California

Welcome to the California state page! Here, California organizers can access and document ongoing projects, current leadership positions, upcoming races, and other important information. This list is non-exhaustive, and state teams are encouraged to expand and adapt these pages to their organizing needs.

Political Landscape of California

Partisan Composition of California

Overall, California is considered a deep blue state, with a Cook PVI of D+13 as of 2022, regularly voting 60-70% Democrat in statewide races. Democrats represent their governorship, both US senate seats and 40 of their 52 US House seats. Democrats also have supermajorities in the state house (62-18) and state senate (32-8) as of 2/8/24. TO NOTE: Since California is such a large state, state senators actually represent more people than US House representatives, with state representatives only slightly behind.

Progressive Outlook for California

The overall progressive strategy for California is overwhelmingly-optimistic. Ballot initiatives are alive and well in this state, so progressives can regularly affect change via direct democracy. The state legislature is also likely to enact progressive priorities and become the first state to do so, with wins on insulin, banning red 3, etc. paving the way for others. This is the vanguard state. The biggest thing standing in the way of progressive priorities here are neoliberal/NIMBY Democrats such as Gavin Newsom and others who grant social rights but fiscally act like Republicans. As California has a special top-two primary system which replicates ranked-choice voting, it is STRONGLY recommended for CA progressives to participate in, canvass for and donate to progressive candidates in the primary elections as these are often the elections which determine who will win - most of the time, the general elections are a foregone conclusion with a Democrat in a heavily-blue district facing off against a "sacrificial" Republican, so making sure a progressive wins in March is VITAL for progressive politics in CA. Because of this system, this is one of the few states where third parties (such as the Greens and more recently the Peace and Freedom party) can field serious candidates without the spoiler effect.

Get Involved

Register to Vote in California

California/Voting

Progressive Organizations in California

Below is a list of progressive organizations in California. If you see a state organization that isn't on this list, please add it.

Notable Campaigns in 2024 (March 5th Top-Two Primaries)

Below is a list of progressive candidates or ballot measures in the 2024 election cycle for California (primary). Non-progressive candidates may also be placed here if they are substantially to the left of their district's partisan lean and worth campaigning for. For the election on March 5th, 2024, you must be registered by February 20, 2024. Remember, you CAN still vote if you miss this deadline, but you must complete Same-Day Voter Registration at the location you will be voting.

US Senate Race: This race is hotly contested by several Democrats and it is imperative that Porter places 1st or 2nd here and that Schiff does not.

US House Races: This is a major chance for Green or Peace and Freedom party candidates to place 2nd in several seats, in addition to displacing moderate Democrat incumbents with progressives. The following is an exhaustive list of all US House races in California where progressives are running to win and whose campaigns focusing on would most make a difference. No incumbents are expected to lose in this round, but we can absolutely try. NOTE: 21 of the 40 Democrats in this state's congressional delegation are already aligned with the Congressional Progressive Caucus as of 2/8/24.

• CA-4: Andrew Engdahl, progressive Democrat, is challenging incumbent Democrat Mike Thompson in a four person race. Supporting his candidacy in the primary is a way to signal to Thompson that he should join the Progressive Caucus, or even displace him entirely in a D+31 (538) seat.
• CA-6: Incumbent Ami Bera (D) is being challenged by progressive Democrat Adam Barajas, Chris Richardson of the Green party, as well as three Republicans. Voting for Barajas or Richardson in the primary would signal to Bera that she should be more progressive, or even displace her in a DvD/DvG competition in a D+14 (538) seat.
• CA-7: Progressive Democrat David Mandel is primarying incumbent Doris Matsui (D) who is not in the progressive caucus. Voting for him would signal to her that she should be more progressive, or even replace her to win against the sacrificial Republican in November. THIS is the real race to determine who gets in, so if you're around this district and want change, now's your chance.
• CA-12: With Barbara Lee vacating her seat, this is an open race in which many Democrats and Republicans are clamoring for this extremely blue seat (D+77 according to 538). Of the candidates running, Lateefah Simon seems to be the most progressive.
• CA-16: A deep blue (D+35 according to 538) seat which is open, this is a prime chance to elect a progressive. Pending financial reports and more research, we'll have a recommendation shortly.
• CA-18: Another deep blue (D+42 according to 538) seat with a non-progressive Democrat. The preferred progressive choice here appears to be Luele Kiefle(D).
• CA-19: Chance to elect a Green, Sean Dougherty (G) is running against incumbent Jimmy Panetta (D) and Jason Anderson (R) in a D+35 district. Panetta or Dougherty winning here would be fine, but it's worth noting regardless for anyone interested in California Greens.
• CA-24: Solidly blue seat currently held by non-progressive Salud Carbajal (D). Progressive recommendation is Helena Pasquarella. This seat WILL be decided on March 5th, so be sure to show your support!
• CA-28: Deep blue seat (D+30) currently held by a progressive, Judy Chu (D). Any lovers of third parties should be fascinated here, as she's competing with Jose Castaneda (L), April Verlato (R) and William Patterson (P). There is a possibility of a DvP race, though either Chu or Patterson would represent CA-28 really well from a progressive perspective.
• CA-29: Deep blue (D+51) seat with an open contest. The election is therefore effectively between two Democrats, both of whom support Medicare for All. Worth further investigation.
• CA-30: Adam Schiff's old seat, open contest. Laura Friedman appears to be the most progressive option here.
• CA-31: Deep blue open seat contested by many Democrats and Republicans. This race is hotly-contested with several Democrats each spending hundreds of thousands of dollars according to financial reports. I'll be clear, there are goons running here. The *most* progressive option seems to be Kurt Jose, but there do not seem to be any explicitly progressive candidates running here, just not explicitly NOT progressive.
• CA-34: A deep blue (D+64) seat currently represented by progressive Democrat Jimmy Gomez. Contested by two Democrats named David, a Republican, and Peace and Freedom party member Aaron Reveles. Potential for a DvP race in the general.
• CA-37: Deep blue (D+72) seat currently held by progressive Democrat Sydney Kamlager-Dove, potential to be contested by Peace and Freedom party member John Parker for a DvP race.
• CA-47: Katie Porter's old seat. Electability is extremely important here in addition to ideology, since this will likely be an expensive DvR race in the general.
• CA-50: Non-progressive incumbent Scott Peters is up against progressive Democrat Timothy Bilash and two Republicans in a deep blue seat. Bilash supports single-payer healthcare and abolishing the filibuster while Peters is a DINO who voted against lowering prescription drug prices, so this is the election that matters for this seat.

State Senate Races: Feel free to add races from the 40 state senate seats here.

State House Races: Feel free to add races from the 80 state house seats here.

Notable Campaigns in 2024 (November 5th General Elections)

Below is a list of progressive candidates or ballot measures in the 2024 election cycle for California (general). Non-progressive candidates may also be placed here if they are substantially to the left of their district's partisan lean and worth campaigning for. If you see a candidate or ballot measure that should be on this list, please add them.

Ballot Measures

• YES for 18 Dollar Minimum Wage: Raising the minimum wage is a no-brainer at a time when inflation has eaten away the average person's buying power and YES on this question would also annually adjust CA's minimum wage to the cost of living. Successfully passing this ballot measure is very important for 2024.

Candidates

US Senate Race: This race is only likely to matter if it is DvD. If it is DvR, you can remove this after March 5th.

US House Races: Though a lot of seats in California are more-or-less determined by the March 5th top-two primary, there are still some races which end up being close and some seats which have only two people competing for them that you can make an impact on. Below is a non-exhaustive list of all the races in which your participation can make a difference. Expect an update once the top-two primaries have concluded.

• CA-9: Josh Harder is facing a challenge from an unspecified Republican (3 challengers in March 5th primary). His seat is only slightly blue, so it's worth helping.
• CA-13: This is a D+7 (538) seat that will see incumbent Republican John Duarte facing off against Adam Gray (D) in a rematch of 2022. This is one of the blue seats, between CA and NY, that cost Democrats the house in 2022, so it is a MAJOR part of regaining a trifecta to enact progressive change. Your help would be very much impactful here.
• CA-22: Another blue seat Republican incumbent, David Valadao. Whichever Democrat faces off against him here needs your support (to be updated after March 5th).
• CA-25: Light blue seat that needs to be defended in 2024, will be updated after March 5th primary.
• CA-27: Light blue seat (D+8 according to 538) currently held by Mike Garcia (R). Whichever Democrat wins the primary against him will need your support.
• CA-40: Light red seat (R+4 according to 538) held by Young Kim (R) that can absolutely be flipped blue by whichever Democrat wins the primary. More info pending March 5th.
• CA-41: Light red seat (R+7 according to 538) held by Ken Calvert (R) that can absolutely be flipped blue by whichever Democrat wins the primary. More info pending March 5th.
• CA-45: Light blue seat (D+5 according to 538) held by Michelle Steel (R) that can absolutely be flipped blue by whichever Democrat wins the primary. More info pending March 5th.
• CA-47: Katie Porter's swing seat, extremely likely to need support after the March 5th primary.
• CA-49: Progressive Democrat Mike Levin is up against one of three Republicans in a light blue (D+5 according to 538) seat this November. This seat is vital to hold.

State Senate Races: Feel free to add races from the 40 state senate seats here.

State House Races: Feel free to add races from the 80 state house seats here.

Run for Local Office

An underrated way to impact change is to run for a local position! Please feel free to add information on doing so below.