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California's 42nd Congressional District election, 2026 (June 2 top-two primary)

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← 2024
California's 42nd Congressional District
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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: Solid Democratic
DDHQ and The Hill: Pending
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, 2026
See also
California's 42nd Congressional District
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California elections, 2026
U.S. Congress elections, 2026
U.S. Senate elections, 2026
U.S. House elections, 2026

A top-two primary takes place on June 2, 2026, in California's 42nd Congressional District to determine which two candidates will run in the district's general election on November 3, 2026.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
March 6, 2026
June 2, 2026
November 3, 2026



California uses a top-two primary system, in which all candidates appear on the same ballot. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, move on to the general election. In states that do not use a top-two system, all parties are usually able to put forward a candidate for the general election if they choose to.[1][2]

Unlike the top-two format used in some states (Louisiana and Georgia special elections for example), a general election between the top-two candidates in California occurs regardless of whether the top candidate received 50% of the vote in the first round of elections.

As of October 2025, California was one of five states to use a top-two primary system, or a variation of the top-two system for some or all statewide primaries. See here for more information.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

This page focuses on California's 42nd Congressional District's top-two primary. For more in-depth information on the district's general election, see the following page:

Candidates and election results


Nonpartisan primary

Nonpartisan primary election for U.S. House California District 42

Incumbent Robert Garcia (D), Noah Blom (R), Brian Burley (R), Long Pham (R), and Larisa Vermeulen (No party preference) are running in the primary for U.S. House California District 42 on June 2, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Robert Garcia
Robert Garcia (D)
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
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Noah Blom (R)
Image of Brian Burley
Brian Burley (R)
Image of Long Pham
Long Pham (R)
Image of Larisa Vermeulen
Larisa Vermeulen (No party preference)  Candidate Connection

Incumbents are bolded and underlined.

Candidate Connection = 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

Candidate profiles

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.

Larisa Vermeulen

Image of Larisa Vermeulen

WebsiteFacebook

Party: No party preference

Incumbent: No

Submitted Biography:  "(español a continuación) Trilingual Spanish and French teacher for 30 years. Well travelled. Well educated. Well informed. Deeply concerned about helping the US not meet the same fate as Europe. Work to stay energy independent. Like other states, bring manufacturing jobs to California. Fight fraud in order to lower taxes. Protect girls' rights and free speech. // Profesora trilingüe de español y francés desde hace 30 años. He viajado mucho. He recibido una buena formación. He estado bien informada. Me preocupa profundamente ayudar a que Estados Unidos no corra la misma suerte que Europa. Trabajamos para mantener la independencia energética. Al igual que otros estados, buscamos atraer empleos manufactureros a California. Luchamos contra el fraude para bajar los impuestos. Protegemos los derechos de las chicas y la libertad de expresión."

Key Messages

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

(español a continuación) Promote trade schools, medical jobs, farming, and all sectors that need employees. Use AI for manufacturing in the US while carefully choosing where future data centers are built. // Promover escuelas de oficios, empleos médicos, agricultura y todos los sectores que necesitan empleados. Utilizar la IA para la fabricación en EE. UU. y elegir cuidadosamente dónde se construirán los futuros centros de datos.

(español a continuación) Protect rights: civil rights, free speech, girls & women's rights, freedom of and from religion, independent journalism, and of course the 2nd amendment. // Proteger los derechos: derechos civiles, libertad de expresión, derechos de las niñas y las mujeres, libertad de religión y desde la religión, periodismo independiente y, por supuesto, la segunda enmienda.

(español a continuación) Create a definition of "institutional investor" that truly makes more homes available for buyers plus end insider trading. // Crear una definición de "inversionista institucional" que realmente aumente la disponibilidad de viviendas para los compradores y eliminar el tráfico de información privilegiada.

Voting information

See also: Voting in California

Election information in California: June 2, 2026, election.

What is the voter registration deadline?

  • In-person: June 2, 2026
  • By mail: Postmarked by May 18, 2026
  • Online: May 18, 2026

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

N/A

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: N/A
  • By mail: N/A by N/A

Is early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What are the early voting start and end dates?

May 23, 2026 to June 1, 2026

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

N/A

When are polls open on Election Day?

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

Campaign finance

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Robert Garcia Democratic Party $1,226,866 $688,190 $951,104 As of December 31, 2025
Noah Blom Republican Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Brian Burley Republican Party $83,840 $48,288 $41,329 As of December 31, 2025
Long Pham Republican Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Larisa Vermeulen No party preference $0 $0 $0 Data not available***

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.

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.


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

2023_01_03_ca_congressional_district_042.jpg

2026

2027_01_03_ca_congressional_district_42.jpg
See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2026

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in California.

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in California in 2026. Information below was calculated on March 6, 2026, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

Two hundred eighty-nine candidates — 154 Democrats, 97 Republicans, and 38 independent or minor party candidates — ran for California’s 52 U.S. House districts. That’s the highest total number of candidates to run for the U.S. House since 2014. Two hundred forty-one candidates ran in 2024, 272 ran in 2022, 262 ran in 2020, 244 ran in 2018, 202 ran in 2016, and 209 ran in 2014.

In 2026, there were 5.6 candidates per district. There were 4.6 candidates in 2024, 5.2 in 2022, 4.9 in 2020, 4.6 in 2018, 3.8 in 2016, and 3.9 in 2014.

These were the first primary elections to take place since California voters approved Proposition 50 on Nov. 4, 2025, which authorized the state to adopt a new congressional map.

Six U.S. House districts were open in 2026. Seven districts were open in 2024, five in 2022, four in 2020, two in 2018, four in 2016, and six in 2014.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D) of California's 11th Congressional District, Rep. Julia Brownley (D) of California's 26th Congressional District, and Rep. Darrell Issa (R) of California's 48th Congressional District retired from public office. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D) of California's 14th Congressional District ran for governor of California. At the time of the primary elections, California's 1st Congressional District was vacant due to the death of Doug LaMalfa (R). California's 38th Congressional District was open because Rep. Linda Sánchez (D) ran for California's 41st Congressional District.

Rep. Ken Calvert (R) and Rep. Young Kim (R) ran against each other in the redrawn California's 40th Congressional District. Kim was the incumbent in California's 40th Congressional District, and Calvert was the incumbent in California's 41st Congressional District.

Twelve candidates — nine Democrats, two Republicans, and one independent — ran for California's 48th Congressional District. That's the most candidates who ran for a district in 2026.

Forty-eight primaries were contested in 2026. There were 42 contested primaries in 2024, 52 in 2022, 47 in 2020, 41 in 2018, 40 in 2016, and 38 in 2014.

Forty-two incumbents — 36 Democrats, five Republicans, and one independent — faced primary challenges in 2026. Thirty-six incumbents faced primary challengers in 2024, 47 in 2022, 32 in 2020, 39 in 2018, 36 in 2016, and 32 in 2014.

Democratic and Republican candidates filed to run in all 52 districts, meaning no districts were guaranteed to either party.

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+18. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 18 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 42nd the 68th most Democratic district nationally.[3]

2024 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 42nd Congressional District
Kamala Harris Democratic PartyDonald Trump Republican Party
55.0%41.9%

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[4] 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 March 2026.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from California
Party U.S. Senate U.S. House Total
Democratic 2 43 45
Republican 0 7 7
Independent 0 1 1
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
OfficeOfficeholder
GovernorDemocratic Party Gavin Newsom
Lieutenant GovernorDemocratic Party Eleni Kounalakis
Secretary of StateDemocratic Party Shirley Weber
Attorney GeneralDemocratic Party 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

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

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ California Legislative Information, "California Constitution, Article II, Section 5," accessed October 29, 2025
  2. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Primary Elections in California," accessed October 29, 2025
  3. ↑ Cook Political Report, "2025 Cook PVI℠: District Map and List (119th Congress)," accessed July 1, 2025
  4. ↑ Progressive Party


California's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Alex Padilla (D)
Adam Schiff (D)
Representatives
District 1
Vacant
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
Ami Bera (D)
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
Adam Gray (D)
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
Ro Khanna (D)
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
Jim Costa (D)
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
Raul Ruiz (D)
District 26
District 27
District 28
Judy Chu (D)
District 29
Luz Rivas (D)
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
Ted Lieu (D)
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
Young Kim (R)
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
District 45
District 46
District 47
Dave Min (D)
District 48
District 49
District 50
District 51
District 52
Democratic Party (45)
Republican Party (7)
Independent (1)
Vacancies (1)


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