California's 13th District, encompassing parts of the Central Valley, has historically been a battleground with a slight Democratic tilt.

Rep. Gray won this seat by a mere 187 votes in 2024. Prop 50 redistricting has moved this district to a toss-up but it remains the most competitive race in the state.

Before his tenure in Congress, freshman Representative Adam Gray was a member of the California State Assembly, where he focused on water rights and agricultural issues—key concerns for his district. His bipartisan approach has earned him support across party lines, but he faces ongoing challenges in a district where rural and urban interests often collide.

• Partisan Lean: D+2 Lean Dem after Prop 50

• Key Issues: Water rights, agriculture

California’s 22nd District, covering parts of the San Joaquin Valley, has long been a political battleground.

Randy Villegas is a political science professor, school board trustee, and the Democrat facing Republican incumbent David Valadao. The son of Mexican immigrants, Villegas was born and raised in Bakersfield and is a product of the same public schools and community colleges he now fights to protect. A first-generation college graduate, he earned his PhD in Politics from UC Santa Cruz, with a focus on Latin American and Latino Studies, and has taught political science at the College of the Sequoias in Visalia while serving as a trustee on the Visalia Unified School District Board of Education.

CA-22 spans parts of Kern, Kings, and Tulare counties, is approximately 75% Latino, and has the highest rate of Medicaid enrollment of any Republican-held congressional district in the country, making Valadao's votes to gut healthcare deeply personal for the people he represents.

Villegas is campaigning on universal healthcare, affordable childcare, banning insider trading, and using federal legislation to lower gas prices, bringing an economic populist message that speaks directly to working families in the Central Valley.

• Partisan Lean: D+1 Now a toss-up after Prop 50

• Key Democratic Priorities: Expanding healthcare, workers’ rights, immigration reform, water infrastructure

The 45th District, encompassing parts of Orange County, has evolved into a competitive region with a growing Asian American population.

Democrat Derek Tran, a veteran, attorney and community activist, won the seat in 2024. Tran's platform centers on healthcare accessibility, education reform, and small business support. As the first Vietnamese American to represent the district, he emphasizes diversity and inclusion, reflecting the community's changing demographics.

• Partisan Lean: D+3 Lean Dem after Prop 50

• Key Issues: Healthcare, education, small business support

California’s new 48th Congressional District, spanning parts of northern San Diego and southwestern Riverside Counties, has become one of the most competitive seats in the state.

Marni von Wilpert is a San Diego City Councilmember and former civil prosecutor. Born and raised in North San Diego County in a proud military family, von Wilpert went on to serve as a prosecutor in the San Diego City Attorney's Office, where she cracked down on price gouging during the pandemic, held polluters accountable, and took on the opioid industry. She has a proven track record of winning tough races — flipping a Republican-held seat from red to blue on the San Diego City Council, then running unopposed for reelection in 2024.

On the Council, von Wilpert authored the state's first ban on untraceable ghost guns, secured affordable housing grants for teachers, and ensured full funding for public safety and first responders. Now she's bringing that same record to Congress, campaigning on housing affordability, reproductive rights, and environmental protection.

Partisan Lean: D+2 after Prop 50 — Open seat Lean Dem
Key Democratic Priorities: Affordable housing, healthcare access, clean-energy jobs, reproductive freedom, protecting democracy