In Southern California, few races are considered to be competitive when it comes to which party’s candidate is like to win. We cover one race that fits that category, District 48<\/a>, in depth below. <\/p>\n Follow the vote after polls close<\/p>\n Our limited-run newsletter Make It Make Sense unpacks the ballot count and results, then checks in regularly on officials voted into office and the measures voters pass.<\/p>\n A civics refresher<\/p>\n The House is one of two chambers of Congress, the other being the Senate. The House and Senate both draft, debate and pass bills that ultimately need approval from both chambers and a president\u2019s signature to become law. The House has to initiate any bills that have to do with taxation, although the Senate can propose changes.<\/p>\n The House has a total of 435 representatives, each of whom represents a district. District lines are drawn so that each represents roughly the same number of people \u2014 700,000 on average. Since California has the highest population in the country, the state’s 52 representatives are the most of any state. The job holder must:<\/p>\n Help craft legislation \u2014 though strictly speaking it is not a requirement.Persuade a majority of your 434 colleagues, or at least the leaders, that the specific concerns of your constituents should be a priority.Be in constant campaign mode, especially fundraising, because you have to run again in 2026 to keep the post.<\/p>\n Why these races matters<\/p>\n When voting, you\u2019re not just thinking about who you want your representative to be, but how they would contribute to the overall makeup and political direction of the House of Representatives. The House\u2019s ability to pass laws, cooperate with the president, or get anything done in general depends a lot on what those divisions look like \u2014 if there\u2019s a Republican or Democratic majority, how large that majority is, and the ratio between moderates and those with farther right or farther left views. And often, bills are passed \u2014 or rejected \u2014 strictly along party lines.<\/p>\n Look up your district<\/p>\n District 48<\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Calmatters via Open Street Maps<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n Partisan Lean: Leans Democratic<\/p>\n Voter Registration: Democratic 37%, Republican 33%, no party preference 22%<\/p>\n Democrats are targeting this San Diego-area seat currently held by Republican Rep. Darrell Issa. It covers most of East and North County San Diego and parts of Riverside County, including Palm Springs. Its voter makeup shifted from deep red to slightly blue under Prop. 50.<\/p>\n After Republican Rep. Darrell Issa announced his retirement on the eve of the deadline to file for the ballot, San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond quickly changed districts and instantly became the Republican favorite in the race. Two main Democrats are vying to challenge him: San Diego Councilmember Marni von Wilpert and former Obama official Ammar Campa-Najjar, who are both trading barbs in their quest to challenge Desmond, who is expected to advance.<\/p>\n Candidates Party: Democratic Key Endorsements Party: Democratic Stephen Clemons<\/p>\n Party: Democratic Corinna Contreras<\/p>\n Party: Democratic Jim Desmond<\/p>\n Party: Republican Key endorsements<\/p>\n Kevin Patrick O’Neil<\/p>\n Party: Republican Ferguson Porter<\/p>\n Party: Democratic Luis F. Reyna<\/p>\n Party: No Party Preference Brandon Riker<\/p>\n Party: Democratic Mike Schaefer<\/p>\n Party: Democratic Eric Shaw<\/p>\n Party: Democratic Marni von Wilpert Occupation: Councilwoman\/Health Advocate<\/p>\n Key endorsements<\/p>\n Related Links<\/p>\n Read more about other competitive races<\/p>\n Calmatters has more details on: District 3<\/a>\u00a0| District 4<\/a>\u00a0| District 6<\/a>\u00a0| District 7<\/a>\u00a0| District 11<\/a>\u00a0| District 14<\/a>\u00a0| District 22<\/a><\/p>\n Use this lookup tool to find details about your district’s candidates:<\/p>\n Reporting by Gina Pollack for LAist in 2024 is included in this guide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What\u2019s at stake in this race Members of the U.S. House of Representatives run for election every two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633630,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-633629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Map](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778364732_282_.png\")
<\/p>\n
\nAmmar Campa-Najjar<\/p>\n
Occupation Navy Officer\/Educator<\/p>\n
\nAbel Chavez<\/p>\n
Occupation: Teacher\/School Boardmember<\/p>\n
Occupation: Energy Systems Executive<\/p>\n
Occupation: Vista City Councilmember<\/p>\n
Occupation: San Diego County Supervisor<\/p>\n
Occupation: Computer Software Engineer<\/p>\n
Occupation: Small Business Owner<\/p>\n
Occupation: Civil Rights Organizer<\/p>\n
Occupation: Small Business Owner<\/p>\n
Occupation: Member Ca. Board of Equalization<\/p>\n
Occupation: Digital Marketing Executive<\/p>\n
\nParty: Democratic<\/p>\n