UPDATED: Waters, other incumbents ahead in LA congressional races

By Zachery Schmidt
The Center Square

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with new results from Wednesday morning.

Democratic incumbents topped the vote counts in Los Angeles congressional districts in Tuesday’s primary.

U.S. House District 43

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Inglewood, got the most votes in California’s 43rd Congressional District. Republican Cristian Morales, a manufacturing executive, came in second. That’s according to early unofficial results from the California Secretary of State’s Office.

With 100% of precincts partially reporting by Wednesday morning, Waters received 61.8% of the vote, while Morales received 20.2%. They will face each other in the Nov. 3 general election.

Waters has represented this district since 2013.

U.S. House District 32

U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calabasas, and Republican Larry Thompson are the top vote getters in a neck-to-neck race in the 32nd Congressional District.

The district, which was redrawn because of Proposition 50, puts Simi Valley, the only Ventura County city where Republicans outnumber Democrats and the home to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, in the same jurisdiction as heavily Democratic Los Angeles County and its beachside city of Malibu. The redistricting was designed to bring Democrats an additional five seats in the U.S. House, but as of Wednesday, the close race in District 32 makes that uncertain.

With 100% of the precincts partially reporting by Wednesday morning, Sherman has 36.2% of the vote while Thompson garnered 37.2.%. The two candidates will face each other again in the Nov. 3 general election. Sherman in November will win reelection if he picks up the votes from the other Democratic candidates, including Jake Levine, who got 13.2% of the vote. Thompson will win if he picks up those votes instead.

Sherman has represented California’s 32nd District since 2023. Thompson works as an attorney in Malibu.

U.S. House District 34

U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles, and Democrat Angela Gonzlaes-Torres gathered the most votes in the primary.

With 100% of precincts partially reporting by Wednesday morning, Gomez received 45.9% of the vote, and Gonzales-Torres, an activist, received 25.6%.

Republican Calvin Lee came in third place with 17.6%.

Gomez and Gonzales-Torres appeared to be destined to square off in the Nov. 3 general election, unless Lee surpasses Gonzalez-Torres in later results.

Gomez has represented California’s 34th Congressional District since 2017.

U.S. House District 36

U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Santa Monica, received the most votes while two Republicans, Houston Brignano and Melissa Toomim, battle it out for second place.

With 100% of precincts partially reporting by Wednesday morning, Lieu, who has represented California’s 36th Congressional District since 2023, got 57.9% of the vote while Brignano, a technology executive, got 17.9%. Toomim, an investigative journalist, got 15.1%. Lieu advanced to the Nov. 3 general election, but the race was too close to determine whether Brignano or Toomim will be Lieu’s opponent.

U.S. House District 37

U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles, earned the most votes in the primary while Republican Baltazar Fedalizo came in second place.

With 100% of precincts partially reporting by Wednesday morning, Kamlager-Dove gathered 51.1% of the vote while Fedalizao, a Republican lobbyist, got 13.6%. Samantha Mota, a Democrat, got 10.3%. Kamlager-Dove has advanced to the general election, but as of Wednesday morning, the race was too close to determine whether Fedalizao or Mota would challenge Kamlager-Dove.

Kamlager-Dove has represented California’s 37th Congressional District since 2023.

U.S. House District 44

U.S. Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragan, D-Carson, earned the most votes, surpassing Republican Genevieve Angel, a nurse practitioner.

With 100% of precincts partially reporting by Wedneday morning, Diaz Barragan got 72.6% of the vote while Angel got 27.4%. They’ll square off on Nov. 3. There are no other candidates in the race.

Diaz Barragan has represented California’s 44th Congressional District since 2017.

Southwest Regional Editor Dave Mason contributed to the updated version of this story.