![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Californias_48th_congressional_district_since_2027.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe 48th is one of the last purple districts in California after the passage of Proposition 50<\/p>\n
Sep 15, 2026<\/p>\n
Updated 10:01 am PT<\/p>\n
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California’s 48th District was heavily redrawn as a result of Proposition 50.\u00a0(Twotwofourtysix \/ Creative Commons Attribution 4.0)<\/p>\n
Here are the morning\u2019s top stories on Tuesday, September 15, 2026<\/p>\n
Voting in November\u2019s midterm election will begin in less than three weeks, and a handful of California districts are at the center of the fight for control of Congress. That includes the 48th House District<\/a> in Riverside and San Diego counties. KQED politics correspondent Guy Marzorati has been reporting in the district<\/a>, and he joins us this morning from San Diego.President Donald Trump is expanding the Interior Department\u2019s authority<\/a> over energy projects under the Defense Production Act. The executive order could affect the Central Coast, where the administration has already invoked the federal law to support a pipeline restart off the Santa Barbara coast.Santa Clara County officials are urging ICE<\/a> to give up on constructing its new facility in Gilroy.<\/p>\n \nElection Outlook in \u201cOne of the Last Purple Districts\u201d in California\n<\/p>\n HALL: So why are Democrats and Republicans focusing so much on this district?<\/p>\n MARZORATI: Well, really, because this is one of the last purple congressional districts we have in California. It\u2019s one of only three districts in the state that was rated competitive by the nonpartisan political report. So it will go a long way into deciding the balance of power in Congress. And this 48th district, specifically this map, <\/a>which was created by voters under Prop 50 last year to help Democrats, this thing is just a piece of gerrymandering art. I mean, it makes no sense on paper. It runs from here in North County San Diego up to Riverside. It goes out to Palm Springs, back down to the desert. But the goal was really just to make the district more favorable to Democrats, and that happened. We saw the incumbent Republican Darrell Issa<\/a> decide he just didn\u2019t wanna run here.<\/p>\n HALL: And who are the candidates running in the district?<\/p>\n MARZORATI: So with Issa out, we have on the Democratic side, Marni von Wilpert<\/a>. She\u2019s the San Diego City Council member. On the Republican side, Jim Desmond<\/a>. He\u2019s a San Diego County supervisor, and about half the voters in this congressional district are already represented by Desmond on the board of supervisors. So I think that\u2019s clearly an advantage for him in this election, just that familiarity. And I saw it at this Fiestas Patrias<\/a> Mexican Independence Day celebration over the weekend at Vista. Desmond\u2019s office I\u2019ll put on the events, andsome of his supporters were there as well. I talked with the mayor of Vista, John Franklin, who\u2019s supporting Desmond for Congress.<\/p>\n \u201cWe think of him as a common sense leader. He\u2019s been very responsive. He\u2019s focused on affordability issues,\u201d said Mayor Franklin<\/p>\n MARZORATI: And there were other Vista residents I talked to at the event. They mentioned Desmond\u2019s office giving out free baby formula, free car seats. So you can see this in Desmond ads too. He\u2019s kind of leaning into this message of non-partisan service.<\/p>\n HALL: Going back to Von Wilpert, what\u2019s the case that she\u2019s making to voters?<\/p>\n MARZORATI: I think Von Wilpert is hoping the election is going to hinge more on national issues, more on President Trump. Trump has endorsed Desmond and Desmond will be running as a Republican in this race. This is not a supervisor election, which is nonpartisan. Immigration enforcement, ICE, I think are definitely issues to watch here as a motivator for Democrats. It\u2019s interesting, that same Fiestas Patrias event I mentioned that Desmond\u2019s office helped sponsor, organizers told me they almost canceled the event last year because of fears over ICE raids. And there have been debates over ICE training facilities at the county level in San Diego, locally in Escondido. So it\u2019s on the mind of voters, including Supreshma Riya. She\u2019s a freshman at Cal State San Marcos, who just registered to vote for the first time yesterday. And I caught up with her. And honestly, like many Democrats I talked to this week, she singled out immigration and Trump\u2019s enforcement as her top issue.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that the way that he\u2019s handling the situation is inhumane,\u201d said Riya.<\/p>\n MARZORATI: I think it\u2019s no surprise Von Wilpert has really made standing up to ice one of her top priorities.<\/p>\n HALL: I know that this district is pretty sprawling. How are the candidates getting their messages out?<\/p>\n MARZORATI: Yeah, that\u2019s a great question. In Riverside, San Diego, Palm Springs, you have three different TV markets in the same district. So if a campaign is running a broadcast TV ad, it\u2019s not even going to reach all of the voters in the district. So how they get the message out will be interesting. We saw last week some outside spending reported on mailers against Von Wilpert. What was interesting about that is the New York Times reported<\/a> that it was part of this bankrolling effort by Trump\u2019s super PAC, MAGA Inc. So maybe there\u2019s involvement there. Democratic groups will surely get involved. I think the question is, voters in this district have a history recently of ticket splitting, by which I mean they\u2019ve supported Republicans at the local level and at the state level and Democrats for president. We\u2019ll see which way they go for Congress.<\/p>\n HALL: Guy, thanks for your reporting.<\/p>\n MARZORATI: Thanks, Alex.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump is expanding the Interior Department\u2019s authority over energy projects under the Defense Production Act.<\/p>\n The executive order<\/a> could affect the Central Coast, where the administration has already invoked the federal law to support a pipeline restart off the Santa Barbara coast; Sable Offshore\u2019s <\/a>Santa Ynez pipeline system.<\/p>\n