House districts / California
California's 51st congressional district
CA-51. Redrawn for 2026: the November 2026 election is on new lines. The outline shows the 2024 district with the same number.
Fundraising
- Sara Jacobs Das of Oct 14, 2026Raised $1.9mSpent $1.6m · Cash $317k
7 other candidates have not filed.
Federal Election Commission, candidate totals, public domain.
President in this district
PollCheck calculation from precinct returns on the 2026 lines (method).
| Year | Democrat | Republican | Other | Margin | 2024 lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Harris 57.7% | Trump 39.5% | 2.9% | D+18.2 | D+23.5 |
| 2020 | Biden 60.3% | Trump 37.5% | 2.3% | D+22.8 | D+27.3 |
| 2016 | Clinton 56.7% | Trump 37.3% | 6.0% | D+19.4 | D+23.0 |
Who lives here
| Measure | This district | US |
|---|---|---|
| People | ||
| Population | 758,012 | |
| Adults (18+) | 608,756 | |
| Citizens, % of adults* | 92.5% | 92.1% |
| Age, % of adults | ||
| 18 to 29* | 22.4% | 20.3% |
| 30 to 44* | 30.2% | 25.9% |
| 45 to 64* | 28.4% | 31.8% |
| 65 and over* | 19.0% | 22.0% |
| Race and Hispanic origin, % of residents | ||
| White | 50.8% | 57.8% |
| Black | 6.6% | 12.1% |
| Hispanic | 27.0% | 18.7% |
| Asian | 8.3% | 5.9% |
| Other or more than one | 7.3% | 5.5% |
| Education and income | ||
| Bachelor's degree or higher, % of 25+* | 41.2% | 35.7% |
| Median household income* | $98,783 | $80,734 |
* Estimated for the 2026 lines from census blocks (ACS 2020-2024). Population, adults and race: 2020 Census, counted on the 2026 lines. The tick marks the US figure.
Winning margin
Results since 1976
| Year | Winner | Share | Runner-up | Share | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 lines, elections 2022-2024: redrawn for 2026 seat count changed from 53 to 52 after the census | |||||
| 2024 | Sara Jacobs Democrat | 60.7% | Bill Wells Republican | 39.3% | D+21.4 |
| 2022 | Sara Jacobs Democrat | 61.9% | Stan Caplan Republican | 38.1% | D+23.7 |
| Earlier lines, elections 2012-2020 post-census redistricting | |||||
| 2020 | Juan Vargas Democrat | 68.3% | Juan M. Hidalgo, Jr. Republican | 31.7% | D+36.6 |
| 2018 | Juan Vargas Democrat | 71.2% | Juan M. Hidalgo, Jr. Republican | 28.8% | D+42.4 |
| 2016 | Juan Vargas Democrat | 72.8% | Juan M. Hidalgo, Jr. Republican | 27.2% | D+45.5 |
| 2014 | Juan Vargas Democrat | 68.8% | Stephen Meade Republican | 31.2% | D+37.6 |
| 2012 | Juan Vargas Democrat | 71.5% | Michael Crimmins Republican | 28.5% | D+43.0 |
| Earlier lines, elections 2002-2010 seat count changed from 52 to 53 after the census | |||||
| 2010 | Bob Filner Democrat | 60.0% | Nick Popaditch Republican | 40.0% | D+20.1 |
| 2008 | Bob Filner Democrat | 72.8% | David Lee Joy Republican others 3.0% | 24.2% | D+48.5 |
| 2006 | Bob Filner Democrat | 67.4% | Blake L. Miles Republican others 2.4% | 30.1% | D+37.3 |
| 2004 | Bob Filner Democrat | 61.6% | Michael Giorgino Republican others 3.3% | 35.1% | D+26.5 |
| 2002 | Bob Filner Democrat | 57.9% | Maria Guadalupe Garcia Republican others 2.7% | 39.3% | D+18.6 |
| Earlier lines, elections 1992-2000 seat count changed from 45 to 52 after the census | |||||
| 2000 | Randy "Duke" Cunningham Republican | 64.3% | George "Jorge" Barraza Democrat others 5.3% | 30.4% | R+33.9 |
| 1998 | Randy "Duke" Cunningham Republican | 61.0% | Dan Kripke Democrat others 4.3% | 34.7% | R+26.4 |
| 1996 | Randy "Duke" Cunningham Republican | 65.1% | Rita Tamerius Democrat others 6.0% | 28.9% | R+36.1 |
| 1994 | Randy "Duke" Cunningham Republican | 66.9% | Rita K. Tamerius Democrat others 5.3% | 27.7% | R+39.2 |
| 1992 | Randy "Duke" Cunningham Republican | 56.1% | Bea Herbert Democrat others 10.3% | 33.7% | R+22.4 |
| CA-51 did not exist before 1992: California had 43 districts in 1976-1980 and 45 in 1982-1990. | |||||
More on California
Other California districts
About these results
Shares count all candidate votes, including write-ins, with a candidate's votes on several party lines added together. Each result is on the lines in force at the time. Mid-decade redraws before 2016 may be unmarked.
President in this district: 2016 and 2020, and 2024 on the new lines, are estimates: precinct votes are split between districts by census block. The last column is the margin in CA-51 on the 2024 lines.
Counties only partly inside the district show the 2024 result for that part; estimates are labelled.
Margin chart: winner minus runner-up. Gaps are unopposed races; dashed lines are new district lines.
Who lives here (2026 lines) is estimated from Census survey figures split by population.
Sources
Results: MIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. House 1976-2016 (doi:10.7910/DVN/IG0UN2, CC0; via MEDSL/constituency-returns), and Clerk of the US House, Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election 2018-2024 (public domain).
Presidential results: PollCheck calculation from MIT Election Data and Science Lab 2024 precinct returns (doi:10.7910/DVN/XDJYKC, doi:10.7910/DVN/USBYR4, CC0; state totals doi:10.7910/DVN/42MVDX, CC0) and Voting and Election Science Team 2016 and 2020 precinct results and shapes (doi:10.7910/DVN/NH5S2I, doi:10.7910/DVN/K7760H, CC BY 4.0), with US Census Bureau 2020 block populations and block equivalency files (public domain). Official figures: Texas Legislative Council (2024 on the 2026 lines); Louisiana, New Jersey, California and Washington election offices (county totals). Certified results transcribed by Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): Maine 2024 by district: 2024 United States presidential election in Maine (revision 1382530995); Indiana county totals: 2024 United States presidential election in Indiana (revision 1382505975); Oregon county totals: 2024 United States presidential election in Oregon (revision 1382605746).
District lines: US Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2026 (120th Congress) and 2025 cartographic boundary files (119th Congress), public domain.
Members: unitedstates/congress-legislators (CC0).
Counties: US Census Bureau 2024 cartographic boundary file (public domain); 2024 county results summed from the same MEDSL precinct returns, with the official county totals above.
Demographics: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates 2020-2024; 2020 Census P.L. 94-171 (public domain).
2028 candidates: Federal Election Commission (public domain).
Photos: official portraits, public domain (US government); see Photo credits.
PollCheck US. Data through November 5, 2026. Photo credits