Scrutinel— 2026 midterms

UpdatedOct 10, 2026, 11:27 AM EDT
To election day24 days
Simulations200,000

California 9th District

Currently held by a Democrat · incumbent running · district redrawn for 2026

Democrat
Josh Harder
99.8%
Republican
John McBride
0.2%
ForecastSafe D
Projected margin
D+29.9
80% range
D+18.4 to D+41.5
Partisan lean
D+15.9
Uncertainty multiplier
1.80×

The 80% range comes from 200,000 simulations in which this race’s error is correlated with every other race through the national, state and demographic layers.

How the estimate is built
Fundamentals >99.9%
Polling average
no polls
Fundamentals
D+30.1
Blended
D+30.1
Similar-race shift
−1.2
Polling

No public polling of this matchup. The forecast rests on fundamentals plus the polling residuals of demographically and politically similar races — which is the normal case: most of the 435 House seats are never polled.

Fundamentals
Partisan lean
D+15.9
Elasticity
1.15
Incumbency
+1.9
Candidate experience
0.0
Fundraising
+4.1
National environment
D+7.1
Expected margin
D+31.4
How it voted for presidenttwo-party
2024 margin
D+11.8
2020 margin
D+26.8
Shift 2020 → 2024
R+15.0
Votes cast, 2024
268,485

Presidential results reaggregated onto the 2026 district lines. This is where the seat’s partisan lean comes from, and it carries most of the forecast in a race nobody has polled.

Who lives hereCensus ACS
Population
567,270
Median age
46.0
Median household income
$90,700
Bachelor’s degree or higher
22%
White
29%
Black
13%
Hispanic
34%
Asian
22%

Used to find demographically similar districts, so a race with no polling can borrow the polling error of races that look like it.

Campaign fundraisingFEC filings to Invalid Date
CandidatePartyRaisedCash on hand
Josh HarderDEM$4.1M$4.7M
John McbrideREP$52k$19k

Receipts across the cycle, from FEC bulk filings. The model uses the ratio between the two sides rather than either total, and weights it lightly — money follows a competitive race at least as much as it causes one.

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