The Path to Democratic Control of Congress Runs Through California
WHO WE ARE
Battleground California is the state’s only table dedicated to the long-term coordination of local efforts within California’s most competitive Congressional districts.
In 2024, our coalition ran competitive organizing programs across six targeted congressional districts, investing $4.5 million in a field program that knocked on nearly 400,000 doors and reached more than one million voters by phone and text. We exceeded our voter identification goal, ultimately identifying nearly 135,000 voters. The results validated our approach: we helped flip three seats and hold one, all by a combined margin of fewer than 19,000 votes.
After the election, we worked with Data for Social Good to conduct an analysis of our efforts, utilizing propensity score matching. We found that when contacted by Battleground CA organizations, voters were nearly 8% more likely to cast a ballot in their congressional races.
WHY BATTLEGROUND CALIFORNIA?
Progressive donors have poured money into California House races for years—but money alone doesn’t build on-the-ground power. Battleground California exists because flipping a seat on election night means nothing if the infrastructure disappears the next morning. We are building permanent, community-rooted organizing capacity in the districts that will decide the majority, so the relationships, the trust, and the trained organizers are still there for the next fight, and the fight after that.
Grassroots power over TV ads: Establishment campaigns will keep pouring millions into television while the doors in these districts go unknocked. We fund the trusted messengers—neighbors, union members, community organizers—who talk to voters face-to-face, build real relationships, and turn out people the algorithms and consultants overlook.
Infrastructure that outlasts a single election: California has never lacked money; it has lacked a durable, coordinated table for progressive power-building around congressional races. Battleground California is that table—so your investment builds capacity that compounds cycle over cycle, not an operation that evaporates in November.
The majority runs through California: Our 2026 targets are among the most winnable Republican-held seats left in the country, and the difference between holding and losing the House. Every dollar here is leveraged against a map where the path to a Democratic majority is shortest and most direct.
Power built by and for the communities on the frontlines: Our coalition is led by organizations already embedded in Latino, Black, AAPI, and immigrant communities across these districts. We’re not parachuting in strategists—we’re resourcing the people already doing the work, and giving them the sustained backing to do it at scale.
OUR PARTNERS
THE ROAD TO 2026
Winning Democratic control of Congress is urgent. To provide a meaningful check on the Trump administration, we must flip our targeted California House races. Proposition 50 reshaped the map, and California offers some of the country's strongest pickup opportunities—especially in CA-22 and CA-48, our top priorities. We're also working to defend two seats Democrats flipped in 2024: CA-13 and CA-45.
Flipping a Central Valley Seat
Battleground California is backing Randy Villegas, a Visalia school board trustee and College of the Sequoias political science professor, against Rep. David Valadao in CA-22. He is the son of immigrants who grew up in a working-class Kern County family. Villegas, an unapologetic progressive, outperformed all expectations in the primary, drawing energized grassroots turnout and endorsements from Senator Bernie Sanders, and the Working Families Party. Redistricting has made this a genuinely competitive seat, and the enthusiasm on the ground here is real. Battleground California is backing it with a strong, coordinated field effort built to turn that energy into votes.
An Open Seat, A Historic Opportunity
CA-48, the open seat vacated by longtime Rep. Darrell Issa, is one of the most dramatic shifts on the map, now a genuine toss-up. We're backing Marni von Wilpert, a San Diego City Councilmember and former federal labor attorney who grew up in the district. A Peace Corps alum with deep local roots and broad labor and institutional support, she's the only leading Democrat in the race with a proven record of flipping a seat from red to blue. With registration split nearly evenly three ways, this race will be tight and will come down to turnout. Battleground California's grassroots infrastructure is built to win this seat.
Defending Our Gains: CA-13 and CA-45
In CA-13, Rep. Adam Gray flipped this Central Valley seat by fewer than 200 votes in 2024 and faces Republican Kevin Lincoln in another close race. In CA-45, Rep. Derek Tran made history as the first Vietnamese American to represent the district and defends his seat against Republican Chuong Vo in a race that remains competitive. Both districts will be key to defend to ensure CA maximizes gains post Prop-50.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Real power isn’t built in a single election cycle—it’s built by showing up year after year, in community after community, until the infrastructure is too strong to dismantle. Battleground California is asking progressive donors to invest not just in a win in November, but in the organizers, the relationships, and the grassroots capacity that will still be standing long after this election is over. With control of Congress on the line and some of the most winnable seats in the country sitting right here in California, now is the moment to go all in on sustained, community-powered mobilization.