California's 21st Congressional District election, 2026

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

← 2024
California's 21st Congressional District
Top-two primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline: March 6, 2026
Primary: June 2, 2026 General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting in California
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Likely Democratic DDHQ and The Hill: Pending Inside Elections: Lean Democratic Sabato's Crystal Ball: Likely Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
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All U.S. House districts, including the 21st Congressional District of California, are holding elections in 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026. The primary is June 2, 2026. The filing deadline is March 6, 2026. For more information about the primaries in this election, click on the links below:

• California's 21st Congressional District election, 2026 (June 2 top-two primary)

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

• Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
• Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for U.S. House California District 21

Incumbent Jim Costa, Lourin Hubbard, Kyle Kirkland, and Lorenzo Rios are running in the general election for U.S. House California District 21 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Jim Costa (D)
		Lourin Hubbard (D)
		Kyle Kirkland (R)
		Lorenzo Rios (R)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= 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.

Candidate profiles

There are currently no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles will appear here as they are created. Encourage the candidates in this race to complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey so that their profile will appear here. You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:

• Jim Costa
• Lourin Hubbard

Voting information

See also: Voting in California

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

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 has completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Ballotpedia is seeking 100 percent participation so voters can learn more about all the candidates on their ballots.

You can ask candidates in this race to fill out the survey by clicking their names below:

• Jim Costa
• Lourin Hubbard

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Jim Costa	Democratic Party	$582,131	$245,108	$545,905	As of September 30, 2025
Lourin Hubbard	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Kyle Kirkland	Republican Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Lorenzo Rios	Republican Party	$158,749	$10,359	$148,389	As of September 30, 2025
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. 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. *** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

General election race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

• Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
• Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
• Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.
• Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.

Race ratings: California's 21st Congressional District election, 2026
Race tracker	Race ratings
	1/20/2026	1/13/2026	1/6/2026	12/23/2025
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic	Lean Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely 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.

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in California in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in California, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2026
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
California	U.S. House	All candidates	40-60	$1,740	3/6/2026	Source

District history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2020.

• 2024
• 2022
• 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 21

Incumbent Jim Costa (D) defeated Michael Maher (R) in the general election for U.S. House California District 21 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jim Costa (D)	52.6	102,798
		Michael Maher (R)	47.4	92,733

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 195,531
= 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

Nonpartisan primary election for U.S. House California District 21

Incumbent Jim Costa (D) and Michael Maher (R) advanced from the primary for U.S. House California District 21 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jim Costa (D)	53.0	42,697
✔		Michael Maher (R)	47.0	37,935

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 80,632
= 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

• Jorge Zavala (G)

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 21

Incumbent Jim Costa (D) defeated Michael Maher (R) in the general election for U.S. House California District 21 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jim Costa (D)	54.2	68,074
		Michael Maher (R)	45.8	57,573

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 125,647
= 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

Nonpartisan primary election for U.S. House California District 21

Incumbent Jim Costa (D) and Michael Maher (R) defeated Matt Stoll (R) and Eric Garcia (D) in the primary for U.S. House California District 21 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jim Costa (D)	47.0	33,850
✔		Michael Maher (R)	26.4	19,040
		Matt Stoll (R)	16.6	11,931
		Eric Garcia (D)	10.0	7,239

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 72,060
= 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

• Angel Lara (D)
• Bryan Osorio (D)
• Nicole Parra (D)
• Martha Flores-Gibson (R)

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 21

David G. Valadao (R) defeated incumbent TJ Cox (D) in the general election for U.S. House California District 21 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David G. Valadao (R)	50.4	85,928
		TJ Cox (D)	49.6	84,406

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 170,334
= 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

Nonpartisan primary election for U.S. House California District 21

David G. Valadao (R) and incumbent TJ Cox (D) defeated Ricardo De La Fuente (D) and Roque De La Fuente (R) in the primary for U.S. House California District 21 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David G. Valadao (R)	49.7	39,488
✔		TJ Cox (D)	38.7	30,697
		Ricardo De La Fuente (D)	9.2	7,309
		Roque De La Fuente (R)	2.4	1,912

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 79,406
= 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

• Ruben Macareno (D)

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

• District map - A map of the district before and after redistricting ahead of the 2026 election.
• Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2026 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 is the district map used in the 2024 election next to the map in place for the 2026 election. Click on a map below to enlarge it.

2024

2026

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2026

Information about competitiveness will be added here as it becomes available.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

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+4. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 4 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 21st the 173rd most Democratic district nationally.

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2024 presidential election was in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by The Downballot.

2024 presidential results in California's 21st Congressional District

Kamala Harris	Donald Trump
51.7%	45.6%

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in California, 2024

California presidential election results (1900-2024)

• 16 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	2024
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	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 January 2026.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from California
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	2	43	45
Republican	0	8	8
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	1	1
Total	2	52	54

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in California's top four state executive offices as of October 2025.

State executive officials in California, October 2025

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 October 2025
	Democratic Party	30
	Republican Party	10
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		40

California State Assembly

Party		As of October 2025
	Democratic Party	60
	Republican Party	20
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		80

Trifecta control

California Party Control: 1992-2025
Twenty years with 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	25
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	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	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	D

See also

California	2026 primaries	2026 U.S. Congress elections
California congressional delegation Voting in California California elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018	Democratic primary battlegrounds Republican primary battlegrounds U.S. Senate Democratic primaries U.S. Senate Republican primaries U.S. House Democratic primaries U.S. House Republican primaries	U.S. Congress elections U.S. Senate elections U.S. House elections Special elections Ballot access

External links

• Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

[show]

California's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Alex Padilla (D)

Adam Schiff (D)

Representatives

District 1

Vacant

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 (8)

Vacancies (1)

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Election information

Ballot access for major and minor party candidates • List of candidates running for election • List of congressional challengers • Retiring senators • Retiring representatives

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Super PACs/Organizations

American Bridge 21st Century • American Crossroads • American Unity PAC • Campaign for Primary Accountability • Club for Growth Action • Congressional Leadership Fund • Cooperative of American Physicians IE Committee• Crossroads Generation • Ending Spending Action Fund • Endorse Liberty • Fair Share Action • FreedomWorks for America • Government Integrity Fund • House Majority PAC • Independence USA Fund • League of Conservation Voters • Liberty for All PAC • Majority PAC • National Association of Realtors • NEA Advocacy Fund • Now or Never PAC • Planned Parenthood Votes • Ready for Hillary • Republicans for a Prosperous America • Restore America's Voice PAC • SEIU Pea-Federal • Women Vote!

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