Scrutinel— 2026 midterms

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

California 39th District

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

Democrat
Mark Takano
99.8%
Republican
Steve Manos
0.2%
ForecastSafe D
Projected margin
D+28.9
80% range
D+17.4 to D+40.4
Partisan lean
D+14.4
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+29.1
Blended
D+29.1
Similar-race shift
−0.6
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+14.4
Elasticity
1.15
Incumbency
+1.9
Candidate experience
0.0
Fundraising
+4.2
National environment
D+7.1
Expected margin
D+29.7
How it voted for presidenttwo-party
2024 margin
D+9.8
2020 margin
D+26.6
Shift 2020 → 2024
R+16.8
Votes cast, 2024
235,122

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
560,865
Median age
42.9
Median household income
$84,500
Bachelor’s degree or higher
19%
White
22%
Black
10%
Hispanic
59%
Asian
8%

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
Mark TakanoDEM$894k$186k
David SerpaREP$0$0

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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