Preliminary list of congressional candidates released

The California Secretary of State has published a preliminary list of qualified candidates for the June Primary, with California’s June 2 election race to determine the top-two candidates for November’s ballot less than 90 days away. 

There are now three congressional districts that represent the Santa Clarita Valley, with the final list expected to be certified by the state on Thursday, according to the state’s website.   

There will be some new congressional races on the ballot due to last November’s voter approval of Proposition 50, which redrew the congressional districts for the race.  

One district — the 27^th — still encompasses the majority of the SCV. But portions of the valley were carved into two other districts. 

Many residents in Castaic and its surrounding communities won’t see the 27th Congressional District like they did in the last three elections. The 2025 voter-approved measure redrew the lines until the 2030 U.S. Census calls for them to be drawn again. 

In between Interstate 5 and State Route 14 is still largely the 27th Congressional District. 

And for those on the other end of the Santa Clarita Valley, east of State Route 14, much of that area is now considered part of the 30th Congressional District. 

You can check your congressional district here: tinyurl.com/yb47jckh. 

The 27th Congressional District 

There are four names on the list from the Secretary of State for the district that has the largest portion of the SCV. 

George Whitesides, D-Agua Dulce, currently holds the seat.  

Jason Gibbs is a Santa Clarita City Council member and director of West Coast operations for GP Strategies Government Solutions, who’s running as a Republican. 

Caleb Norwood described his eclectic resume as including tech support and being a marijuana-dispensary cashier, and he’s running as a Democrat from Lancaster. 

Roberto Ramos, of Palmdale, is a Marine Corps veteran and UCLA Law School student running as a Democrat. 

The redistricting made the 27th Congressional District, long ranked as a purple district for its close registration numbers, decidedly more Democrat-leaning. The Democrats gained about 7,000 voters, which is about how many the Republicans lost in the December numbers. The advantage from Democrats vs. Republicans went from 39.7% to 30.4% in October to just shy of 43% to 28.3% at the end of year report.  

The 26th Congressional District  

Now SCV voters who live north of State Route 126 and west of Interstate 5, stretching north to State Route 138, are in the 26th Congressional District.   

Julia Brownley, D-Ventura, currently represents the 26th, and after telling The Signal in November that she was looking forward to running again, she changed course in January and said she would instead be endorsing Jacqui Irwin, a Thousand Oaks Democrat who currently represents the state’s 42nd Assembly District. 

But there are eight other names on the list, most from the nearby Conejo Valley or Ventura County, which is where the majority of the district resides. 

In addition to Irwin, Dr. Sonia Devgan-Kacker also is running as a Democrat, a woman who bills herself as an urgent care physician, small-business owner and a Thousand Oaks mom. 

Chris Espinosa is a Santa Paula Democrat and the legislative director for Earthjustice, a nonprofit public interest environmental law organization. 

Sam Galluci calls himself a a business leader, pastor, and community servant from Oxnard, who’s running as a Republican.  

Michael S. Koslow is a retired FBI agent and owner of Aenigma Investigation Agency, a private corporate-investigation firm, and a Republican from Westlake Village. 

Daniel Miller is listed as a Lancaster Republican who did not have an occupation or website listed, but his name, phone number and email address matched a candidate for the 2nd Congressional District in Washington for the 2024 election. 

Liam Andres O’Neill Hernandez’s website calls him a working-class community advocate. The lifelong Oxnard resident is running as a Democrat. 

The website for Sasan Samadzadeh describes him as a longtime Ventura County resident who works as a building inspector. He’s also running as a Democrat. 

William “Bill” Scott, a Fillmore Republican, previously worked for 37 years as a civil servant in the Department of Defense, according to his website. 

The way the district was redrawn, it widened the Democrat advantage over Republican voter registration — from 41.9% to 29.6%, in the registration report 10 days before the 2025 election, to 42.97% to 28.34% in the most recent data from Dec. 30 — a difference of a little over 6.000 voters. 

The 30th Congressional District  

There are seven candidates for the 30th Congressional District, which has its largest concentration of people in Burbank and Glendale and heads north through the Angeles National Forest and including Agua Dulce. 

Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, is the incumbent for the 30th District who woke up Nov. 5 and found a new campaign trail that included State Route 14. 

John Armenian is a “former aerospace technologist-entrepreneur” from Glendale, according to his website. It also states he’s an independent centrist, a no-party-preference candidate.  

Dennis Feitosa’s website says he is a “digital entrepreneur and grassroots Republican activist,” who listed a Sunset Boulevard address for his campaign.  

Pini Herman, a Democrat whose listed address was just south of Melrose Avenue in L.A., listed his experience as professor, research analyst and social work in at-risk communities.  

Joel Lava is a Burbank Democrat and an award-winning creative director in the film industry, according to his website. 

Scott Alan Meyers, an attorney and small-business owner from Burbank, is running as a Republican, according to his website. 

Cameron Tennyson is another Burbank Democrat seeking the seat. His LinkedIn page lists his occupation as a self-employed content creator. 

This new district has the largest Democrat advantage and represents the smallest segment from the SCV with respect to the State Route 14 corridor. Its numbers are the only one that indicate a Republican gain from redistricting, based on the latest numbers from the state.  

The October numbers show a 52.76%-to-17.39% edge for Democrats, with Republicans gaining about half a percentage point from 2,500 more voters, while the left lost 800, but still lead 52.4% to 17.87%. 

For the complete list of candidates, go to: bit.ly/2026candidatelist. 

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