Elections · U.S. House · California
California House race, District 51
Sara Jacobs holds this seat and is running to keep it against Ricardo Cabrera.
The November ballot
Raised so far, filed with the FEC
General-election ballot as recorded August 15, 2026. Not a prediction.
The seat
Sara Jacobs
Democrat · Holds the seat now
From the member's own disclosures and congress.gov. Not cosponsoring is not a vote against a ban.
How to vote in California
- General electionNovember 3, 2026In 10 weeks
Register 15 days before, or same-day through Election Day at your county office or polling place.
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How they won the primary
The primary · 193,573 votes
- Sara JacobsAdvanced57.74%111,765
- Ricardo CabreraAdvanced37.04%71,692
- David W. Engel3.19%6,173
- Stan Caplan2.04%3,943
Every candidate runs on one ballot and the top two advance to November, whatever their party. Primary results as recorded August 27, 2026, in the canvass's own published order. Via Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), which cites each state's canvass. A primary result is a filed fact about a past contest, not a prediction of November.
The money on this race
- Raised by candidates
- $1.6M
- Outside money
- $8
Outside money, for and against
Independent expenditures; direction is each filer's own declared filing.
Where each candidate's money comes from
- Small donors
- 9%$153K
- Large donors
- 16%$261K
- Bundled
- --
- PACs
- 13%$207K
- Other
- 62%$1.0M
Small donors give under $200; PACs are political action committees. Shares of each candidate's own receipts on file with the FEC. Outside money is not part of these figures.
Who is spending on this race
The 1 group spending independently here, ranked; open a row for whose race the money went into.
Independent expenditures reported to the FEC; direction is each group's own declared filing.
Not on the November ballot
3 filedNone of these has campaign money on file with the FEC.
Primary candidates who did not advance, committees still on file, and candidacies that ended. Being here is a filing fact, not a mark against anyone.
How this seat voted last time
D+21 in 2024
- Sara JacobsWon60.7%
- Bill Wells39.3%
327,584 votes for candidates. The district's lines have changed since this result. A past result is a filed fact, not a prediction of November.
Certified returns via MIT Election Data and Science Lab, from the House Clerk's election statistics and state canvasses.
The district
Census context- People
- 759K
- Median household income
- $105K
- Unemployment
- 6.4%
- Living below the poverty line
- 10.8%
- Without health insurance
- 4.9%
U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year estimates. Context about the district, not a statement about any candidate.
Candidates and financing from the FEC, public domain; money figures carry their own coverage dates. Dataset built 2026-08-27. Nothing here is a forecast, a grade, or a ranking of candidates.