Incumbent David Valadao (R) and Randy Villegas (D) advanced from the top-two primary for California's 22nd Congressional District on June 2, 2026. Jasmeet Bains (D) placed third.
The election took place in the context of redistricting, which changed the district lines from those used in 2024. Inside Elections' Nathaniel Rakich said the new lines "would make it easier for Democrats to dislodge Valadao, who has frustrated them for years by overperforming the top of the ticket. But this district, too, is trending Republican...Expect this district to remain a battleground in 2026 regardless of the map."
CalMatters' Maya C. Moore said the primary "embodies the larger tug-of-war within the party over how Democrats can win back the voters they lost in 2024 — by playing to the middle, as successful gubernatorial candidates did in New Jersey and Virginia last fall, or by adopting a progressive brand of economic populism, which fueled Zohran Mamdani’s rise to the New York City mayor’s office."
