Elections · U.S. House · California
2026 California House race,
Sara Jacobs (Democrat) and Ricardo Cabrera (Republican), who advanced from California's all-party primary, are on the November 3, 2026 ballot for U.S. House in California District 51, as recorded September 21, 2026 from the California Secretary of State.
The November ballot
Raised so far, filed with the FEC
Also in this race: Ricardo Cabrera (Republican).
Certified list: California Secretary of State. Faces and bars are the campaigns that hold the seat or have $25,000 raised or outside spending on file; being outside that group is a filing fact, not a mark. Not a prediction.
The seat
Sara Jacobs
Democrat · Holds the seat now
First took office 2021 · Age 37
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, 2026
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 Jacobs Advanced: 57.7% 111,765
- Ricardo Cabrera Advanced: 37.0% 71,692
- David W. Engel: 3.2% 6,173
- Stan Caplan: 2.0% 3,943
Every candidate runs on one ballot and the top two advance to November, whatever their party. Primary results as recorded September 19, 2026, ordered by votes. Source: California Secretary of State certified Statement of Vote. A primary result is a recorded 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. No outside money is on file for or against the other name on this ballot.
Where each candidate's money comes from
- Small donors
- 9%$153K
- Large donors
- 16%$261K
- PACs
- 13%$207K
- Self-funding
- 57%$929K
- Other
- 5%$89K
Small donors give $200 or less; 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 largest 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
4 filed- Michael BucyIndependent American
- Ricardo CabreraRepublican
- Stan CaplanDemocrat
- John-Samuel WilliamsRepublican
None 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.
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. These figures describe the district as drawn before its lines changed for 2026; estimates for the new lines are not yet published.
How this seat voted last time
D+21 in 2024
- Sara Jacobs Won: 60.7%
- Bill Wells: 39.3%
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.
Candidates and financing from the FEC, public domain. Candidate totals are reported to the FEC through June 30, 2026. Outside money is the FEC's processed total of independent expenditures plus the 24- and 48-hour reports filed since each group's latest regular report. It covers this two-year cycle, the same as the candidate totals. Dataset built 2026-10-12. Nothing here is a forecast, a grade, or a ranking of candidates.