California's 7th Congressional District

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

California's 7th Congressional District

Incumbent

Doris Matsui

Assumed office: January 3, 2023

California's 7th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by Doris Matsui (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 7th Congressional District election, 2024

California's 7th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 top-two primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 7

Incumbent Doris Matsui defeated Tom Silva in the general election for U.S. House California District 7 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Doris Matsui (D)	66.8	197,429
		Tom Silva (R)	33.2	98,341

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 295,770
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 7

Incumbent Doris Matsui and Tom Silva defeated David Mandel in the primary for U.S. House California District 7 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Doris Matsui (D)	56.5	89,485
✔		Tom Silva (R)	30.9	48,943
		David Mandel (D)	12.7	20,057

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 158,485
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Max Semenenko (R)

2022

See also: California's 7th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 7

Incumbent Doris Matsui defeated Max Semenenko in the general election for U.S. House California District 7 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Doris Matsui (D)	68.3	150,618
		Max Semenenko (R)	31.7	70,033

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 220,651
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 7

Incumbent Doris Matsui and Max Semenenko defeated Jimmy Fremgen in the primary for U.S. House California District 7 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Doris Matsui (D)	63.2	94,896
✔		Max Semenenko (R)	28.5	42,728
		Jimmy Fremgen (D)	8.4	12,550

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 150,174
= 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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2020

See also: California's 7th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 7

Incumbent Ami Bera defeated Buzz Patterson in the general election for U.S. House California District 7 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ami Bera (D)	56.6	217,416
		Buzz Patterson (R)	43.4	166,549

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 383,965
= 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 7

Incumbent Ami Bera and Buzz Patterson defeated Jeff Burdick, Jon Ivy, and Chris Richardson in the primary for U.S. House California District 7 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ami Bera (D)	50.3	106,124
✔		Buzz Patterson (R)	33.6	70,803
		Jeff Burdick (D)	7.2	15,114
		Jon Ivy (R)	6.6	14,017
		Chris Richardson (G)	2.3	4,837

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 210,895
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2018

See also: California's 7th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 7

Incumbent Ami Bera defeated Andrew Grant in the general election for U.S. House California District 7 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ami Bera (D)	55.0	155,016
		Andrew Grant (R)	45.0	126,601

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 281,617
= 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 7

Incumbent Ami Bera and Andrew Grant defeated Yona Barash, Chris Richardson, and Reginald Claytor in the primary for U.S. House California District 7 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ami Bera (D)	51.7	84,776
✔		Andrew Grant (R)	31.2	51,221
		Yona Barash (R)	13.9	22,845
		Chris Richardson (G)	1.9	3,183
	Submit photo	Reginald Claytor (Independent)	1.3	2,095

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 164,120
= 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

• Brad Westmoreland (D)
• Omba Kipuke (R)

2016

See also: California's 7th Congressional District election, 2016

California's 7th Congressional District was a battleground district in 2016. Incumbent Ami Bera (D) won re-election to his third term in 2016. He defeated Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones (R) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Both candidates advanced past the top-two primary without competition, as they were the only two to file in the race.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ami Bera Incumbent	51.2%	152,133
	Republican	Scott Jones	48.8%	145,168
Total Votes				297,301
Source: California Secretary of State

U.S. House, California District 7 Primary, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ami Bera Incumbent	54%	93,506
	Republican	Scott Jones	46%	79,640
Total Votes				173,146
Source: California Secretary of State

2014

See also: California's 7th Congressional District elections, 2014

California's 7th Congressional District was a battleground district in 2014 due to the low margin of victory for Democrats in the last election and last two presidential elections. Incumbent Ami Bera (D) and Doug Ose (R) triumphed in the blanket primary over Igor Birman (R), Elizabeth Emken (R), Douglas Arthur Tuma (L) and Phill Tufi (I). Bera then narrowly defeated Ose in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ami Bera Incumbent	50.4%	92,521
	Republican	Doug Ose	49.6%	91,066
Total Votes				183,587
Source: California Secretary of State

2012

See also: California's 7th Congressional District elections, 2012

According to a Cook Political Report analysis, the 7th District was one of 13 congressional districts in California expected to be competitive in 2012. The analysis rated it as Republican Toss Up. Due to redistricting, Lungren ran for re-election in the 2012 election for the U.S. House, representing California's 7th District as a Republican. He and Ami Bera (D) advanced past the blanket primary on June 5, 2012, defeating Douglas Arthur Tuma (L) and Curt Taras (Ind). Bera defeated Lungren in the general election on November 6, 2012.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ami Bera	51.7%	141,241
	Republican	Dan Lungren Incumbent	48.3%	132,050
Total Votes				273,291
Source: California Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

U.S. House, California District 7 Open Primary, 2012

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Dan Lungren (R) Incumbent	52.7%	63,586
Ami Bera (D)	41%	49,433
Curt Taras (NPP)	3.2%	3,854
Douglas Arthur Tuma (L)	3.1%	3,707
Total Votes		120,580

2010
On November 2, 2010, George Miller won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Rick Tubbs (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller incumbent	68.3%	122,435
	Republican	Rick Tubbs	31.7%	56,764
Total Votes				179,199

2008
On November 4, 2008, George Miller won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Roger Allen Petersen (R), Bill Callison (P&F) and Camden McConnell (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller incumbent	72.8%	170,962
	Republican	Roger Allen Petersen	21.8%	51,166
	Peace and Freedom	Bill Callison	2.9%	6,695
	Libertarian	Camden McConnell	2.5%	5,950
Total Votes				234,773

2006
On November 7, 2006, George Miller won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Camden McConnell (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller incumbent	84%	118,000
	Libertarian	Camden McConnell	16%	22,486
Total Votes				140,486

2004
On November 2, 2004, George Miller won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Charles Hargrave (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller incumbent	76.1%	166,831
	Republican	Charles Hargrave	23.9%	52,446
Total Votes				219,277

2002
On November 5, 2002, George Miller won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Charles Hargrave (R) and Scott Wilson (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller incumbent	70.7%	97,849
	Republican	Charles Hargrave	26.4%	36,584
	Libertarian	Scott Wilson	2.8%	3,943
Total Votes				138,376

2000
On November 7, 2000, George Miller won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Christopher Hoffman (R) and Martin Sproul (Natural Law) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller incumbent	76.5%	159,692
	Republican	Christopher Hoffman	21.1%	44,154
	Natural Law	Martin Sproul	2.4%	4,943
Total Votes				208,789

1998
On November 3, 1998, George Miller won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Norman Reece (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 1998
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller incumbent	76.7%	125,842
	Republican	Norman Reece	23.3%	38,290
Total Votes				164,132

1996
On November 5, 1996, George Miller won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Norman Reece (R), William Thompson (Reform) and Bob Liatunick (Natural Law) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 1996
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller incumbent	71.8%	137,089
	Republican	Norman Reece	22.3%	42,542
	Reform	William Thompson	3.6%	6,866
	Natural Law	Bob Liatunick	2.3%	4,420
Total Votes				190,917

1994
On November 8, 1994, George Miller won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Charles Hughes (R) and William Callison (P&F) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 1994
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller incumbent	69.7%	116,105
	Republican	Charles Hughes	27.4%	45,698
	Peace and Freedom	William Callison	2.9%	4,798
Total Votes				166,601

1992
On November 3, 1992, George Miller won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Dave Scholl (R) and David Franklin (P&F) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 1992
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller incumbent	70.3%	153,320
	Republican	Dave Scholl	25.1%	54,822
	Peace and Freedom	David Franklin	4.5%	9,840
Total Votes				217,982

1990
On November 6, 1990, George Miller won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Roger Payton (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 1990
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller incumbent	60.5%	121,080
	Republican	Roger Payton	39.5%	79,031
Total Votes				200,111

1988
On November 8, 1988, George Miller won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Jean Last (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 1988
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller incumbent	68.4%	170,006
	Republican	Jean Last	31.6%	78,478
Total Votes				248,484

1986
On November 4, 1986, George Miller won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Rosemary Thakar (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 1986
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller incumbent	66.6%	124,174
	Republican	Rosemary Thakar	33.4%	62,379
Total Votes				186,553

1984
On November 6, 1984, George Miller won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Rosemary Thakar (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 1984
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller incumbent	66.7%	158,306
	Republican	Rosemary Thakar	33.3%	78,985
Total Votes				237,291

1982
On November 2, 1982, George Miller won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Paul Vallely (R), Rich Newell (L) and Terry Wells (American Independent) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 1982
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller incumbent	67.2%	126,952
	Republican	Paul Vallely	30.2%	56,960
	Libertarian	Rich Newell	1.5%	2,752
	American Independent	Terry Wells	1.2%	2,205
Total Votes				188,869

1980
On November 4, 1980, George Miller won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Giles St. Clair (R), Steve Snow (L) and Thomas J. Thompson (American Independent) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 1980
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller incumbent	63.3%	142,044
	Republican	Giles St. Clair	31.4%	70,479
	Libertarian	Steve Snow	3.1%	6,923
	American Independent	Thomas J. Thompson	2.2%	5,023
Total Votes				224,469

1978
On November 7, 1978, George Miller won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Paula Gordon (R) and Melvin Stanley (American Independent) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 1978
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller incumbent	63.4%	109,676
	Republican	Paula Gordon	33.7%	58,332
	American Independent	Melvin Stanley	2.8%	4,857
Total Votes				172,865

1976
On November 2, 1976, George Miller won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Robert Vickers (R) and Melvin Stanley (American Independent) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 1976
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller incumbent	74.7%	147,064
	Republican	Robert Vickers	23.3%	45,863
	American Independent	Melvin Stanley	2%	3,889
Total Votes				196,816

1974
On November 4, 1974, George Miller won election to the United States House. He defeated Gary Fernandez (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 7 General Election, 1974
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Miller	55.6%	82,765
	Republican	Gary Fernandez	44.4%	66,115
Total Votes				148,880

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 7
until January 2, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

California District 7
starting January 3, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

2010-2011

This is the 7th 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+16. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 16 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 7th the 87th 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+17. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 17 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 7th the 81st 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) 67.4%-30.3%.

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+17. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 17 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 7th the 80th 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 67.4% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 30.3%.

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+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 7th Congressional District the 180th 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 0.90. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.90 points toward that party.

See also

• Redistricting in California
• California's 7th Congressional District election, 2024
• California's 7th Congressional District election, 2022
• California's 7th Congressional District election, 2020
• California's 7th Congressional District election, 2018

External links

• GovTrack District 7

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)