California's 37th Congressional District

California's 37th Congressional District

Incumbent

Sydney Kamlager-Dove

Assumed office: January 3, 2023

California's 37th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D).

As of the 2020 Census, California representatives represented an average of 761,091 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 704,566 residents.

Elections

2024

See also: California's 37th Congressional District election, 2024

California's 37th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 top-two primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 37

Incumbent Sydney Kamlager-Dove defeated Juan Rey in the general election for U.S. House California District 37 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D)	78.3	160,364
		Juan Rey (No party preference)	21.7	44,450

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 204,814
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 37

Incumbent Sydney Kamlager-Dove and Juan Rey defeated Adam Carmichael, John Parker, and Baltazar Fedalizo in the primary for U.S. House California District 37 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D)	71.8	62,413
✔		Juan Rey (No party preference)	10.3	8,917
		Adam Carmichael (D)	8.7	7,520
		John Parker (Peace and Freedom Party)	8.4	7,316
		Baltazar Fedalizo (R) (Write-in)	0.9	752

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 86,918
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2022

See also: California's 37th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 37

Sydney Kamlager-Dove defeated Jan Perry in the general election for U.S. House California District 37 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D)	64.0	84,338
		Jan Perry (D)	36.0	47,542

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 131,880
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 37

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 37 on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D)	43.7	42,628
✔		Jan Perry (D)	18.5	17,993
		Daniel Lee (D)	17.9	17,414
		Sandra Mendoza (D)	8.2	8,017
		Chris Champion (R)	5.6	5,469
		Baltazar Fedalizo (R)	3.6	3,520
		Michael Shure (D)	2.5	2,469

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 97,510
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jamaal Gulledge (D)

2020

See also: California's 37th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 37

Incumbent Karen Bass defeated Errol Webber in the general election for U.S. House California District 37 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Karen Bass (D)	85.9	254,916
		Errol Webber (R)	14.1	41,705

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 296,621
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 37

Incumbent Karen Bass and Errol Webber defeated Larry Thompson in the primary for U.S. House California District 37 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Karen Bass (D)	88.1	140,425
✔		Errol Webber (R)	7.6	12,101
		Larry Thompson (Independent)	4.3	6,796

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 159,322
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2018

See also: California's 37th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 37

Incumbent Karen Bass defeated Ron Bassilian in the general election for U.S. House California District 37 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Karen Bass (D)	89.1	210,555
		Ron Bassilian (R)	10.9	25,823

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 236,378
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 37

Incumbent Karen Bass and Ron Bassilian advanced from the primary for U.S. House California District 37 on June 5, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Karen Bass (D)	89.2	99,118
✔		Ron Bassilian (R)	10.8	12,020

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 111,138
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: California's 37th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent Karen Bass (D) defeated Chris Blake Wiggins (D) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Bass and Wiggins defeated Shariff Hasan (R) in the top-two primary on June 7, 2016.

U.S. House, California District 37 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Karen Bass Incumbent	81.1%	192,490
	Democratic	Chris Blake Wiggins	18.9%	44,782
Total Votes				237,272
Source: California Secretary of State

U.S. House, California District 37 Primary, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Karen Bass Incumbent	80.2%	115,597
	Democratic	Chris Wiggins	10.7%	15,362
	Republican	Shariff Hasan	9.1%	13,158
Total Votes				144,117
Source: California Secretary of State

2014

See also: California's 37th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 37th Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Karen Bass (D) defeated Adam King (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 37 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Karen Bass Incumbent	84.3%	96,787
	Republican	Adam King	15.7%	18,051
Total Votes				114,838
Source: California Secretary of State

2012

See also: California's 37th Congressional District elections, 2012

The 37th Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. District 33 incumbent Karen Bass won election in the district.

U.S. House, California District 37 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Karen Bass Incumbent	86.4%	207,039
	Republican	Morgan Osborne	13.6%	32,541
Total Votes				239,580
Source: California Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2010
On November 2, 2010, Laura Richardson won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Star Parker (R) and Nicholas Dibs (I) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 37 General Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Laura Richardson incumbent	68.4%	85,799
	Republican	Star Parker	23.2%	29,159
	Independent	Nicholas Dibs	8.4%	10,560
Total Votes				125,518

2008
On November 4, 2008, Laura Richardson won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Nicholas Dibs (I) and Write-in candidates Peter Mathews (D), June Viena Pouesi (R) and Lee Davis (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 37 General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Laura Richardson incumbent	74.9%	131,342
	Independent	Nicholas Dibs	24.4%	42,774
	Write-in	Peter Mathews	0.3%	600
	Write-in	June Viena Pouesi	0.3%	526
	Write-in	Lee Davis	0%	10
Total Votes				175,252

2007 special
On August 21. 2007, Laura Richardson won election to the United States House. She defeated five candidates in the special general election.

U.S. House, California District 37 Special election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Laura Richardson	66.4%	15,559
	Republican	John M. Kanaley	24.9%	5,837
	Green	Daniel Abraham Brezenoff	6.3%	1,472
	Libertarian	Herb Peters	2.3%	538
	Write-in	Lee Davis	0.1%	12
	Write-in	Christopher Remple	0%	1
Total Votes				23,419
Source: Results via California State Board of Elections

2006
On November 7, 2006, Juanita Millender-McDonald won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Herb Peters (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 37 General Election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Juanita Millender-McDonald incumbent	82.4%	80,716
	Libertarian	Herb Peters	17.6%	17,246
Total Votes				97,962

2004
On November 2, 2004, Juanita Millender-McDonald won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Vernon Van (R) and Herb Peters (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 37 General Election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Juanita Millender-McDonald incumbent	75.1%	118,823
	Republican	Vernon Van	20.2%	31,960
	Libertarian	Herb Peters	4.8%	7,535
Total Votes				158,318

2002
On November 5, 2002, Juanita Millender-McDonald won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Oscar Velasco (R) and Herb Peters (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 37 General Election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Juanita Millender-McDonald incumbent	72.9%	63,445
	Republican	Oscar Velasco	23.2%	20,154
	Libertarian	Herb Peters	3.9%	3,413
Total Votes				87,012

2000
On November 7, 2000, Juanita Millender-McDonald won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Vernon Van (R), Margaret Glazer (Natural Law) and Herb Peters (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 37 General Election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Juanita Millender-McDonald incumbent	82.3%	93,269
	Republican	Vernon Van	11.3%	12,762
	Natural Law	Margaret Glazer	3.6%	4,094
	Libertarian	Herb Peters	2.8%	3,150
Total Votes				113,275

1998
On November 3, 1998, Juanita Millender-McDonald won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Saul Lankster (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 37 General Election, 1998
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Juanita Millender-McDonald incumbent	85.1%	70,026
	Republican	Saul Lankster	14.9%	12,301
Total Votes				82,327

1996
On November 5, 1996, Juanita Millender-McDonald won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Michael Voetee (R) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 37 General Election, 1996
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Juanita Millender-McDonald incumbent	85%	87,247
	Republican	Michael Voetee	15%	15,399
Total Votes				102,646

1994
On November 8, 1994, Walter Tucker, III won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Guy Wilson (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 37 General Election, 1994
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Walter Tucker, III incumbent	77.4%	64,166
	Republican	Guy Wilson	22.3%	18,502
	N/A	Write-in	0.3%	263
Total Votes				82,931

1992
On November 3, 1992, Walter Tucker, III won election to the United States House. He defeated B. Kwaku Duren (P&F) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 37 General Election, 1992
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Walter Tucker, III	85.7%	97,159
	Peace and Freedom	B. Kwaku Duren	14.3%	16,178
Total Votes				113,337

1990
On November 6, 1990, Alfred McCandless won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Ralph Waite (D), Gary Odom (American Independent) and Bonnie Flickinger (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, California District 37 General Election, 1990
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Alfred McCandless incumbent	49.8%	115,469
	Democratic	Ralph Waite	44.8%	103,961
	American Independent	Gary Odom	2.8%	6,474
	Libertarian	Bonnie Flickinger	2.7%	6,178
Total Votes				232,082

Redistricting

2020-2021

See also: Redistricting in California after the 2020 census

The California Citizens Redistricting Commission voted 14-0 in favor of a new congressional district map on December 20, 2021, and delivered those maps to the secretary of state on December 27, 2021. California was apportioned 52 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2020 census, a net loss of one seat compared to apportionment after the 2010 census. This map took effect for California's 2022 congressional elections.

How does redistricting in California work? In California, a non-politician commission draws both congressional and state legislative district lines. Established in 2008 by ballot initiative, the commission comprises 14 members: five Democrats, five Republicans, and four belonging to neither party. A panel of state auditors selects the pool of nominees from which the commissioners are appointed. This pool comprises 20 Democrats, 20 Republicans, and 20 belonging to neither party. The majority and minority leaders of both chambers of the state legislature may each remove two members from each of the aforementioned groups. The first eight commission members are selected at random from the remaining nominees. These first eight comprise three Democrats, three Republicans, and two belonging to neither party. The first eight commissioners appoint the remaining six, which must include two Democrats, two Republicans, and two belonging to neither party.

Commissioners must meet the following requirements in order to serve:

1. Members must have voted in at least two of the last three statewide elections.
2. Members cannot have switched party affiliation for at least five years.
3. "Neither commissioners nor immediate family may have been, within 10 years of appointment, a candidate for federal or state office or member of a party central committee; an officer, employee, or paid consultant to a federal or state candidate or party; a registered lobbyist or paid legislative staff; or a donor of more than $2,000 to an elected candidate."
4. Members cannot be "staff, consultants or contractors for state or federal government" while serving as commissioners. The same prohibition applies to the family of commission members.

In order to approve a redistricting plan, nine of the commission's 14 members must vote for it. These nine must include three Democrats, three Republicans, and three belonging to neither party. Maps drawn by the commission may be overturned by public referendum. In the event that a map is overturned by the public, the California Supreme Court must appoint a group to draw a new map.

The California Constitution requires that districts be contiguous. Further, the state constitution mandates that "to the extent possible, [districts] must ... preserve the geographic integrity of cities, counties, neighborhoods and communities of interest." Districts must also "encourage compactness." State Senate and Assembly districts should be nested within each other where possible.

California District 37
until January 2, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

California District 37
starting January 3, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

2010-2011

This is the 37th Congressional District of California after the 2001 redistricting process.

See also: Redistricting in California after the 2010 census

In 2011, the California State Legislature re-drew the congressional districts based on updated population information from the 2010 census.

District analysis

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores

2024

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+37. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 37 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 37th the 6th most Democratic district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have defeated Donald Trump (R) 85.7%-12.4%.

2022

Heading into the 2022 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+37. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 37 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 37th the 6th most Democratic district nationally.

Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have received 85.7% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 12.4%.

2018

Heading into the 2018 elections, based on results from the 2016 and 2012 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+37. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 37 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made California's 37th Congressional District the ninth most Democratic nationally.

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 0.81. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.81 points toward that party.

See also

• Redistricting in California
• California's 37th Congressional District election, 2024
• California's 37th Congressional District election, 2022
• California's 37th Congressional District election, 2020
• California's 37th Congressional District election, 2018

External links

• GovTrack District 37

Footnotes

[show]

California's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Alex Padilla (D)

Adam Schiff (D)

Representatives

District 1

Doug LaMalfa (R)

District 2

Jared Huffman (D)

District 3

Kevin Kiley (R)

District 4

Mike Thompson (D)

District 5

Tom McClintock (R)

District 6

Ami Bera (D)

District 7

Doris Matsui (D)

District 8

John Garamendi (D)

District 9

Josh Harder (D)

District 10

Mark DeSaulnier (D)

District 11

Nancy Pelosi (D)

District 12

Lateefah Simon (D)

District 13

Adam Gray (D)

District 14

Eric Swalwell (D)

District 15

Kevin Mullin (D)

District 16

Sam Liccardo (D)

District 17

Ro Khanna (D)

District 18

Zoe Lofgren (D)

District 19

Jimmy Panetta (D)

District 20

Vince Fong (R)

District 21

Jim Costa (D)

District 22

David Valadao (R)

District 23

Jay Obernolte (R)

District 24

Salud Carbajal (D)

District 25

Raul Ruiz (D)

District 26

Julia Brownley (D)

District 27

George Whitesides (D)

District 28

Judy Chu (D)

District 29

Luz Rivas (D)

District 30

Laura Friedman (D)

District 31

Gil Cisneros (D)

District 32

Brad Sherman (D)

District 33

Pete Aguilar (D)

District 34

Jimmy Gomez (D)

District 35

Norma Torres (D)

District 36

Ted Lieu (D)

District 37

Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D)

District 38

Linda Sánchez (D)

District 39

Mark Takano (D)

District 40

Young Kim (R)

District 41

Ken Calvert (R)

District 42

Robert Garcia (D)

District 43

Maxine Waters (D)

District 44

Nanette Barragán (D)

District 45

Derek Tran (D)

District 46

Lou Correa (D)

District 47

Dave Min (D)

District 48

Darrell Issa (R)

District 49

Mike Levin (D)

District 50

Scott Peters (D)

District 51

Sara Jacobs (D)

District 52

Juan Vargas (D)

Democratic Party (45)

Republican Party (9)