California Democratic – Early results from California’s closely watched congressional primaries show establishment-leaning Democrats holding key advantages while progressive challengers struggle to advance—an outcome shaping how the party’s left-right fight may play out in November.
When the votes were still coming in Tuesday night, one pattern was already hard to ignore in California’s most closely watched Democratic primaries: progressive candidates were not finishing first.
In San Francisco, State Senator Scott Wiener—running for the seat held by Rep. Nancy Pelosi—pulled ahead early with more than 40% of the vote, according to an Associated Press call. The early numbers put local politician Connie Chan in second place. pushing prominent national progressive activist Saikat Chakrabarti off the ballot for the November general election.
Los Angeles offered a different kind of tension, but the same result. AIPAC-backed incumbent Rep. Jimmy Gomez won a spot on the November ballot, with the Associated Press making an early call. His lead over progressive challenger Angela Gonzales-Torres was wide enough that the race looked. at least for now. headed back to a familiar matchup under California’s “jungle primary” system—where the top two candidates move on.
In Sacramento, the fight stayed unresolved. Longtime establishment Democrat Rep. Doris Matsui was leading progressive city council member Mai Vang, though that contest remained too close to call.
Together. the three races underscored a simmering struggle inside the Democratic Party—between an establishment wing that critics say has faltered during the era that followed the 2016 presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and a progressive wing that has gained influence since then. In each of these districts. the stakes were clear: whoever could build momentum in the primaries would carry it into November.
Justice Democrats. a group that supports progressive challengers in primary elections and helped elect members of the Squad. had backed Chakrabarti. Gonzales-Torres. and Vang. Earlier in the evening, Justice Democrats notched a victory in New Jersey, where Dr. Adam Hamawy, a former combat surgeon who volunteered in Gaza, comfortably beat a crowded field of Democrats. He faced attacks that often peddled Islamophobic tropes.
Chakrabarti. Gonzales-Torres. and Vang all ran on overlapping platforms. including calls for Medicare for All. the overturning of Citizens United. and abolishing or defunding Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But the differences that shaped the campaigns were sharp—especially around Israel and wealth taxes on billionaires.
In San Francisco. Wiener and Chan aligned on using conditions on offensive weapons to Israel. while Chakrabarti advocated for a total arms embargo. Wiener’s previous support for pro-Israel bills in the state legislature and his earlier opposition to a ceasefire in Gaza drew scrutiny during the campaign. Anti-genocide and anti-Zionist protesters at times disrupted his events.
The conflict over Israel also became personal and strategic in the Chakrabarti-Chan race. A weekend-before-the-primary jolt came from final-hour reporting from Drop Site News. which revealed that the pro-Israel lobby giant American Israel Public Affairs Committee. and its offshoot. Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI). had been funneling money into a super PAC supporting Chan.
Chakrabarti seized on the development. arguing that AIPAC had attempted to keep him out of the general election because of his support for Palestinian human rights. suggesting collusion between Chan and AIPAC. Chan rejected the claim. calling it “absurd and laughable.” She said she would not accept AIPAC donations and reiterated her advocacy for Palestinian rights.
Those wedge issues played out against a political history that shaped how voters viewed each candidate. Chakrabarti had earned his fortune at the tech firm Stripe. worked on Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential campaign. co-founded Justice Democrats. and became chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Over time, he also became known in progressive politics as divisive—riling Democrats online and antagonizing Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., whom he hoped to succeed. Pelosi ultimately endorsed Chan, a San Francisco Board of Supervisors member. Pelosi. who won her last reelection with 82 percent of the vote in her district. saw Chan finish with a 13% lead over Chakrabarti when the Associated Press called the race for Chan.
In Los Angeles. Gonzales-Torres made opposition to the pro-Israel lobby and Israel’s genocide in Gaza a centerpiece of her challenge to Gomez. Gomez. a community organizer turned candidate. tried to frame the campaign as a break from the fundraising patterns that have fueled his past reelection bids.
He had previously vowed he would try to rid his fundraising of corporate backers in favor of grassroots support—but the race continued to point back to special interests. including the cryptocurrency industry and AIPAC and DMFI. AIPAC continued to support Gomez in the current election cycle. pouring nearly $150. 000 into his 2026 run. according to Federal Election Commission filings. Gomez has consistently voted to send military aid to Israel.
Then the race took a turn that forced voters to reckon with questions beyond ideology. It was rocked after CNN reported Tuesday that Gomez was under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
The ethics report came months after the New York Post alleged that Gomez—who is married—was spotted kissing the staffer of another member of Congress in 2023 at a party hosted by former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif. Swalwell resigned from Congress and ended a California gubernatorial campaign earlier this spring after reporters unearthed allegations of sexual assault leveled against him by former staffers. which he denies.
Gonzales-Torres had previously challenged Gomez over his close relationship with Swalwell and asked whether Gomez had knowledge of the incidents at the time. On Tuesday, she wrote on X that if Gomez “has nothing to hide, he should have no concern. But if there was any criminal behavior that he witnessed. participated in. or helped conceal. we will find out and we will help ensure accountability and justice.”.
Gomez, in a statement to CNN, admitted to “personal mistakes outside my marriage that have caused real pain to my wife and family,” but insisted he did not break the law or House ethics rules.
Gomez’s path back to November had already been tested once before. He has thrice fended off another progressive challenger. attorney David Kim. who trailed by 6 percentage points in the November general election in 2020 and came only 3 points from winning in the 2022 general election. Gonzales-Torres previously volunteered for Kim’s campaign, and she believes her effort can build on that history and defeat Gomez.
In Sacramento, Vang’s campaign was taking on a different kind of hurdle: legacy power. Matsui has held her House seat since 2005. winning after the death of her husband. Bob Matsui. who had represented Sacramento in Congress since 1979. Vang’s campaign criticized Matsui’s acceptance of corporate donations and painted Matsui as out of touch with a transforming Democratic voter base.
Vang championed policies that have animated the left. including Medicare for All. abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement. and the Green New Deal. At the time of publication. Vang was in a tight battle with Zachariah Wooden. a student at California State University. Sacramento. a pro-Trump Republican candidate.
The broader vote count across California remains unsettled in other races as well. with huge numbers of ballots still to be counted and final positions far from locked. That includes the California governor’s contest. where moderate Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican commentator Steve Hilton were neck-and-neck. with billionaire Tom Steyer—around whom progressives had coalesced—trailing in third at the time of publication.
In the Los Angeles mayor’s race, incumbent Mayor Karen Bass secured her spot in a November runoff. Spencer Pratt, a reality TV personality, led Nithya Raman, a progressive councilmember.
Other progressive candidates led their races on Tuesday. Jane Kim, running for the state’s insurance commissioner with the endorsement of Sen. Sanders. was among those advancing early. while in Los Angeles. city attorney candidate Marissa Roy—supported by the city’s progressive base—was ahead of incumbent Hydee Feldstein Soto. Feldstein Soto caught heat for defending LAPD’s brutal tactics against protesters and for deciding not to charge members of a Zionist mob that attacked UCLA’s pro-Palestine encampment.
For now. the congressional primaries themselves have sent a clear message—at least in the places where results have broken open. In San Francisco and Los Angeles, the progressive surge did not clear the first hurdle. In Sacramento, it’s not over. But across those districts. the early vote totals are reshaping the party’s internal fight. one ballot at a time. as Democrats head toward November with the left and the establishment still scrapping over who the party is for and what it will demand next.
California primaries Democratic Party progressive Democrats establishment Democrats Nancy Pelosi seat Scott Wiener Connie Chan Saikat Chakrabarti Jimmy Gomez Angela Gonzales-Torres Doris Matsui Mai Vang Justice Democrats AIPAC DMFI House Ethics Committee