California's 8th Congressional District

California's 8th Congressional District

Incumbent

John Garamendi

Assumed office: January 3, 2023

California's 8th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by John Garamendi (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 8th Congressional District election, 2024

California's 8th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 top-two primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 8

Incumbent John Garamendi defeated Rudy Recile in the general election for U.S. House California District 8 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Garamendi (D)	74.0	201,962
		Rudy Recile (R)	26.0	71,068

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 273,030
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 8

Incumbent John Garamendi and Rudy Recile advanced from the primary for U.S. House California District 8 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Garamendi (D)	77.0	100,193
✔		Rudy Recile (R)	23.0	29,944

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 130,137
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2022

See also: California's 8th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 8

Incumbent John Garamendi defeated Rudy Recile in the general election for U.S. House California District 8 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Garamendi (D)	75.7	145,501
		Rudy Recile (R)	24.3	46,634

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 192,135
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 8

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 8 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Garamendi (D)	63.1	72,333
✔		Rudy Recile (R)	20.5	23,518
		Cheryl Sudduth (D)	9.9	11,378
		Christopher Riley (D)	3.4	3,926
		Edwin Rutsch (D)	2.9	3,268
	Submit photo	Demnlus Johnson (D) (Write-in)	0.2	234

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 114,657
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2020

See also: California's 8th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 8

Jay Obernolte defeated Chris Bubser in the general election for U.S. House California District 8 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jay Obernolte (R)	56.1	158,711
		Chris Bubser (D)	43.9	124,400

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 283,111
= 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 8

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 8 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jay Obernolte (R)	34.9	50,677
✔		Chris Bubser (D)	28.7	41,595
		Tim Donnelly (R)	20.7	30,079
		Bob Conaway (D)	6.2	9,053
		Jeff Esmus (Independent)	2.8	4,042
		James Ellars (D)	2.7	3,948
		Jeremy Staat (R)	1.6	2,288
	Submit photo	Jerry Laws (R)	1.4	2,010
	Submit photo	Justin David Whitehead (R)	0.9	1,305
		Jacquetta Green (Unaffiliated) (Write-in)	0.0	11

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 145,008
= 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

• Paul Cook (R)
• Peter Mathisen (Nonpartisan)
• Nathan Charette (R)
• Destiny Lovato (R)

2018

See also: California's 8th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 8

Incumbent Paul Cook defeated Tim Donnelly in the general election for U.S. House California District 8 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Paul Cook (R)	60.0	102,415
		Tim Donnelly (R)	40.0	68,370

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 170,785
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 8

Incumbent Paul Cook and Tim Donnelly defeated Marge Doyle, Rita Ramirez, and Ronald O'Donnell in the primary for U.S. House California District 8 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Paul Cook (R)	40.8	44,482
✔		Tim Donnelly (R)	22.8	24,933
		Marge Doyle (D)	21.7	23,675
		Rita Ramirez (D)	10.1	10,990
		Ronald O'Donnell (D)	4.6	5,049

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 109,129
= 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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2016

See also: California's 8th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Paul Cook (R) defeated Rita Ramirez (D) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Cook and Ramirez defeated Tim Donnelly (R), Roger LaPlante (D), and John Pinkerton (D) in the top-two primary on June 7, 2016. The general election took place on November 8, 2016.

U.S. House, California District 8 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Paul Cook Incumbent	62.3%	136,972
	Democratic	Rita Ramirez	37.7%	83,035
Total Votes				220,007
Source: California Secretary of State

U.S. House, California District 8 Primary, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Paul Cook Incumbent	42%	50,425
	Democratic	Rita Ramirez	21.9%	26,325
	Republican	Tim Donnelly	20.7%	24,886
	Democratic	John Pinkerton	9.8%	11,780
	Democratic	Roger LaPlante	5.5%	6,661
Total Votes				120,077
Source: California Secretary of State

2014

See also: California's 8th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 8th Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Paul Cook (R) defeated Bob Conaway (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 8 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Paul Cook Incumbent	67.6%	77,480
	Democratic	Bob Conaway	32.4%	37,056
Total Votes				114,536
Source: California Secretary of State

2012

See also: California's 8th Congressional District elections, 2012

The 8th Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Republican Paul Cook won the election in the district.

U.S. House, California District 8 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Paul Cook	57.4%	103,093
	Republican	Greg Imus	42.6%	76,551
Total Votes				179,644
Source: California Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2010
On November 2, 2010, Nancy Pelosi won re-election to the United States House. She defeated John Dennis (R), Gloria La Riva (P&F), Philip Berg (L) and Summer Shields (Write-in) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 8 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi incumbent	80.1%	167,957
	Republican	John Dennis	15.1%	31,711
	Peace and Freedom	Gloria La Riva	2.5%	5,161
	Libertarian	Philip Berg	2.3%	4,843
	Write-in	Summer Shields	0%	24
Total Votes				209,696

2008
On November 4, 2008, Nancy Pelosi won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Dana Walsh (R), Cindy Sheehan (I), Philip Zimt Berg (L), Lea Sherman (Write-in) and Michelle Wong Clay (Write-in) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 8 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi incumbent	71.9%	204,996
	Independent	Cindy Sheehan	16.2%	46,118
	Republican	Dana Walsh	9.7%	27,614
	Libertarian	Philip Zimt Berg	2.3%	6,504
	Write-in	Lea Sherman	0%	11
	Write-in	Michelle Wong Clay	0%	4
Total Votes				285,247

2006
On November 7, 2006, Nancy Pelosi won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Mike Denunzio (R), Krissy Keefer (G) and Philip Zimt Berg (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 8 General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi incumbent	80.4%	148,435
	Republican	Mike Denunzio	10.7%	19,800
	Green	Krissy Keefer	7.4%	13,653
	Libertarian	Philip Zimt Berg	1.5%	2,751
Total Votes				184,639

2004
On November 2, 2004, Nancy Pelosi won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Jennifer DePalma (R) and Leilani Dowell (P&F) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 8 General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi incumbent	82.9%	224,017
	Republican	Jennifer DePalma	11.5%	31,074
	Peace and Freedom	Leilani Dowell	3.5%	9,527
	N/A	Write-in	2%	5,446
Total Votes				270,064

2002
On November 5, 2002, Nancy Pelosi won re-election to the United States House. She defeated G. Michael German (R), Jay Pond (G), Ira Spivack (L) and Deborah Liatos (Write-in) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 8 General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi incumbent	79.6%	127,684
	Republican	G. Michael German	12.5%	20,063
	Green	Jay Pond	6.3%	10,033
	Libertarian	Ira Spivack	1.7%	2,659
	Write-in	Deborah Liatos	0%	2
Total Votes				160,441

2000
On November 7, 2000, Nancy Pelosi won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Adam Sparks (R), Erik Bauman (L) and David Smithstein (Natural Law) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 8 General Election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi incumbent	84.4%	181,847
	Republican	Adam Sparks	11.7%	25,298
	Libertarian	Erik Bauman	2.6%	5,645
	Natural Law	David Smithstein	1.2%	2,638
Total Votes				215,428

1998
On November 3, 1998, Nancy Pelosi won re-election to the United States House. She defeated David Martz (R) and David Smithstein (Natural Law) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 8 General Election, 1998
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi incumbent	85.8%	148,027
	Republican	David Martz	12%	20,781
	Natural Law	David Smithstein	2.1%	3,654
Total Votes				172,462

1996
On November 5, 1996, Nancy Pelosi won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Justin Raimondo (R) and David Smithstein (Natural Law) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 8 General Election, 1996
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi incumbent	84.3%	175,216
	Republican	Justin Raimondo	12.4%	25,739
	Natural Law	David Smithstein	3.3%	6,783
Total Votes				207,738

1994
On November 8, 1994, Nancy Pelosi won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Elsa Cheung (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 8 General Election, 1994
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi incumbent	81.8%	137,642
	Republican	Elsa Cheung	18.2%	30,528
	N/A	Write-in	0%	1
Total Votes				168,171

1992
On November 3, 1992, Nancy Pelosi won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Marc Wolin (R), Cesar Cadabes (P&F) and James Elwood (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 8 General Election, 1992
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi incumbent	82.5%	191,906
	Republican	Marc Wolin	11%	25,693
	Peace and Freedom	Cesar Cadabes	3.3%	7,572
	Libertarian	James Elwood	3.2%	7,511
	N/A	Write-in	0%	9
Total Votes				232,691

1990
On November 6, 1990, Ronald Dellums won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Barbara Galewski (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 8 General Election, 1990
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ronald Dellums incumbent	61.3%	119,645
	Republican	Barbara Galewski	38.7%	75,544
Total Votes				195,189

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 8
until January 2, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

California District 8
starting January 3, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

2010-2011

This is the 8th 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+24. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 24 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 8th the 37th 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+26. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 26 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 8th the 31st 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) 76.0%-22.0%.

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+26. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 26 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 8th the 31st 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 76.0% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 22.0%.

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+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 8th Congressional District the 144th 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 0.97. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.97 points toward that party.

See also

• Redistricting in California
• California's 8th Congressional District election, 2024
• California's 8th Congressional District election, 2022
• California's 8th Congressional District election, 2020
• California's 8th Congressional District election, 2018

External links

• GovTrack District 8

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)