and Joel Smolen (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 6 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Lynn Woolsey incumbent	71.7%	229,672
	Republican	Mike Halliwell	24.1%	77,073
	Libertarian	Joel Smolen	4.3%	13,617
Total Votes				320,362

2006
On November 7, 2006, Lynn Woolsey won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Todd Hooper (R) and Richard Friesen (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 6 General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Lynn Woolsey incumbent	70.2%	173,190
	Republican	Todd Hooper	26.1%	64,405
	Libertarian	Richard Friesen	3.7%	9,028
	N/A	Write-in	0%	5
Total Votes				246,628

2004
On November 2, 2004, Lynn Woolsey won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Paul Erickson (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 6 General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Lynn Woolsey incumbent	72.6%	226,423
	Republican	Paul Erickson	27.4%	85,244
Total Votes				311,667

2002
On November 5, 2002, Lynn Woolsey won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Paul Erickson (R), Richard Barton (L) and Jeff Rainforth (Reform) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 6 General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Lynn Woolsey incumbent	66.7%	139,750
	Republican	Paul Erickson	29.6%	62,052
	Libertarian	Richard Barton	2.4%	4,936
	Reform	Jeff Rainforth	1.3%	2,825
Total Votes				209,563

2000
On November 7, 2000, Lynn Woolsey won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Ken McAuliffe (R), Justin Moscoso (G), Richard Barton (L) and Alan Barreca (Natural Law) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 6 General Election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Lynn Woolsey incumbent	64.3%	182,116
	Republican	Ken McAuliffe	28.3%	80,169
	Green	Justin Moscoso	4.7%	13,248
	Libertarian	Richard Barton	1.7%	4,691
	Natural Law	Alan Barreca	1%	2,894
Total Votes				283,118

1998
On November 3, 1998, Lynn Woolsey won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Ken McAuliffe (R) and Alan Barreca (Natural Law) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 6 General Election, 1998
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Lynn Woolsey incumbent	68%	158,446
	Republican	Ken McAuliffe	29.7%	69,295
	Natural Law	Alan Barreca	2.2%	5,240
Total Votes				232,981

1996
On November 5, 1996, Lynn Woolsey won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Duane Hughes (R), Ernest Jones, Jr. (P&F) and Bruce Kendall (Natural Law) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 6 General Election, 1996
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Lynn Woolsey incumbent	61.8%	156,958
	Republican	Duane Hughes	34%	86,278
	Peace and Freedom	Ernest Jones, Jr.	2.5%	6,459
	Natural Law	Bruce Kendall	1.6%	4,141
Total Votes				253,836

1994
On November 8, 1994, Lynn Woolsey won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Michael Nugent (R), Louis Beary (L) and Ernest Jones, Jr. (P&F) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 6 General Election, 1994
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Lynn Woolsey incumbent	58.1%	137,642
	Republican	Michael Nugent	37.6%	88,940
	Libertarian	Louis Beary	2.6%	6,203
	Peace and Freedom	Ernest Jones, Jr.	1.7%	4,055
Total Votes				236,840

1992
On November 3, 1992, Lynn Woolsey won election to the United States House. She defeated Bill Filante (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 6 General Election, 1992
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Lynn Woolsey incumbent	65.2%	190,322
	Republican	Bill Filante	33.6%	98,171
	N/A	Write-in	1.1%	3,293
Total Votes				291,786

1990
On November 6, 1990, Barbara Boxer won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Bill Boerum (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 6 General Election, 1990
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Barbara Boxer incumbent	68.1%	137,306
	Republican	Bill Boerum	31.9%	64,402
Total Votes				201,708

1988
On November 8, 1988, Barbara Boxer won re-election to the United States House. She defeated William Steinmetz (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 6 General Election, 1988
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Barbara Boxer incumbent	73.4%	176,645
	Republican	William Steinmetz	26.6%	64,174
Total Votes				240,819

1986
On November 4, 1986, Barbara Boxer won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Franklin Ernst, III (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 6 General Election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Barbara Boxer incumbent	73.9%	142,946
	Republican	Franklin Ernst, III	26.1%	50,606
Total Votes				193,552

1984
On November 6, 1984, Barbara Boxer won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Douglas Binderup (R) and Howard Creighton (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 6 General Election, 1984
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Barbara Boxer incumbent	68%	162,511
	Republican	Douglas Binderup	29.7%	71,011
	Libertarian	Howard Creighton	2.3%	5,574
Total Votes				239,096

1982
On November 2, 1982, Barbara Boxer won election to the United States House. She defeated Dennis McQuaid (R), Howard Creighton (L) and Timothy-Allen Albertson (P&F) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 6 General Election, 1982
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Barbara Boxer	52.4%	96,379
	Republican	Dennis McQuaid	44.6%	82,128
	Libertarian	Howard Creighton	1.7%	3,191
	Peace and Freedom	Timothy-Allen Albertson	1.3%	2,366
Total Votes				184,064

Redistricting

2020-2021

See also: Redistricting in California 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.

California District 6
until January 2, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

California District 6
starting January 3, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

2010-2011

This is the 6th 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+8. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 8 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 6th the 143rd 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+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.

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) 57.9%-39.4%.

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+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 147th 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 57.9% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 39.4%.

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 D+21. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 21 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 6th Congressional District the 61st most Democratic 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 0.86. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.86 points toward that party.

See also

• Redistricting in California
• California's 6th Congressional District election, 2024
• California's 6th Congressional District election, 2022
• California's 6th Congressional District election, 2020
• California's 6th Congressional District election, 2018

External links

• GovTrack District 6

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)