California's 36th Congressional District

California's 36th Congressional District

Incumbent

Ted Lieu

Assumed office: January 3, 2023

California's 36th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by Ted Lieu (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 36th Congressional District election, 2024

California's 36th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 top-two primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 36

Incumbent Ted Lieu defeated Melissa Toomim in the general election for U.S. House California District 36 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ted Lieu (D)	68.7	246,002
		Melissa Toomim (R)	31.3	111,985

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 357,987
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 36

Incumbent Ted Lieu and Melissa Toomim defeated Ariana Hakami and Claire Anderson in the primary for U.S. House California District 36 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ted Lieu (D)	68.5	125,858
✔		Melissa Toomim (R)	14.9	27,440
		Ariana Hakami (R)	14.1	25,823
		Claire Anderson (No party preference)	2.5	4,509

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 183,630
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Michael Cheaure (D)

2022

See also: California's 36th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 36

Incumbent Ted Lieu defeated Joe Collins in the general election for U.S. House California District 36 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ted Lieu (D)	69.8	194,299
		Joe Collins (R)	30.2	84,264

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 278,563
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 36

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 36 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ted Lieu (D)	67.1	122,969
✔		Joe Collins (R)	13.4	24,553
		Derrick Gates (R)	5.6	10,263
		Ariana Hakami (R)	5.3	9,760
		Claire Ragge (R)	4.0	7,351
	Submit photo	Colin Kilpatrick Obrien (D)	3.4	6,221
		Steve Williams (Independent)	0.6	1,180
		Matthew Jesuele (Independent)	0.5	976

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 183,273
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Storm Jenkins (R)
• Mitchell Battersby (D)

2020

See also: California's 36th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 36

Incumbent Raul Ruiz defeated Erin Cruz in the general election for U.S. House California District 36 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Raul Ruiz (D)	60.3	185,151
		Erin Cruz (R)	39.7	121,698

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 306,849
= 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 36

Incumbent Raul Ruiz and Erin Cruz defeated Milo Stevanovich, Patrice Kimbler, and Gina Chapa in the primary for U.S. House California District 36 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Raul Ruiz (D)	60.5	96,266
✔		Erin Cruz (R)	21.4	33,984
		Milo Stevanovich (R)	10.5	16,775
		Patrice Kimbler (R)	7.6	12,031
	Submit photo	Gina Chapa (D) (Write-in)	0.0	45

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 159,101
= 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

• Raul Matthew Ruiz (R)
• Jesse Fallon Glick (R)

2018

See also: California's 36th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 36

Incumbent Raul Ruiz defeated Kimberlin Brown Pelzer in the general election for U.S. House California District 36 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Raul Ruiz (D)	59.0	122,169
		Kimberlin Brown Pelzer (R)	41.0	84,839

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 207,008
= 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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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 36

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 36 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Raul Ruiz (D)	55.0	65,554
✔		Kimberlin Brown Pelzer (R)	23.2	27,648
		Dan Ball (R)	7.8	9,312
	Submit photo	Doug Hassett (R)	5.0	6,001
	Submit photo	Stephan Wolkowicz (R)	4.7	5,576
	Submit photo	Robert Bentley (R)	4.2	5,030

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 119,121
= 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 36th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Raul Ruiz (D) defeated Jeff Stone (R) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Ruiz and Stone defeated Stephan Wolkowicz (R) in the top-two primary on June 7, 2016.

U.S. House, California District 36 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Raul Ruiz Incumbent	62.1%	144,348
	Republican	Jeff Stone	37.9%	88,269
Total Votes				232,617
Source: California Secretary of State

U.S. House, California District 36 Primary, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Raul Ruiz Incumbent	58.5%	76,213
	Republican	Jeff Stone	31.6%	41,190
	Republican	Stephan Wolkowicz	9.9%	12,923
Total Votes				130,326
Source: California Secretary of State

2014

See also: California's 36th Congressional District elections, 2014

California's 36th Congressional District was a battleground district in 2014 due to the low margin of victory for Democrats in the previous election and last two presidential elections. Incumbent Raul Ruiz (D) and Brian Nestande (R) triumphed in the blanket primary over Ray Haynes (R). Ruiz went on to defeat Nestande in the general election on November 4, 2014.

U.S. House, California District 36 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Raul Ruiz Incumbent	54.2%	72,682
	Republican	Brian Nestande	45.8%	61,457
Total Votes				134,139
Source: California Secretary of State

2012

See also: California's 36th Congressional District elections, 2012

According to a Cook Political Report analysis, the 36th District was one of 13 congressional districts in California that was competitive in 2012. The analysis rated it as Likely Republican. Democrat Raul Ruiz won election in the district.

U.S. House, California District 36 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Raul Ruiz	52.9%	110,189
	Republican	Mary Bono Mack Incumbent	47.1%	97,953
Total Votes				208,142
Source: California Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2011 special
On May 17, 2011, Janice Hahn won election to the United States House. She defeated 17 candidates in the special general election.

U.S. House, California District 36 Special election, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Janice Hahn	24.6%	15,647
	Republican	Craig Huey	22.2%	14,116
	Democratic	Debra Bowen	21.1%	13,407
	Democratic	Marcy Winograd	9.3%	5,905
	Republican	Mike Gin	7.9%	4,997
	Republican	Mike Webb	6.1%	3,895
	Republican	Patrick "Kit" Bobko	3.6%	2,296
	Libertarian	Steve Collett	1.4%	896
	Republican	Stephen Eisele	1.2%	788
	Democratic	Daniel H. Adler	0.6%	361
	Democratic	Loraine Goodwin	0.5%	325
	Peace Freedom	Maria E. Montano	0.5%	324
	Republican	George Newberry	0.4%	234
	No Party Affiliation	Matthew Roozee	0.2%	157
	No Party Affiliation	Katherine Pilot	0.2%	126
	No Party Affiliation	Michael T. Chamness	0.2%	108
	Write-in	Vince Flaherty	0%	2
Total Votes				63,584
Source: Results via California State Board of Elections

2010
On November 2, 2010, Jane Harman won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Mattie Fein (R) and Herb Peters (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 36 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jane Harman incumbent	59.6%	114,489
	Republican	Mattie Fein	34.7%	66,706
	Libertarian	Herb Peters	5.6%	10,840
Total Votes				192,035

2008
On November 4, 2008, Jane Harman won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Brian Gibson (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 36 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jane Harman incumbent	68.6%	171,948
	Republican	Brian Gibson	31.4%	78,543
Total Votes				250,491

2006
On November 7, 2006, Jane Harman won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Brian Gibson (R), James Smith (P&F) and Mike Binkley (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 36 General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jane Harman incumbent	63.4%	105,323
	Republican	Brian Gibson	31.9%	53,068
	Peace and Freedom	James Smith	2.8%	4,592
	Libertarian	Mike Binkley	1.9%	3,170
Total Votes				166,153

2004
On November 2, 2004, Jane Harman won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Paul Whitehead (R), Alice Stek (P&F) and Mike Binkley (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 36 General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jane Harman incumbent	62%	151,208
	Republican	Paul Whitehead	33.5%	81,666
	Peace and Freedom	Alice Stek	2.5%	6,105
	Libertarian	Mike Binkley	2.1%	5,065
Total Votes				244,044

2002
On November 5, 2002, Jane Harman won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Stuart Johnson (R) and Mark McSpadden (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 36 General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jane Harman incumbent	61.4%	88,198
	Republican	Stuart Johnson	35%	50,328
	Libertarian	Mark McSpadden	3.6%	5,225
Total Votes				143,751

2000
On November 7, 2000, Jane Harman won election to the United States House. She defeated Steven Kuykendall (R), Daniel Sherman (L), John Konopka (Reform) and Matt Ornati (Natural Law) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 36 General Election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jane Harman	48.4%	115,651
	Republican	Steven Kuykendall	46.6%	111,199
	Libertarian	Daniel Sherman	2.5%	6,073
	Green	John Konopka	1.5%	3,549
	Natural Law	Matt Ornati	0.9%	2,264
Total Votes				238,736

1998
On November 3, 1998, Steven Kuykendall won election to the United States House. He defeated Janice Hahn (D), Robin Barrett (G), Kerry Welsh (L) and John Konopka (Reform) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 36 General Election, 1998
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Steven Kuykendall	48.9%	88,843
	Democratic	Janice Hahn	46.6%	84,624
	Green	Robin Barrett	2%	3,612
	Libertarian	Kerry Welsh	1.7%	3,066
	Reform	John Konopka	0.9%	1,561
Total Votes				181,706

1996
On November 5, 1996, Jane Harman won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Susan Brooks (R), Bruce Dovner (L) and Bradley McManus (Natural Law) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 36 General Election, 1996
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jane Harman incumbent	52.5%	117,752
	Republican	Susan Brooks	43.9%	98,538
	Libertarian	Bruce Dovner	2.2%	4,933
	Natural Law	Bradley McManus	1.4%	3,236
Total Votes				224,459

1994
On November 8, 1994, Jane Harman won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Susan Brooks (R), Jack Tyler (L) and Joseph Fields (American Independent) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 36 General Election, 1994
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jane Harman incumbent	48%	93,939
	Republican	Susan Brooks	47.6%	93,127
	Libertarian	Jack Tyler	2.5%	4,932
	American Independent	Joseph Fields	1.9%	3,810
Total Votes				195,808

1992
On November 3, 1992, Jane Harman won election to the United States House. She defeated Joan Milke Flores (R), Richard Greene (G), Owen Staley (P&F) and Marc Denny (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 36 General Election, 1992
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jane Harman	48.4%	125,751
	Republican	Joan Milke Flores	42.2%	109,684
	Green	Richard Greene	5.1%	13,297
	Peace and Freedom	Owen Staley	2.1%	5,519
	Libertarian	Marc Denny	2.1%	5,504
	N/A	Write-in	0%	2
Total Votes				259,757

1990
On November 6, 1990, George Brown, Jr. won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Bob Hammock (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 36 General Election, 1990
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	George Brown, Jr. incumbent	52.7%	72,409
	Republican	Bob Hammock	47.3%	64,961
Total Votes				137,370

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 36
until January 2, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

California District 36
starting January 3, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

2010-2011

This is the 36th 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+21. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 21 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 36th the 54th 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+21. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 21 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 36th the 63rd 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) 71.0%-26.9%.

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+21. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 21 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 36th the 61st 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 71.0% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 26.9%.

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+2. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 2 percentage point more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 36th Congressional District the 187th 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 1.03. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 1.03 points toward that party.

See also

• Redistricting in California
• California's 36th Congressional District election, 2024
• California's 36th Congressional District election, 2022
• California's 36th Congressional District election, 2020
• California's 36th Congressional District election, 2018

External links

• GovTrack District 36

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)