How Democrats took over San Diego’s congressional delegation, one seat at a time

For 14 years and eight election cycles, San Diego County’s congressional battleground kept moving. San Diego Councilmember Marni von Wilpert’s victory in the 48th District Tuesday finally ended the battle, and gave Democrats all five seats in the region.

Von Wilpert defeated Republican County Supervisor Jim Desmond, in a race that was once among the most-watched in the country, after Democrats redrew the inland district as a pickup opportunity to combat Republican gerrymandering in Texas. It ended up as a landslide, part of the blue wave that swept Republicans out of safe seats nationwide.

Carl Luna, a University of San Diego political science professor, said the 2026 story came down to widespread disapproval of President Donald Trump.

“It’s like his old reality show: you get canceled for low ratings. People have seen it, heard it and don’t want to buy it anymore,” he said. 

It wasn’t long ago that Republicans held three of the county’s five congressional seats, at the dawn of Barack Obama’s second term. Democrats have since repeatedly won toss-up seats, pushing the political front line from the coast to the desert.

Rep. Scott Peters — who was reelected to his seat in the 50th District on Tuesday — first won the district covering La Jolla in 2012 when he knocked off incumbent Republican Brian Bilbray.

The race took over a week to call, and Peters won by fewer than 7,000 votes.

Two years later, his reelection became “one of the nation’s most hotly contested congressional races,” when now-Assemblyman Carl DeMaio tried to flip the seat during a cycle that proved to be a sizable Republican wave.

Peters ultimately won, and DeMaio conceded five days after Election Day. Peters has not faced a serious challenge since, as the district steadily shifted from a competitive battleground to a safe Democratic seat.

“My voters have always been people who are pretty smart, they just want problems solved and don’t want to worry about government not working for them,” Peters said Tuesday.

In 2016, the heat shifted up the coast, to the 49th District that straddles San Diego and Orange counties. It was then held by Rep. Darrell Issa, who found himself in a surprisingly close race that he won by only 1,621 votes over Democrat Douglas Applegate. 

By the next election cycle, Issa opted not to seek reelection rather than defend what had become a Democratic target. His departure cleared the way for Rep. Mike Levin to flip the seat with 56.4% of the vote.

Levin has held the seat since 2018, including his reelection yesterday.

“WHAT A NIGHT for American democracy!” he posted on X Wednesday. “Now the work begins.”

Issa rejoined Congress in 2020, winning the 50th District, an East County seat that still boasted a heavy Republican registration advantage.

By 2024, the former coastal battlegrounds had become Democratic strongholds. Further inland, Issa held the last Republican district, winning by over 19 points.  

But last year, California redrew its congressional districts in response to Texas Republicans’  own attempt to pickup seats by redrawing their district map. 

Issa’s safe 50th District seat was transformed into the new 48th District,  a competitive seat stretching to Palm Springs. Even before Issa announced his retirement and stepped aside for Desmond, it had become one of the most-watched contests in the country.

Von Wilpert won easily, ending any thoughts of a long Election Night by posting a 19-point lead.

She declared victory in her first speech before 10 p.m.

“Whether you voted for me or not, I will welcome you into my office and be a representative who works for every family in every part of this beautiful district and answers to the people — not the special interests and not the powerful few,” she posted on X Wednesday morning.

Rep. Sara Jacobs and Rep. Juan Vargas also won reelection Tuesday.

Jacobs holds the safe seat in the region’s urban core that she first took after former Rep. Susan Davis retired before the 2020 cycle. The San Diego native — who lost to Levin in the 2018 primary — said the region’s political dynamic was inconceivable when she was young.

“When I was growing up here, there was no way I thought that we would end up with a San Diego County without a single congressional Republican,” Jacobs said. “It is wild, and I think it’s a real testament to all of the people here in San Diego who have been doing the hard work and building community and making sure people understood who was fighting for them.”