Incumbent Democrat John Garamendi appears on track to return to Congress for his ninth term representing California’s 8th District, if early election results remain steady after all ballots are counted.
Garamendi, 79, built a commanding lead early Tuesday night, surging ahead of Republican challenger Rudy Recile, a former U.S. Army Major and former Department of Agriculture employee based in Vallejo.
Recile, 56, unsuccessfully ran for this same Congressional seat in 2022, when 76% of voters backed Garamendi to represent District 8, which encompasses Contra Costa and Solano counties, including the cities of Vallejo, Fairfield, Richmond and parts of Martinez.
Election officials had counted more than 130,137 ballots by 8 p.m. Tuesday, according to California Secretary of State records.
These early unofficial tallies were limited to vote-by-mail ballots and voters who cast their ballots in-person prior to Election Day, and final results are not expected for several days, as mail-in ballots continue to arrive and in-person election day votes are counted.
