All but two of Los Angeles County’s 18 congressional seats had been called by The Associated Press as of Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 4, one day after voting in the 2026 midterm elections had ended.
The two outstanding races include District 23, where Republican Rep. Jay Obernolte maintained a slight lead over Democrat Tessa Lynn Hodge in a district that primarily covers the Inland Empire and Kern County but which also includes a portion of northern L.A. County.
And in District 29, Rep. Luz Rivas had a commanding double-digit lead over Angélica María Dueñas.
Of the races where a winner had been declared, nearly every House incumbent from L.A. County appeared to have won their bids for reelection.
That included Rep. George Whitesides in the 27th District, where, two years ago, he flipped the district blue in one of the most competitive races in the country. But last year’s redistricting effort made this northern L.A. County district more Democratic, and he sailed to a solid lead with about 62% of the vote compared to Republican challenger Jason Gibbs’ 38% as of the latest vote count.
The one race where the incumbent appeared headed for defeat was in the 34th District, which represents parts of central, eastern and northeastern Los Angeles, including downtown L.A., Koreatown, Boyle Heights, East L.A., Highland Park and Eagle Rock.
There, Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez who is facing a House ethics investigation over alleged sexual misconduct, which he has denied – was ousted by democratic socialist Angela Gonzales-Torres, the AP projected.
According to the California secretary of state’s office, nearly 8 million of the more than 23 million registered voters in the state cast ballots in the 2026 midterm elections.
Some contests, particularly competitive ones, may take days or weeks of ballot counting before a winner is declared.
Election results won’t be considered official until next month. Local election officials have until Dec. 3 to certify their county’s results. The California secretary of state then has until Dec. 11 to certify all election results.
Here is a bit more about the two L.A. County House races that hadn’t been called as of Wednesday afternoon.
23rd Congressional District
Obernolte was only slightly ahead of Hodge, a social worker and business owner – a bit of surprise for the three-term congressmember who easily won reelection with 60% of the vote two years ago.
The Republican incumbent led with 51.3% of the vote while his Democratic challenger had 48.7%, with less than 4,000 votes separating them (67,169 votes to 63,681).
California’s 23rd Congressional District covers portions of Kern, L.A., Riverside and San Bernardino counties and has a plurality of GOP voters. There were nearly 24,000 more registered Republican voters than Democrats leading up to the election.
Obernolte also had the financial advantage with nearly $1.4 million cash on hand, according to his latest campaign filings with the Federal Election Commission. Hodge reported having just $12,000 in mid-October.
That a race which national Democrats weren’t particularly targeting has ended up being this close is an example of the “blue wave” that swept across the nation in these midterm elections, said Michael Trujillo, a Democratic strategist based in L.A.
“In a race like this, that perfectly defines what a real, national large blue wave would look like: seats and incumbents that weren’t on anyone’s radar screens the Wednesday after the Tuesday where we’re seeing a potential heartbeat for the Democratic challenger,” he said.
29th Congressional District
Rivas, in her quest for a second term, had a comfortable lead over Dueñas, a community organizer and human resources specialist and fellow Democrat.
Rivas was ahead with about 60% of the vote while Dueñas had 40%.
This San Fernando Valley district includes Panorama City, Arleta, Van Nuys, Valley Village, Sylmar and San Fernando. As a result of redistricting, this district lost portions of the Kagel and Lopez Canyon areas but extended east along the Foothill 210 freeway toward the border with Sunland.
Democrats represent 52% of registered voters in this district while Republicans make up 18%. About 25% have no party preference.