The Winner
Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) won California's 8th U.S. House District race on Nov. 3, according to the Associated Press. The seat stays in Democratic hands.
Garamendi is the Democratic incumbent, having held the seat since at least the 2024 election. Rudy Recile, a Republican, advanced from California's top-two primary alongside Democrat John Garamendi.
The Race
In the June 2, top-two primary, Garamendi took roughly 54.4 percent of the vote, advancing alongside Recile, who took about 27.8 percent. That was a margin of about 27 points between the two candidates who would face each other in November. In raw votes, Garamendi drew about 97,141 ballots in the primary to Recile's roughly 49,588, a difference of about 47,553 votes.
All three major pre-election race raters called the seat heavily Democratic heading into Election Day: Cook Political Report rated it Solid Democratic, Inside Elections rated it Solid Democratic, and Sabato's Crystal Ball rated it Safe Democratic.
According to Geographies, California's 8th Congressional District has a total population of about 752,500, a median household income of about $97,900, a median age of about 38.9 years, and roughly 30.3 percent of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
What's Next
Garamendi is set to take office on Jan. 3, 2027. He has said he is committed to building on his work to improve roads, bridges, transit, and bike infrastructure, after securing provisions for those priorities in a five-year transportation reauthorization bill, according to the Office of Rep. John Garamendi in a statement published May 22.
---
AllCiv makes it easy to stay politically informed and involved.
---
Spot something wrong? Report an issue with this article