California's 8th congressional district facts for kids

Quick facts for kids California's 8th congressional district
California's 8th congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Representative	Jay Obernolte R–Big Bear Lake
Population (2019)	723,311
Median income	$56,140
Ethnicity	50.19% White 8.12% Black 3.43% Asian 35.34% Hispanic 1.67% Native American 0.43% Hawaiian
Cook PVI	R+9

California's 8th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California.

As of 2021, Republican Jay Obernolte represents the district. Currently, the 8th district encompasses most of the eastern desert regions of the state. It stretches from Mono Lake to Twentynine Palms. It consists of Inyo and Mono counties plus most of the land in San Bernardino County. It is the largest and thus the most thinly-populated congressional district in California. The largest city in the district is Victorville.

Prior to redistricting by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission of 2011, the 8th district was in San Francisco. The new district lines went into effect for the June 2012 elections.

Competitiveness

Before the 2011 redistricting, the 8th district was a Democratic stronghold. It gave John Kerry his best performance in California in 2004, backing the Democrat with 84.2% of the vote. Barack Obama continued on this trend in 2008 when he received 85.22% of the vote in the district while John McCain received 12.38%.

The new 8th district lies in a politically conservative region of the state with a "Strongly Republican" Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+10. The Cook Political Report ranks it the 87th most Republican-leaning congressional district in the United States.

In the 2012 election, the first after the state's adoption of top-two primaries, the 8th district was one of only two in California where two Republicans faced each other in a runoff election. In 2018, it was the only such California district.

Election results from statewide races

Year	Office	Winner	Tally
1992	President	Clinton	75.6 – 15.9%
	Senator	Boxer	79.1 – 16.3%
	Senator	Feinstein	82.4 – 14.0%
1994	Governor	Brown	72.1 – 24.8%
	Senator	Feinstein	80.7 – 13.7%
1996	President	Clinton	66.0 – 18.0%
1998	Governor	Davis	81.8 – 13.2%
	Senator	Boxer	78.0 – 19.2%
2000	President	Gore	76.7 – 14.6%
	Senator	Feinstein	72.6 – 14.1%
2002	Governor	Davis	66.7 – 13.9%
2003	Recall	No	81.4 – 18.6%
		Bustamante	64.7 – 17.8%
2004	President	Kerry	84.2 – 14.0%
	Senator	Boxer	83.7 – 11.7%
2006	Governor	Angelides	64.3 – 27.9%
	Senator	Feinstein	80.4 – 7.7%
2008	President	Obama	85.2 – 12.4%
2010	Governor	Brown	80.0 – 16.4%
	Senator	Boxer	81.3 – 14.7%
2012	President	Romney	55.6 – 41.7%
2014	Governor	Kashkari	62.3 – 37.7%
2016	President	Trump	54.7 – 39.6%
	Senator	Harris	55.1 – 44.9%
2018	Governor	Cox	59.8 – 40.2%
	Senator	de Leon	54.3 – 45.7%
2020	President	Trump	54 – 43.6%

List of members representing the district

Member	Party	Dates	Cong ress(es)	Electoral history	Counties
District created on March 4, 1903
Milton J. Daniels	Republican	March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1905	58th	Elected in 1902. Retired.	1903–1913 Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare, Ventura
Sylvester C. Smith	Republican	March 4, 1905 – January 26, 1913		Elected in 1904. Re-elected in 1906. Re-elected in 1908. Re-elected in 1910. Died.
Vacant		January 27, 1913 – March 3, 1913
Everis A. Hayes	Republican	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1919		Redistricted from the 5th district and re-elected in 1912. Re-elected in 1914. Re-elected in 1916. Lost re-election.	1913–1933 Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Ventura
Hugh S. Hersman	Democratic	March 4, 1919 – March 3, 1921	66th	Elected in 1918. Lost re-election.
Arthur M. Free	Republican	March 4, 1921 – March 3, 1933		Elected in 1920. Re-elected in 1922. Re-elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. Re-elected in 1928. Re-elected in 1930. Lost re-election.
John J. McGrath	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1939		Elected in 1932. Re-elected in 1934. Re-elected in 1936. Lost re-election.	1933–1943 Monterey, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz
Jack Z. Anderson	Republican	January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1953		Elected in 1938. Re-elected in 1940. Re-elected in 1942. Re-elected in 1944. Re-elected in 1946. Re-elected in 1948. Re-elected in 1950. Retired.
					1943–1953 San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz
George P. Miller	Democratic	January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1973		Redistricted from the 6th district and re-elected in 1952. Re-elected in 1954. Re-elected in 1956. Re-elected in 1958. Re-elected in 1960. Re-elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Lost renomination.	1953–1975 Alameda outside Oakland
Pete Stark	Democratic	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1975	93rd	Elected in 1972. Redistricted to the 9th district.
Ron Dellums	Democratic	January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1993		Redistricted from the 7th district and re-elected in 1974. Re-elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Re-elected in 1980. Re-elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Redistricted to the 9th district.	1975–1983 Alameda (Oakland)
					1983–1993 Alameda (Oakland), southwestern Contra Costa
Nancy Pelosi	Democratic	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2013		Redistricted from the 5th district and re-elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Redistricted to the 12th district.	1993–2003 Most of San Francisco
					2003–2013: Most of San Francisco
Paul Cook	Republican	January 3, 2013 – December 7, 2020		Elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Retired to run for member of the San Bernardino County Supervisors. Resigned when elected.	2013–present Inyo, Mono, most of San Bernardino
Vacant		December 7, 2020 – January 3, 2021	116th
Jay Obernolte	Republican	January 3, 2021 – Present	presentth	Elected in 2020.

Election results

1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018

1902

United States House of Representatives elections, 1902

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Milton J. Daniels	20,135	55.6%
	Democratic	William E. Smythe	15,819	40.8%
	Socialist	Noble A. Richardson	2,091	5.4%
	Prohibition	Ellsworth Leonardson	762	2.0%
Total votes			38,807	100.0%
	Republican win (new seat)

1904

United States House of Representatives elections, 1904

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sylvester C. Smith	23,683	55.6%
	Democratic	William T. Lucas	12,861	34.5%
	Socialist	Noble A. Richardson	4,636	9.9%
	Prohibition	Benjamin J. Cloes	1,430	3.4%
Total votes			42,610	100.0%
	Republican hold

1906

United States House of Representatives elections, 1906

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sylvester C. Smith (Incumbent)	22,548	55.6%
	Democratic	Charles A. Barlow	13,992	34.5%
	Socialist	Noble A. Richardson	4,003	9.9%
Total votes			40,543	100.0%
	Republican hold

1908

United States House of Representatives elections, 1908

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sylvester C. Smith (Incumbent)	28,202	50.5%
	Democratic	William G. Irving	18,958	33.9%
	Socialist	George A. Garrett	7,302	13.1%
	Prohibition	James S. Edwards	1,379	2.5%
Total votes			45,831	100.0%
	Republican hold

1910

United States House of Representatives elections, 1910

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sylvester C. Smith (Incumbent)	28,202	50.5%
	Democratic	William G. Irving	18,958	33.9%
	Socialist	George A. Garrett	7,302	13.1%
	Prohibition	James S. Edwards	1,379	2.5%
Total votes			45,831	100.0%
	Republican hold

1912

United States House of Representatives elections, 1912

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Everis A. Hayes (Incumbent)	29,861	50.9%
	Democratic	James B. Holohan	20,620	35.2%
	Progressive	Robert Whitaker	8,125	13.9%
Total votes			58,606	100.0%
	Republican hold

1914

United States House of Representatives elections, 1914

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Everis A. Hayes (Incumbent)	36,499	49.1%
	Progressive	Lewis Dan Bohnett	33,706	45.3%
	Prohibition	Joseph Merritt Horton	4,157	5.6%
Total votes			74,362	100.0%
	Republican hold

1916

United States House of Representatives elections, 1916

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Everis A. Hayes (Incumbent)	50,659	68.6%
	Progressive	George S. Walker	17,576	23.8%
	Socialist	Cora Pattleton Wilson	5,564	7.5%
Total votes			73,799	100.0%
	Republican hold

1918

United States House of Representatives elections, 1918

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Hugh S. Hersman	31,167	53%
	Republican	Everis A. Hayes (Incumbent)	27,641	47%
Total votes			58,808	100%
	Democratic gain from Republican

1920

United States House of Representatives elections, 1920

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Arthur M. Free	46,823	64%
	Democratic	Hugh S. Hersman (Incumbent)	26,311	36%
Total votes			73,134	100%
	Republican gain from Democratic

1922

United States House of Representatives elections, 1922

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Arthur M. Free (Incumbent)	57,926	100.0%
	Republican hold

1924

United States House of Representatives elections, 1924

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Arthur M. Free (Incumbent)	55,713	100.0%
	Republican hold

1926

United States House of Representatives elections, 1926

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Arthur M. Free (Incumbent)	60,384	67.7%
	Democratic	Philip G. Sheehy	28,836	32.3%
Total votes			89,220	100.0%
	Republican hold

1928

United States House of Representatives elections, 1928

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Arthur M. Free (Incumbent)	80,613	68%
	Democratic	Cecelia M. Casserly	37,947	32%
Total votes			118,560	100%
	Republican hold

1930

United States House of Representatives elections, 1930

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Arthur M. Free (Incumbent)	93,377	100.0%
	Republican hold

1932

United States House of Representatives elections, 1932

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John J. McGrath	65,455	56.9%
	Republican	Arthur M. Free (Incumbent)	49,487	43.1%
Total votes			114,942	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

1934

United States House of Representatives elections, 1934

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John J. McGrath (Incumbent)	107,325	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1936

United States House of Representatives elections, 1936

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John J. McGrath (Incumbent)	78,557	57.6%
	Republican	Alonzo L. Baker	57,808	43.4%
Total votes			136,365	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1938

United States House of Representatives elections, 1938

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jack Z. Anderson	84,084	55%
	Democratic	John J. McGrath (Incumbent)	68,681	45%
Total votes			152,765	100%
	Republican gain from Democratic

1940

United States House of Representatives elections, 1940

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jack Z. Anderson (Incumbent)	148,180	96.7%
	Communist	Elizabeth Nichols	5,186	3.3%
	Democratic	John J. McGrath (write-in)	37	0.1%
Total votes			153,403	100.0%
	Republican hold

1942

United States House of Representatives elections, 1942

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jack Z. Anderson (Incumbent)	91,536	99.9%
	Communist	Elizabeth Nichols (write-in)	102	0.1%
Total votes			91,638	100.0%
	Republican hold

1944

United States House of Representatives elections, 1944

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jack Z. Anderson (Incumbent)	94,218	56.5%
	Democratic	Arthur L. Johnson	72,420	43.5%
Total votes			166,638	100.0%
	Republican hold

1946

United States House of Representatives elections, 1946

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jack Z. Anderson (Incumbent)	113,325	100.0%
	Republican hold

1948

United States House of Representatives elections, 1948

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jack Z. Anderson (Incumbent)	161,743	79.9%
	Progressive	Paul Taylor	40,670	20.1%
Total votes			202,413	100.0%
	Republican hold

1950

United States House of Representatives elections, 1950

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jack Z. Anderson (Incumbent)	168,510	83.1%
	Progressive	John A. Peterson	34,176	16.9%
Total votes			202,686	100.0%
	Republican hold

1952

United States House of Representatives elections, 1952

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George P. Miller (Incumbent)	156,445	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1954

United States House of Representatives elections, 1954

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George P. Miller (Incumbent)	101,803	65.4%
	Republican	Jessie M. Ritchie	53,869	34.6%
Total votes			155,672	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1956

United States House of Representatives elections, 1956

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George P. Miller (Incumbent)	136,720	65.6%
	Republican	Robert Lee Watkins	71,700	34.4%
Total votes			208,420	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1958

United States House of Representatives elections, 1958

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George P. Miller (Incumbent)	181,437	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1960

United States House of Representatives elections, 1960

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George P. Miller (Incumbent)	152,476	62%
	Republican	Robert E. Hannon	93,403	38%
Total votes			245,879	100%
	Democratic hold

1962

United States House of Representatives elections, 1962

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George P. Miller (Incumbent)	97,014	72.5%
	Republican	Harold Petersen	36,810	27.5%
Total votes			133,824	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1964

United States House of Representatives elections, 1964

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George P. Miller (Incumbent)	108,771	70.3%
	Republican	Donald E. McKay	46,063	29.7%
Total votes			154,834	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1966

United States House of Representatives elections, 1966

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George P. Miller (Incumbent)	92,263	65.4%
	Republican	Raymond P. Britton	48,727	34.6%
Total votes			140,990	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1968

United States House of Representatives elections, 1968

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George P. Miller (Incumbent)	104,231	64%
	Republican	Raymond P. Britton	58,584	36%
Total votes			162,815	100%
	Democratic hold

1970

United States House of Representatives elections, 1970

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George P. Miller (Incumbent)	104,311	69%
	Republican	Michael A. Crane	46,872	31%
Total votes			151,183	100%
	Democratic hold

1972

United States House of Representatives elections, 1972

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Pete Stark	101,024	52.9%
	Republican	Lew M. Warden Jr.	89,948	47.1%
Total votes			190,972	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1974

United States House of Representatives elections, 1974

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ron Dellums (Incumbent)	93,106	56.6%
	Republican	Jack Redden	65,432	39.6%
	American Independent	John Holland	6,324	3.8%
Total votes			164,862	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1976

United States House of Representatives elections, 1976

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ron Dellums (Incumbent)	122,342	62.1%
	Republican	Philip Stiles Breck Jr.	68,374	34.7%
	Peace and Freedom	Robert J. Evans	6,238	3.2%
Total votes			196,954	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1978

United States House of Representatives elections, 1978

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ron Dellums (Incumbent)	94,824	57.4%
	Republican	Charles V. Hughes	70,481	42.6%
Total votes			165,305	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1980

United States House of Representatives elections, 1980

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ron Dellums (Incumbent)	108,380	55.5%
	Republican	Charles V. Hughes	76,580	39.2%
	Libertarian	Tod Mikuriya	10,465	5.4%
Total votes			195,425	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1982

United States House of Representatives elections, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ron Dellums (Incumbent)	121,537	55.9%
	Republican	Claude B. Hutchinson Jr.	95,694	44.1%
Total votes			217,231	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1984

United States House of Representatives elections, 1984

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ron Dellums (Incumbent)	144,316	60.3%
	Republican	Charles Connor	94,907	39.7%
Total votes			239,223	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1986

United States House of Representatives elections, 1986

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ron Dellums (Incumbent)	121,790	60.0%
	Republican	Steven Eigenberg	76,850	37.9%
	Peace and Freedom	Lawrence R. Manuel	4,295	2.1%
Total votes			202,935	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1988

United States House of Representatives elections, 1988

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ron Dellums (Incumbent)	163,221	66.6%
	Republican	John J. Cuddihy Jr.	76,531	31.2%
	Peace and Freedom	Tom Condit	5,444	2.2%
Total votes			245,196	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1990

United States House of Representatives elections, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ron Dellums (Incumbent)	119,645	61.3%
	Republican	Barbara Galewski	75,544	38.7%
Total votes			195,189	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1992

United States House of Representatives elections, 1992

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi (Incumbent)	191,906	82.5%
	Republican	Marc Wolin	25,693	11.0%
	Peace and Freedom	Cesar G. Cadabes	7,572	3.3%
	Libertarian	James R. Elwood	7,511	3.2%
	No party	Goldwater (write-in)	9	0.0%
Total votes			222,691	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1994

United States House of Representatives elections, 1994

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi (Incumbent)	137,642	81.85%
	Republican	Elsa C. Cheung	30,528	18.15%
	No party	Bowman (write-in)	1	0.00%
Total votes			168,171	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1996

United States House of Representatives elections, 1996

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi (Incumbent)	175,216	84.4%
	Republican	Justin Raimondo	25,739	12.4%
	Natural Law	David Smithstein	6,783	3.2%
	Republican	Ed Murray (write-in)	22	0.0%
Total votes			207,760	100.0%
	Democratic hold

1998

United States House of Representatives elections, 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi (Incumbent)	148,027	85.83%
	Republican	David J. Martz	20,781	12.05%
	Natural Law	David Smithstein	6,783	2.12%
Total votes			175,591	100.0%
	Democratic hold

2000

United States House of Representatives elections, 2000

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi (Incumbent)	181,847	84.5%
	Republican	Adam Sparks	25,298	11.7%
	Libertarian	Erik Bauman	5,645	2.6%
	Natural Law	David Smithstein	2,638	1.2%
Total votes			215,428	100.0%
	Democratic hold

2002

United States House of Representatives elections, 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi (Incumbent)	127,684	79.6%
	Republican	G. Michael German	20,063	12.6%
	Green	Jay Pond	10,033	6.2%
	Libertarian	Ira Spivack	2,659	1.6%
	Socialist Workers	Deborah Liatos (write-in)	2	0.0%
Total votes			160,441	100.0%
	Democratic hold

2004

United States House of Representatives elections, 2004

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi (Incumbent)	224,017	83.0%
	Republican	Jennifer Depalma	31,074	11.5%
	Green	Leilani Dowell	9,527	3.5%
	Green	Terry Baum (write-in)	5,446	2.0%
Total votes			270,064	100.0%
	Democratic hold

2006

United States House of Representatives elections, 2006

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi (Incumbent)	148,435	80.4%
	Republican	Mike DeNunzio	19,800	10.8%
	Green	Krissy Keefer	13,653	7.4%
	Libertarian	Philip Zimt Berg	2,751	1.4%
Total votes			184,639	100.0%
	Democratic hold

2008

United States House of Representatives elections, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi (Incumbent)	204,996	71.7%
	Independent	Cindy Sheehan	46,118	16.1%
	Republican	Dana Walsh	27,614	9.7%
	Libertarian	Philip Zimt Berg	6,504	2.3%
Total votes			285,247	100.0%
	Democratic hold

2010

United States House of Representatives elections, 2010

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Nancy Pelosi (Incumbent)	167,957	80%
	Republican	John Dennis	31,711	15%
	Peace and Freedom	Gloria La Riva	5,161	3%
	Libertarian	Philip Berg	4,843	2%
Total votes			209,672	100%
	Democratic hold

2012

Lua error in Module:Election_box_US_auto at line 150: attempt to index field 'data' (a nil value).

2014

Lua error in Module:Election_box_US_auto at line 150: attempt to index field 'data' (a nil value).

2016

Lua error in Module:Election_box_US_auto at line 150: attempt to index field 'data' (a nil value).

2018

United States House of Representatives elections, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Paul Cook	102,415	60.0%
	Republican	Tim Donnelly	68,370	40.0%
Total votes			170,785	100.0%
	Republican hold

2020

United States House of Representatives elections, 2020

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jay Obernolte	158,711	56.1%
	Democratic	Christine Bubser	124,400	43.9%
Total votes			283,111	100%
	Republican hold

See also

In Spanish: 8.º distrito congresional de California para niños