Who Represents the Bay Area in Congress: A Member-by-Member Guide to Committees, Seniority and the Nov. 3 Ballot

Top image: Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-Oakland) in her official House portrait. Photo: Ike Hayman, House Creative Services (public domain) via Wikimedia Commons

By Rafael Quintero-Lind, Politics Reporter

The Bay Area sends 13 members to the House and shares California’s two senators. All 15 are Democrats, and all of them serve in the minority: Republicans control the House under Speaker Mike Johnson and the Senate under Majority Leader John Thune. That shapes what the delegation can do. Its members can write bills, question officials and negotiate, but Republican leaders decide what reaches the floor.

This guide, which the South Bay Chronicle will keep updated, draws on the House Clerk’s member data, the Senate’s committee assignment list, the Biographical Directory of Congress and the Secretary of State’s certified list of candidates for Nov. 3. District descriptions are general; committee assignments are as listed by the Clerk as of Oct. 1.

The big change: Pelosi’s exit

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who has represented San Francisco since 1987 and is the only woman to serve as speaker, is not seeking reelection. Her departure in January will leave Rep. Zoe Lofgren of San José, in office since 1995, as the Bay Area’s longest-serving House member, followed by Rep. Mike Thompson, who took office in 1999.

The 2026 races are also being run on a new map. Voters approved Proposition 50 in November 2025, replacing the lines drawn by the state’s independent commission. Supporters called it a response to Republican redistricting in Texas; Republicans opposed it as a partisan gerrymander. The new districts take effect with the Congress that convenes in January.

The South Bay and Peninsula

• Zoe Lofgren (18th District, San José and south county). In office since 1995. Top Democrat on the Science, Space, and Technology Committee and a member of Judiciary, where she sits on the immigration and the courts, intellectual property, AI and internet subcommittees. Nov. 3 opponent: Republican Shane Lewis, an electrical test engineer.
• Ro Khanna (17th District, Fremont to Santa Clara and Cupertino). In office since 2017. Serves on Armed Services, Oversight and Government Reform and the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. He is weighing a 2028 presidential bid and is widely seen as a likely contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination. Opponent: Republican Ritesh Tandon, who lists himself as a CEO, entrepreneur and researcher.
• Sam Liccardo (16th District, Peninsula and west San José). The former San José mayor took office in 2025. Serves on Financial Services, including its digital assets, financial technology and AI subcommittee. Opponent: Republican Peter Sundin Soulé, an investor.
• Kevin Mullin (15th District, San Mateo County). In office since 2023. Serves on Energy and Commerce. Opponent: Republican Charles Hoelter, a retired training supervisor.
• Jimmy Panetta (19th District, Santa Cruz and the Central Coast). In office since 2017. Serves on Ways and Means, including its trade subcommittee, and Budget. Opponent: Republican Peter Coe Verbica, a business owner.

San Francisco and the East Bay

• Nancy Pelosi (11th District, San Francisco). In office since 1987; speaker emerita, with no committee assignments listed by the Clerk. Retiring. Democrats Scott Wiener and Connie Chan are competing for the seat.
• Lateefah Simon (12th District, Oakland and Berkeley). In office since 2025. Serves on Oversight and Government Reform and Small Business. Opponent: Democrat Jamie Joyce, a nonprofit executive director.
• Aisha Wahab (14th District, Hayward, Fremont and the Tri-Valley). Won an Aug. 18 special election and was sworn in Sept. 2. The Clerk’s list does not yet show committee assignments for her. Opponent: Democrat Melissa Hernandez, a health care services director.
• Mark DeSaulnier (10th District, central Contra Costa County). In office since 2015. Serves on Education and Workforce, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Ethics. Opponent: Republican Jeff Frese, a small business owner.
• John Garamendi (8th District, Solano County and parts of Contra Costa County). In office since 2009. Serves on Armed Services and Transportation and Infrastructure. Opponent: Republican Rudy Recile, a business owner and consultant.

The North Bay and the region’s edge

• Mike Thompson (4th District, Napa and Sonoma wine country). In office since 1999. Serves on Ways and Means, including its health and tax subcommittees. Opponent: Democrat Eric Jones, a businessman and nonprofit executive.
• Jared Huffman (2nd District, Marin and the North Coast). In office since 2013. Serves on Natural Resources and Transportation and Infrastructure. Opponent: Republican Robin Littau, an Enterprise Elementary School board member.
• Josh Harder (9th District, Stockton and San Joaquin County). In office since 2019, representing the region’s eastern neighbor. Serves on Appropriations. Opponent: Republican John McBride, an athletic performance coach.

The senators

• Alex Padilla. Appointed in January 2021 and elected to a full term in 2022, which runs through January 2029. Ranking Democrat on Rules and Administration, the committee that oversees federal elections, and on Judiciary’s border security and immigration subcommittee. Also serves on Energy and Natural Resources, Environment and Public Works, and Budget.
• Adam Schiff. A former House member from Los Angeles County, sworn in to the Senate in December 2024 for a term that runs through January 2031. Serves on Judiciary, where he is the top Democrat on the intellectual property subcommittee, Agriculture, Environment and Public Works, and Small Business. Neither Senate seat is on the ballot this year.

Where the clout sits

In a Republican House, the delegation’s leverage comes mostly from seniority on committees with broad reach. Thompson and Panetta both sit on Ways and Means, which writes tax and trade law. Harder is the region’s only appropriator. Lofgren leads Democrats on Science, which covers federal research money that matters to Silicon Valley’s labs and universities. Khanna and Liccardo sit on panels that touch defense technology, China policy and AI. Padilla’s Rules Committee post puts him at the center of this year’s fights over election administration.

That leverage has limits. When House Republicans passed the Stop Insider Trading Act in July, every Bay Area member present voted no, and the region’s Democrats had no say over what was attached to the bill. With no Republicans in the delegation, Bay Area voters rely on Democrats who must work with Republican committee chairs to move local priorities.