Scrutinel— 2026 midterms

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

California 23rd District

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

Democrat
Tessa Lynn Hodge
3%
Republican
Jay Obernolte
97%
ForecastSafe R
Projected margin
R+17.6
80% range
R+29.2 to R+6.1
Partisan lean
R+17.7
Tipping-point chance
0.05%
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
R+17.4
Blended
R+17.4
Similar-race shift
−0.5
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
R+17.7
Elasticity
1.08
Incumbency
−1.9
Candidate experience
0.0
Fundraising
−3.1
National environment
D+7.1
Expected margin
R+16.9
How it voted for presidenttwo-party
2024 margin
R+19.9
2020 margin
R+12.4
Shift 2020 → 2024
R+7.5
Votes cast, 2024
276,563

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
575,877
Median age
46.9
Median household income
$67,400
Bachelor’s degree or higher
18%
White
44%
Black
10%
Hispanic
39%
Asian
6%

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
Jay ObernolteREP$1.5M$1.6M
Tessa Lynn HodgeDEM$79k$10k

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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