The battle for control of the U.S. House runs straight through California, home to a half-dozen Republican members of Congress who represent districts Joe Biden either won or narrowly lost in 2020, along with several Democratic members who represent competitive seats. In addition, five Democrats in California’s delegation who represent safe blue seats are retiring, and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s resignation has opened up a bright red seat in the Central Valley.
Primary season is in full swing in the Golden State: County election officials began mailing ballots this week to registered voters for the March 5 primary (the vast majority of California voters vote by mail). And more than $11 million has been spent on TV and radio ads for U.S. House races, according to AdImpact.
This week, we’ll run through the primaries to watch in Republican-held seats, and check in on competitive general election matchups. Next week, we’ll preview the competitive primaries in Democratic-held seats. Because California uses a top-two primary system where all candidates regardless of party run on the same ballot, there’s a decent possibility two
Subscribe Today
Our subscribers have first access to individual race pages for each House, Senate and Governors race, which will include race ratings (each race is rated on a seven-point scale) and a narrative analysis pertaining to that race.