NBC News projects incumbents in five San Diego congressional races will advance to a runoff after early leads in the 2024 California Primary.
These maps using data from the Registrar of Voters office break down how big of a lead each incumbent held over their top challengers in the races for U.S. House of Representatives districts 48 through 52. Hover over the map to see the vote breakdown.
Four Democratic candidates and a no-party candidate challenged Congressman Darrell Issa in the North County district that represents a large swath of San Diego County, geographically.
The incumbent Darrell Issa, a Republican who won the seat in the last Congressional election, was projected by NBC News to win the race, with Democrat Stephen Houlahan trailing in second.
Issa was leading in each precinct, so here’s a breakdown of how much of a lead Issa held over his opponents:
Mike Levin, a Democrat, currently holds the 49th, having occupied that role since winning it in 2019, following Issa’s “retirement” the previous year. Levin, who is a resident of San Juan Capistrano, represents the district, which is made up mostly of San Diego County residents from Encinitas, Carlsbad, Oceanside and Camp Pendleton.
NBC News projects Levin will face Republican candidate Matt Gunderson in the 2024 General Election. Here’s the breakdown of votes in that district:
Democratic Rep. Scott Peters will head to a runoff againt Republican candidate Peter Bono in the 2024 General Election, NBC News projects.
He held a commanding lead in the days following the primary for the district that represents San Diego’s La Jolla, Point Loma Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, and Del Mar, as well as Coronado, San Marcos and Escondido.
Sara Jacobs, a Democrat seeking re-election for the third time, will face El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells for the seat in November, NBC News projects. While Jacobs came out on top in most precincts for the primary, Wells held strong in some East County communities. Take a look at the breakdown, by precinct:
Only two candidates went for the District 52 house seat in the Primary so both will move on to the General Election. Democratic Rep. Juan Vargas, a longtime fixture in San Diego politics, will be challenged by Republican Justin Lee in November.
How many voters participated in this election county-wide?
More than 1.9 million ballots were mailed out to registered voters and the Registrar of Voters, which tracks election result data for San Diego County, estimates about 700,000 ballots were cast before the polls closed on March 5, 2024. That would be around 36% voter turnout when all the results are tallied, which could make participation for the 2024 Primary the second-highest for San Diego.
There are more than 800,000 registered Democrats in San Diego County and more than 528,800 registered Republicans. The breakdown of voter turnout by party is not yet clear.
