Initial returns from the June 2 primary election showed several candidates taking early leads in the six newly redrawn congressional districts across Riverside County.
The race for the reshaped 40th congressional district saw Congressman Ken Calvert, R-Corona, out front in early returns, claiming 42% of votes counted after the polls closed Tuesday night.
The incumbent, who has been in office since the 1990s, was pushed out of his old 41st district, forced to compete directly with another incumbent, Rep. Young Kim, R-Anaheim, who was trailing him by a sizable margin.
Along with Calvert and Kim, six other candidates are in the running, though the two incumbents are favored. The bulk of the district’s metropolitan space is in Orange County. However, the eastern boundary juts into Riverside County, encompassing the Temescal Valley, most of Lake Elsinore, Canyon Lake and Menifee.
Calvert’s prior stomping ground of northwest Riverside County, including Corona, Eastvale and Norco, was lumped into the 35th congressional district, where Rep. Norma Torres, D-Ontario, is pitted against Republican businessman Mike Cargile. Early returns showed Cargile ahead by nearly 2,000 votes.
Most of the 35th district is in San Bernardino County.
The local race with the highest number of candidates — and no incumbent — is in the newly established 48th congressional district, which encompasses the Anza and Hemet valleys, the Southwest cities and some of the mountain communities. There are 12 people listed on the ballot, only one of which is an independent.
Early returns indicated that Republican Jim Desmond was in the lead by a comfortable margin.
Another congressional race that has no incumbent on the ballot is in the newly set up 23rd district, an awkwardly defined space that overlays several chunks of Riverside County, in the San Gorgonio Pass and in the Palo Verde Valley around Blythe. The rest of the sizable district is situated in San Bernardino County. Six candidates are listed — three Democrats, one Republican and two independents.
Early counts showed Republican Jim Jay Obernolte well ahead Tuesday night.
The 39th congressional district was adjusted only a little by Prop 50 and continues to include Riverside, Moreno Valley, Perris, some of the outlying communities just west of Perris, as well as Lake Elsinore, and the freeway communities north of Moreno Valley. Democrat Rep. Mark Takano, the incumbent, was solidly in the lead against challenger and former Lake Elsinore Mayor Steve Manos, a Republican.
Farther east, the 25th congressional district was realigned but largely kept intact around the Coachella Valley. The incumbent, Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Coachella, galloped way ahead of his three opponents in early returns. The other candidates, all Republicans, are Hemet Mayor Joe Males, business owner Ceci Truman and electrical contractor Ronald Huffman.
The districts were reshaped, and in most cases renumbered, for the election based on California Proposition 50, approved by a majority of voters in the November 2025 special election. Prop 50 amended the state constitution to permit the Legislature to re-define congressional districts’ boundaries, even though the independent California Citizens Redistricting Commission had already established them after the 2020 Census.
Prop 50 supporters argued it was necessary in response to Texas’ actions last year to redraw congressional districts with the reported intention of expanding Republicans’ control of seats in the Lone Star State, thereby aiding President Trump in the midterm elections.
Prop 50 opponents countered the measure was a blatant political ploy akin to “gerrymandering.”
California’s 52 congressional districts were modified. In Riverside County, all of the districts have changed shape.