California's 16th Congressional District election, 2024

2026 → ← 2022
California's 16th Congressional District
Top-two primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline: December 8, 2023
Primary: March 5, 2024 General: November 5, 2024
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting in California
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic Inside Elections: Solid Democratic Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
See also
California's 16th Congressional District U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th • 10th • 11th • 12th • 13th • 14th • 15th • 16th • 17th • 18th • 19th • 20th • 21st • 22nd • 23rd • 24th • 25th • 26th • 27th • 28th • 29th • 30th • 31st • 32nd • 33rd • 34th • 35th • 36th • 37th • 38th • 39th • 40th • 41st • 42nd • 43rd • 44th • 45th • 46th • 47th • 48th • 49th • 50th • 51st • 52nd California elections, 2024 U.S. Congress elections, 2024 U.S. Senate elections, 2024 U.S. House elections, 2024 Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House racesArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House racesFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House racesOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House racesTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House racesVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House racesSubmit

Sam Liccardo (D) defeated Evan Low (D) in the general election for California's 16th Congressional District on November 5, 2024. Incumbent Anna Eshoo (D) did not run for re-election. Click here for detailed results.

In the all-party top-two primary on March 5, 2024, Liccardo finished first with 21%. Low finished in second place with 17% after a recount. To read more about the recount process, click here.

This race was one of three Democrat vs. Democrat congressional races in California during the 2024 election cycle. Between 2012 and 2024, there were an average of six house races in California where two members of the same party competed. This district has not had a Republican advance to the general election since 2020.

Before the election, Politico's Lara Korte, Melanie Mason, and Dustin Gardiner wrote the race "...is expected to be one of the most expensive Dem-on-Dem contests this cycle." Both candidates sought different endorsements to distinguish themselves from one another. Low received endorsements from various local labor unions and the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Liccardo received the endorsement of the Sierra Club, whose vice president described him as the "only candidate in this race who has pledged to turn down fossil fuel money."

On May 15, the California Democratic Party voted to endorse Low over Liccardo by one vote. The San Jose Spotlight's Brandon Pho and Ramona Giwargis wrote, "Despite losing the California Democratic Party endorsement, Liccardo is working to cut into Low’s progressive, union-backed base... the Laborer’s International Union of North America — or LiUNA — broke from the pack and endorsed Liccardo instead." Low's union endorsements included National Nurses United and the California Labor Federation.

Liccardo was mayor of San Jose from 2015 to 2023. Liccardo said in an interview that he would join the Problem Solvers Caucus and said, "In my first week in office, I intend to join the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus to help find willing partners on issues important to the 16th District – and as the rules require, I would find a Republican House member willing to join with me." Liccardo received endorsements from California Controller Malia Cohen (D) and the New Democrat Coalition. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (D) donated $500,000 to a Super PAC supporting Liccardo.

Low was elected to the California Assembly in 2014, representing the 26th District. In an interview with The Mercury News, Low said his priorities were "bread and butter key core issues," including public safety and ensuring Silicon Valley maintained its "competitiveness with global innovation." Sen. Laphonza Butler (D), Rep. Ro Khanna (D), and Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis (D) endorsed his campaign.

Before the election, Liccardo raised $5.7 million and spent $4.7 million, and Low raised $3.5 million and spent $2.7 million. To review all the campaign finance figures in full detail, click here.

For more information about the primary, click on the link below:

• California's 16th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 top-two primary)

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 16

Sam Liccardo defeated Evan Low in the general election for U.S. House California District 16 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sam Liccardo (D)	58.2	179,583
		Evan Low (D)	41.8	128,893

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 308,476
= 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 16

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 16 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sam Liccardo (D)	21.1	38,492
✔		Evan Low (D)	16.6	30,261
		Joe Simitian (D)	16.6	30,256
		Peter Ohtaki (R)	12.8	23,283
		Peter Dixon (D)	8.1	14,677
		Rishi Kumar (D)	6.8	12,383
	Submit photo	Karl Ryan (R)	6.3	11,563
		Julie Lythcott-Haims (D)	6.2	11,386
		Ahmed Mostafa (D)	3.2	5,814
		Greg Tanaka (D)	1.3	2,421
		Joby Bernstein (D)	0.9	1,652

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 182,188
= 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

• Evan Bell (D)
• Nickesh Viswanathan (No party preference)

Voting information

See also: Voting in California

Election information in California: Nov. 5, 2024, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

• In-person: Nov. 5, 2024
• By mail: Postmarked by Oct. 21, 2024
• Online: Oct. 21, 2024

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

Yes

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

• In-person: N/A
• By mail: N/A by N/A
• Online: N/A

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

• In-person: Nov. 5, 2024
• By mail: Postmarked by Nov. 5, 2024

Was early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What were the early voting start and end dates?

Varies to Nov. 4, 2024

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (PST)

Candidate comparison

Candidate profile

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.

Sam Liccardo

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: 

Mayor of San Jose (2015-2023)

Member of San Jose City Council (2007-2014)

Biography:  Liccardo graduated with degrees from Georgetown University and Harvard University. He was a prosecutor in the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office and worked as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of California.

---

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

---

Increasing access to housing through federal action was a priority for Liccardo: "There's a critical need for the federal government to step up to be a partner to local communities. The housing crisis is not just affecting the unhoused...It is long since time for Congress to lean in. That's why I'm running."

---

Liccardo said: “In my years of leadership, I learned long ago that we don’t need to forge agreement on every issue in order to make progress where we do agree... I would approach Congress the same way – looking for common ground on an issue-by-issue basis until we can build coalitions. In my first week in office, I intend to join the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus to help find willing partners on issues important to the 16th District – and as the rules require, I would find a Republican House member willing to join with me.”

---

Liccardo supported federal action in order to lower rents across the U.S.: "The federal government, which amounted to only a minor supporting player in the multifamily housing market since the 1970s, can and must play a role in addressing the dearth of multifamily housing. Why? Because this isn’t simply a crisis of affordability in the Bay Area but in nearly every major metropolitan area in the nation."

---

Show sources

Sources: The Stanford Daily, "'A critical need': Former San Jose Mayor talks congressional bid," accessed July 15, 2024;  San Jose Spotlight, "On the Record: Congressional Candidate Sam Liccardo," accessed July 2, 2024 Sam Liccardo 2024 campaign website, "Let's Get it Done: Read Sam's Plan," accessed July, 2, 2024;; Sam Liccardo 2024 campaign website, "About Sam," accessed July 2, 2024

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House California District 16 in 2024.

Evan Low

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "Elected as the youngest Asian American mayor and youngest LGBT mayor in the country, I entered public service to champion the middle class. During my 10 years of service as an Assemblymember, I was named California's most effective lawmaker, delivering more signed bills than any other member. I also helped secure over $40 billion to build more affordable housing, increase funding for public schools, provide free community college, and support families struggling with the cost of living. When reproductive rights were under assault, I co-authored legislation to enshrine reproductive freedom in the California Constitution. My commitment to public safety is personal. As the proud brother of a police officer serving this district, I led the charge to increase law enforcement funding and keep guns out of the hands of criminals and people with mental illness. I was named "Legislator of the Year" by the California Police Chiefs Association. In Washington, I will take on lobbyists, hold oil companies accountable, and fight against pharmaceutical companies' price gouging. I am committed to making the region more affordable for middle and working-class families. I am the only candidate in this race endorsed by the California Democratic Party, labor unions, firefighters, police, nurses, and teachers, and hold a 100% score from Planned Parenthood."

---

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

---

As the candidate in this race who lives in Congressional District 16 and has represented parts of the district for six years as their Assemblymember, I have experienced firsthand how inflation and the rising cost of living are impacting our community. In the California Legislature, I have a proven track record of working to build bipartisan coalitions to provide Californians with lower costs, more affordable housing, and higher wages for workers. If elected to Congress, I will leverage my extensive legislative and coalition-building experience to foster strong relationships with House colleagues and bring much-needed federal relief to working families and small businesses in our community that are still struggling to recover from COVID.

---

As a brother of a police officer, I know the importance of supporting our first responders and reducing crime in our communities. To address the opioid epidemic, I passed legislation to enhance reporting requirements and interstate data sharing to help minimize death and abuse. In Congress, I will make sure that we continue to support law enforcement while delivering smart solutions to minimize violent crime and reform our criminal justice system that has disproportionally impacted our Black and brown communities.

---

As a gay, fourth-generation Chinese American legislator, I have experienced discrimination and harassment during my time in office because of my identity. Over the years, these experiences motivated me to become an effective advocate for underrepresented and marginalized communities, seeing the parallels between Islamophobia and antisemitism and the xenophobia that Asian American & Pacific Islander communities have experienced historically and especially during the Trump presidency. I have fought for reproductive rights earning me a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood, and co-authored Proposition 1, enshrining reproductive rights in California’s Constitution. If elected, I will continue the fight in Congress.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House California District 16 in 2024.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

No candidate in this race completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign ads

Sam Liccardo

Ballotpedia did not come across any campaign ads for Sam Liccardo while conducting research on this election. If you are aware of any ads that should be included, please email us.

Evan Low

Ballotpedia did not come across any campaign ads for Evan Low while conducting research on this election. If you are aware of any ads that should be included, please email us.

Election competitiveness

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

Polls are conducted with a variety of methodologies and have margins of error or credibility intervals. The Pew Research Center wrote, "A margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level means that if we fielded the same survey 100 times, we would expect the result to be within 3 percentage points of the true population value 95 of those times." For tips on reading polls from FiveThirtyEight, click here. For tips from Pew, click here.

The links below show polls for this race aggregated by FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, where available. Click here to read about FiveThirtyEight's criteria for including polls in its aggregation.

• FiveThirtyEight

Race ratings

Race ratings: California's 16th Congressional District election, 2024
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 5, 2024	October 29, 2024	October 22, 2024	October 15, 2024
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

Click the links below to see official endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites for any candidates that make that information available. If you are aware of a website that should be included, please email us.

• Sam Liccardo
• Evan Low

Election spending

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Sam Liccardo	Democratic Party	$6,226,443	$6,136,051	$90,392	As of December 31, 2024
Evan Low	Democratic Party	$3,717,869	$3,636,634	$81,235	As of December 31, 2024
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." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

Satellite spending

See also: Satellite spending

Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.

If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.

By candidate	By election
Sam Liccardo Evan Low	Open Secrets Federal Elections Commission

Election 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.

• District map
• Competitiveness
• Presidential elections
• State party control

Below was the map in use at the time of the election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2024

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

See also: The Cook Political Report's 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+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 16th the 34th most Democratic district nationally.

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 16th based on 2024 district lines
Joe Biden	Donald Trump
75.4%	22.4%

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. The table below displays the Baseline data for this district.

Inside Elections Baseline for 2024
Democratic Baseline	Republican Baseline	Difference
73.3	26.4	D+46.9

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in California, 2020

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	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

See also: Party control of California state government

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	Gavin Newsom
Lieutenant Governor	Eleni Kounalakis
Secretary of State	Shirley Weber
Attorney General	Rob Bonta

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

Election context

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	12/8/2023	Source

District election history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2018.

2022

See also: California's 16th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 16

Incumbent Anna Eshoo defeated Rishi Kumar in the general election for U.S. House California District 16 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Anna Eshoo (D)	57.8	139,235
		Rishi Kumar (D)	42.2	101,772

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 241,007
= 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 16

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 16 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Anna Eshoo (D)	47.9	81,100
✔		Rishi Kumar (D)	15.6	26,438
		Peter Ohtaki (R)	12.6	21,354
		Richard Fox (R)	7.8	13,187
		Ajwang Rading (D)	6.7	11,418
		Greg Tanaka (D)	6.6	11,107
		Benjamin Solomon (R)	1.6	2,659
		John Karl Fredrich (Independent)	1.3	2,120
	Submit photo	Travis Odekirk (D) (Write-in)	0.0	2

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 169,385
= 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

• Nathan Brown (R)
• Monika Sheldon-London (R)

2020

See also: California's 16th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 16

Incumbent Jim Costa defeated Kevin Cookingham in the general election for U.S. House California District 16 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jim Costa (D)	59.4	128,690
		Kevin Cookingham (R)	40.6	88,039

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 216,729
= 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 16

Incumbent Jim Costa and Kevin Cookingham defeated Esmeralda Soria and Kim Williams in the primary for U.S. House California District 16 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jim Costa (D)	37.5	41,228
✔		Kevin Cookingham (R)	35.2	38,652
		Esmeralda Soria (D)	21.4	23,484
		Kim Williams (D)	5.9	6,458

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 109,822
= 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.

2018

See also: California's 16th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 16

Incumbent Jim Costa defeated Elizabeth Heng in the general election for U.S. House California District 16 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jim Costa (D)	57.5	82,266
		Elizabeth Heng (R)	42.5	60,693

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 142,959
= 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 16

Incumbent Jim Costa and Elizabeth Heng advanced from the primary for U.S. House California District 16 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jim Costa (D)	53.0	39,527
✔		Elizabeth Heng (R)	47.0	35,080

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 74,607
= 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.

2024 battleground elections

See also: Battlegrounds

This was a battleground election. Other 2024 battleground elections included:

• California's 22nd Congressional District election, 2024
• Mayoral election in Portland, Oregon (2024)
• Mississippi Supreme Court elections, 2024

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections, 2024

External links

• Search Google News for this topic

See also

• California's 16th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 top-two primary)
• Top-two primary
• United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2024
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2024

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)

Ballotpedia

About

Overview • What people are saying • Support Ballotpedia • Contact • Contribute • Job opportunities

---

Executive: Leslie Graves, Founder and CEO • Gwen Beattie, Chief Operating Officer

Communications: Alison Graves, Director of Communications • Carley Allensworth • Abigail Campbell • Frank Festa • Sarah Groat • Nathaniel Harwood • Dillon Redmond • Erica Shumaker
External Relations: Geoff Pallay, Director of External Relations • Ken Carbullido, Vice President of Election Product and Technology Strategy • Ashley Fleming • Thomas Mardik • Hannah Nelson
Operations: Meghann Olshefski, Director of Operations • Amanda Herbert • Mandy Morris • Caroline Presnell • Kelly Rindfleisch
Tech: Matt Latourelle, Director of Technology Operations • Ryan Burch • Kirsten Corrao • Beth Dellea • Travis Eden • Tate Kamish • Margaret Kearney • Eric Lotto • Joseph Sanchez • Mary Susmitha

Contributors: Scott Rasmussen

---

Editorial Content

Josh Altic, Director of Content • Daniel Anderson, Associate Director of Elections & Data • Cory Eucalitto, Associate Director of Features • Ryan Byrne, Managing Editor of Ballot Measures • Mandy McConnell, Managing Editor of News • Doug Kronaizl, Managing Editor of Local Expansion • Abbey Smith, Managing Editor of Elections • Janie Valentine, Managing Editor of Law • Joel Williams. Managing Editor of Events • Andrew Bahl • Jaclyn Beran • Marielle Bricker • Joseph Brusgard • Emma Burlingame • Kelly Coyle • Jon Dunn • Thomas Ellis • Nicole Fisher • Joseph Greaney • Thomas Grobben • Jaime Healy-Plotkin • Brianna Hosea • Molly Kehoe • Tyler King • Glorie Martinez • Norm Leahy, Senior Editor • Nathan Maxwell • Jimmy McAllister • Brandon McCauley • Ellie Mikus • Ellen Morrissey • Mackenzie Murphy • Kaley Platek • Samantha Post • Adam Powell • Annelise Reinwald • Ethan Rice • Spencer Richardson • Victoria Rose • Briana Ryan • Myj Saintyl • Maddy Salucka • Emma Soukup • Alexis Thacker • Mina Vogel • Samuel Wonacott • Trenton Woodcox