The Winner
If you live in California’s 51st Congressional District, Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) will keep representing you after winning a fourth term. The Associated Press called the race for Jacobs after polls closed on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Jacobs had 116,892 votes, or 63.4%, to 67,348 votes, or 36.6%, for Republican Ricardo Cabrera, a margin of about 27 points. That count comes from the California Secretary of State as of Friday, Nov. 6, when about 63% of the expected vote had been counted.
The Race
Cabrera advanced from the June 2 top-two primary in second place with about 37%, behind Jacobs’ roughly 58%. Before the election, Cook Political Report and Inside Elections rated the seat Solid Democratic, and Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated it Safe Democratic, according to Ballotpedia.
The district was redrawn for 2026 under Proposition 50, the congressional map California voters approved in November 2025. It sits in San Diego County and includes El Cajon, La Mesa, Lemon Grove and part of the city of San Diego, according to the California Senate Office of Demographics. Under the previous lines in 2024, Jacobs beat Republican Bill Wells 60.7% to 39.3%.
The district has about 759,200 residents, a median household income of $105,300 and a median age of 36.5. About 46.6% of adults hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, unemployment is 6.4% and 10.8% of residents live below the poverty line. Residents are 50.4% white, 25.6% Hispanic, 16.4% Asian and 5.9% Black.
What’s Next
Jacobs’ new term begins Sunday, Jan. 3, in a House that Democrats won control of in the midterms. In July, she introduced the Security Sector Governance Compacts Act, which would tie U.S. security assistance to how well partner countries govern their militaries and reward progress with more support.
---
AllCiv makes it easy to stay politically informed and involved.
---
Spot something wrong? Report an issue with this article