California's 45th Congressional District

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

California's 45th Congressional District

Incumbent

Derek Tran

Assumed office: January 3, 2025

California's 45th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by Derek Tran (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 45th Congressional District election, 2024

California's 45th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 top-two primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 45

Derek Tran defeated incumbent Michelle Steel in the general election for U.S. House California District 45 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Derek Tran (D)	50.1	158,264
		Michelle Steel (R)	49.9	157,611

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 315,875
= 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 45

Incumbent Michelle Steel and Derek Tran defeated Kim Nguyen-Penaloza, Cheyenne Hunt, and Aditya Pai in the primary for U.S. House California District 45 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Michelle Steel (R)	54.9	78,022
✔		Derek Tran (D)	15.9	22,546
		Kim Nguyen-Penaloza (D)	15.6	22,179
		Cheyenne Hunt (D)	8.4	11,973
		Aditya Pai (D)	5.2	7,399

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 142,119
= 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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jimmy Pham (D)

2022

See also: California's 45th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 45

Incumbent Michelle Steel defeated Jay Chen in the general election for U.S. House California District 45 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Michelle Steel (R)	52.4	113,960
		Jay Chen (D)	47.6	103,466

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 217,426
= 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 45

Incumbent Michelle Steel and Jay Chen defeated Long Pham and Hilaire Shioura in the primary for U.S. House California District 45 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Michelle Steel (R)	48.2	65,641
✔		Jay Chen (D)	43.1	58,721
		Long Pham (R)	8.6	11,732
		Hilaire Shioura (No party preference) (Write-in)	0.0	6

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 136,100
= 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

• Terry Dale (R)
• Shawn Collins (R)
• Jennifer Richter (R)
• Adam Hancock (R)

2020

See also: California's 45th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 45

Incumbent Katie Porter defeated Greg Raths in the general election for U.S. House California District 45 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Katie Porter (D)	53.5	221,843
		Greg Raths (R)	46.5	193,096

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 414,939
= 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 45

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 45 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Katie Porter (D)	50.8	112,986
✔		Greg Raths (R)	17.9	39,942
		Don Sedgwick (R)	12.8	28,465
		Peggy Huang (R)	11.1	24,780
		Lisa Sparks (R)	4.0	8,861
		Christopher Gonzales (R)	2.4	5,443
		Rhonda Furin (R)	1.0	2,140

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 222,617
= 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

• Brian Forde (D)
• Julie Proctor (R)
• Mimi Walters (R)
• Brenton Woolworth (R)
• Ray Gennawey (R)
• Aditya Pai (D)

2018

See also: California's 45th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 45

Katie Porter defeated incumbent Mimi Walters in the general election for U.S. House California District 45 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Katie Porter (D)	52.1	158,906
		Mimi Walters (R)	47.9	146,383

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 305,289 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= 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 45

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 45 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mimi Walters (R)	51.7	86,764
✔		Katie Porter (D)	20.3	34,078
		Dave Min (D)	17.8	29,979
		Brian Forde (D)	6.0	10,107
	Submit photo	John Graham (Independent)	2.3	3,817
		Kia Hamadanchy (D)	1.9	3,212

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 167,957
= 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

• Greg Ramsay (D)
• Eric Rywalski (D)
• Ron Varasteh (D)

2016

See also: California's 45th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Mimi Walters (R) defeated Ron Varasteh (D) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Walters and Varasteh defeated Greg Raths (R) and Max Gouron (D) in the top-two primary on June 7, 2016.

U.S. House, California District 45 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mimi Walters Incumbent	58.6%	182,618
	Democratic	Ron Varasteh	41.4%	129,231
Total Votes				311,849
Source: California Secretary of State

U.S. House, California District 45 Primary, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mimi Walters Incumbent	40.9%	65,773
	Democratic	Ron Varasteh	27.6%	44,449
	Republican	Greg Raths	19.2%	30,961
	Democratic	Max Gouron	12.3%	19,716
Total Votes				160,899
Source: California Secretary of State

2014

See also: California's 45th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 45th Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Mimi Walters (R) defeated Drew Leavens (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 45 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mimi Walters	65.1%	106,083
	Democratic	Drew Leavens	34.9%	56,819
Total Votes				162,902
Source: California Secretary of State

2012

See also: California's 45th Congressional District elections, 2012

The 45th Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. District 48 incumbent John Campbell won election in the district.

U.S. House, California District 45 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	John Campbell Incumbent	58.5%	171,417
	Democratic	Sukhee Kang	41.5%	121,814
Total Votes				293,231
Source: California Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2010
On November 2, 2010, Mary Bono Mack won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Steve Pougnet (D) and Bill Lussenheide (American Independent) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 45 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mary Bono Mack incumbent	51.5%	106,472
	Democratic	Steve Pougnet	42.1%	87,141
	American Independent	Bill Lussenheide	6.4%	13,188
Total Votes				206,801

2008
On November 4, 2008, Mary Bono Mack won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Julie Bornstein (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 45 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mary Bono Mack incumbent	58.3%	155,166
	Democratic	Julie Bornstein	41.7%	111,026
Total Votes				266,192

2006
On November 7, 2006, Mary Bono Mack won re-election to the United States House. She defeated David Roth (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 45 General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mary Bono Mack incumbent	60.7%	99,638
	Democratic	David Roth	39.3%	64,613
Total Votes				164,251

2004
On November 2, 2004, Mary Bono Mack won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Richard Meyer (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 45 General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mary Bono Mack incumbent	66.6%	153,523
	Democratic	Richard Meyer	33.4%	76,967
Total Votes				230,490

2002
On November 5, 2002, Mary Bono Mack won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Elle Kurpiewski (D) and Rodney Leon Miller-Boyer (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 45 General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mary Bono Mack incumbent	65.2%	87,131
	Democratic	Elle Kurpiewski	32.7%	43,692
	Libertarian	Rodney Leon Miller-Boyer	2.1%	2,740
Total Votes				133,563

2000
On November 7, 2000, Dana Rohrabacher won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Ted Crisell (D), Don Hull (L) and Constance Betton (Natural Law) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 45 General Election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Dana Rohrabacher incumbent	62.1%	136,275
	Democratic	Ted Crisell	32.4%	71,066
	Libertarian	Don Hull	3.8%	8,409
	Natural Law	Constance Betton	1.7%	3,635
Total Votes				219,385

1998
On November 3, 1998, Dana Rohrabacher won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Patricia Neal (D), Don Hull (L) and Willaim Verkamp, Jr. (Natural Law) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 45 General Election, 1998
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Dana Rohrabacher incumbent	58.7%	94,296
	Democratic	Patricia Neal	37.3%	60,022
	Libertarian	Don Hull	2.7%	4,337
	Natural Law	Willaim Verkamp, Jr.	1.3%	2,115
Total Votes				160,770

1996
On November 5, 1996, Dana Rohrabacher won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Sally Alexander (D), Mark Murphy (L) and Rand McDevitt (Natural Law) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 45 General Election, 1996
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Dana Rohrabacher incumbent	61%	125,326
	Democratic	Sally Alexander	33.2%	68,312
	Libertarian	Mark Murphy	4.3%	8,813
	Natural Law	Rand McDevitt	1.5%	3,071
Total Votes				205,522

1994
On November 8, 1994, Dana Rohrabacher won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Brett Williamson (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 45 General Election, 1994
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Dana Rohrabacher incumbent	69.1%	124,875
	Democratic	Brett Williamson	30.9%	55,849
Total Votes				180,724

1992
On November 3, 1992, Dana Rohrabacher won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Patricia McCabe (D) and Gary Copeland (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 45 General Election, 1992
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Dana Rohrabacher incumbent	54.5%	123,731
	Democratic	Patricia McCabe	39%	88,508
	Libertarian	Gary Copeland	6.5%	14,777
Total Votes				227,016

1990
On November 6, 1990, Duncan Hunter won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Joe Shea (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 45 General Election, 1990
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Duncan Hunter incumbent	72.8%	123,591
	Libertarian	Joe Shea	27.2%	46,068
Total Votes				169,659

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 45
until January 2, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

California District 45
starting January 3, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

2010-2011

This is the 45th 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+1. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 1 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 45th the 202nd 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+2. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 2 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 45th the 195th 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) 52.1%-46.0%.

2022

Heading into the 2022 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+2. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 2 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 45th the 193rd 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 52.1% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 46.0%.

2018

Heading into the 2018 elections, based on results from the 2016 and 2012 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+3. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 3 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made California's 45th Congressional District the 211th most Republican nationally.

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 0.95. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.95 points toward that party.

See also

• Redistricting in California
• California's 45th Congressional District election, 2024
• California's 45th Congressional District election, 2022
• California's 45th Congressional District election, 2020
• California's 45th Congressional District election, 2018

External links

• GovTrack District 45

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)