California is the most populous U.S. state; as a result, it has the most representation in the United States House of Representatives, with 52 Representatives. Each Representative represents one congressional district.
Per the 2020 United States census, California lost a congressional seat which it had gained after the 2000 census, reducing its total seats from 53 to 52 starting from the 2022 elections and its subsequent 118th Congress. This marked the first time in the state's history where it lost a seat.
Current districts and representatives This is a list of United States representatives from California, their terms in office, district boundaries, and their political ratings according to the CPVI. The delegation for the 119th Congress had a total of 52 members, with 43 Democrats and 8 Republicans, and one independent.
Current U.S. representatives from California District Member Party Incumbent since CPVI District map James Gallagher June 2, 2026 Jared Huffman January 3, 2013 Kevin Kiley January 3, 2023 Mike Thompson January 3, 1999 Tom McClintock January 3, 2009 Ami Bera January 3, 2013 Doris Matsui March 10, 2005 John Garamendi November 5, 2009 Josh Harder January 3, 2019 Mark DeSaulnier January 3, 2015 Nancy Pelosi June 2, 1987 Lateefah Simon January 3, 2025 Adam Gray January 3, 2025 Aisha Wahab August 18, 2026 Kevin Mullin January 3, 2023 Sam Liccardo January 3, 2025 Ro Khanna January 3, 2017 Zoe Lofgren January 3, 1995 Jimmy Panetta January 3, 2017 Vince Fong May 21, 2024 Jim Costa January 3, 2005 David Valadao January 3, 2021 Jay Obernolte January 3, 2021 Salud Carbajal January 3, 2017 Raul Ruiz January 3, 2013 Julia Brownley January 3, 2013 George T. Whitesides January 3, 2025 Judy Chu July 14, 2009 Luz Rivas January 3, 2025 Laura Friedman January 3, 2025 Gil Cisneros January 3, 2025 Brad Sherman January 3, 1997 Pete Aguilar January 3, 2015 Jimmy Gomez July 11, 2017 Norma Torres January 3, 2015 Ted Lieu January 3, 2015 Sydney Kamlager-Dove January 3, 2023 Linda Sánchez January 3, 2003 Mark Takano January 3, 2013 Young Kim January 3, 2021 Ken Calvert January 3, 1993 Robert Garcia January 3, 2023 Maxine Waters January 3, 1991 Nanette Barragán January 3, 2017 Derek Tran January 3, 2025 Lou Correa January 3, 2017 Dave Min January 3, 2025 Darrell Issa January 3, 2021 Mike Levin January 3, 2019 Scott Peters January 3, 2013 Sara Jacobs January 3, 2021 Juan Vargas January 3, 2013
Historical district boundaries
Redistricting 1992 court-ordered districting The 1990 census gave California seven additional congressional seats. Legislative attempts to draw new districts failed, as Republican governor Pete Wilson vetoed all three plans made by the Democratic-controlled state legislature. In September 1991, the Supreme Court of California took over the redistricting process to break the stalemate and, under its direction, a panel of retired judges determined the boundaries of the new districts.
2002 bipartisan redistricting
After the 2000 census, the California State Legislature was obliged to complete redistricting for House of Representatives districts (in accordance with Article 1, Section 4 of the United States Constitution) as well as California State Assembly and California State Senate districts. It was mutually decided by legislators that the status quo in terms of balance of power would be preserved - a so-called Incumbent Protection Plan. A bipartisan gerrymandering effort was done, and districts were configured in such a way that they were dominated by one or the other party, with few districts that could be considered competitive. In some cases this resulted in extremely convoluted boundary lines.
In the 2004 elections, a win by less than 55 percent of the vote was quite rare. This was seen in only five out of 80 State Assembly seats and two out of 20 State Senate seats up for election. The congressional seats were even less competitive than the state legislative districts - just three of the 53 districts were won with less than 60 percent of the vote in 2004.
Citizens Redistricting Commission 2012 Proposition 11, a California ballot proposition known as the Voters FIRST Act, was approved by the voters on November 4, 2008. It removed from the California Legislature the responsibility for drawing the state's congressional districts, and gave the responsibility instead to a 14-member Citizens Commission. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of removing the responsibility from the legislature. The proposition also required that the districts drawn up (1) comply with the federal Voting Rights Act; (2) make districts contiguous; (3) respect, to the extent possible, the integrity of cities, counties, neighborhoods and "communities of interest"; and (4) to the extent possible, make districts compact. Several of these terms are not defined in law.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had earlier proposed placing the redistricting process in the hands of retired judges, which was on the November ballot as an initiative in a special election (called by the Governor on June 14, 2005), Proposition 77. The special election was held on November 8, 2005. However, the initiative was overwhelmingly defeated, with 59 percent voting no. All initiatives, including those proposed by the Governor's allies and several independent initiatives, failed that year.
The California Citizens Redistricting Commission certified final district maps on August 15, 2011, and they took effect with the 2012 election. The new districts are described as more "purple" than "red" or "blue" - that is, more mixed in electoral composition compared to the mostly "safe" districts of the previous decade, where incumbents were almost guaranteed re-election. These new districts, combined with demographic trends over several decades that favored the Democratic party, resulted in a gain of four House of Representatives seats for California Democrats in the 2012 elections.
2022 The 14-member Commission for 2020 is made up of five Republicans, five Democrats, and four members who are not affiliated with either party. Initial and supplemental applications were forwarded to a review panel consisting of three independent auditors from the CA State Auditor. This panel selected 120 of the "most qualified applicants", who were then personally interviewed and divided into three equal sub-pools according to party affiliation, and then narrowed down to 60 applicants.
The review panel presented those 60 applicants to the California State Legislature, where leadership had the option of removing up to 24 names from the list, eight from each sub-pool. The names of the remaining applicants were submitted to the California State Auditor, who randomly drew three Democrats, three Republicans, and two from neither of those parties. These eight individuals became the first eight members of the commission, and they selected the remaining six members by selecting two commissioners from each of the three sub-pools.
The commission received the official 2020 U.S. census data on which the maps must be based, by law, on September 21, 2021. Draft maps were released then on November 21, and final maps were submitted to the California Secretary of State on December 27, 2021. The new districts are considered "enacted" as of December 27, 2021. However, there was a 90-day period for a referendum petition to be filed to prevent the maps from becoming effective. This referendum period ended on March 27, 2022, when the filing and campaign season for the 2022 primary election was already underway. Even after becoming effective, the newly redrawn districts did not become official until the 2022 primary and general elections, and the new districts did not actually exist until after the 2022 general election was complete. Starting from the 2023 inaugurations, the existing boundaries and elected representatives are as shown above.
Proposition 50 (2025) In 2025, Proposition 50 was passed by the California voters. The proposition amends the California state constitution to temporarily redraw the state's congressional districts from 2026–2030, as a Democratic gerrymander intended to offset the gerrymander by Texas Republicans. Following the 2030 census, congressional redistricting authority will return to the independent commission under the normal decennial process.
See also
Districts in California List of United States congressional districts
Notes
References