Real-Time Results: Sonoma Valley Midterm Election 2026

SONOMA VALLEY, CA — The polls are closed in Sonoma Valley, and voters will soon know if Mike McGuire or James Gallagher will fill the U.S. House District 1 seat, if billionaires will get their own California tax, and whether a blue wave will flood Congress, possibly sinking the final two years of President Donald Trump’s lame-duck presidency.

Millions of voters and election officials wait not only for the results but also for the president’s reaction. Trump’s Justice Department spent the final two weeks of the campaign season issuing subpoenas to California election officials and suing to block 20,000 Golden State ballots from being counted amid allegations of illegal voting. The Justice Department issued subpoenas for multiple California election officials to appear in court the day after the election.

Amid that contentious backdrop, Californians cast their ballots for a new governor, widely expected to be Democrat Xavier Becerra, who went into the election with a wide lead in the polls over Republican Steve Hilton.

The outcome of dozens of down-ballot primary races also hangs in the balance in Sonoma County. Sonoma Valley voters will weighing in on local seats and a closely watched race between incumbent Mike Thompson and Eric Jones.

Scroll down for real-time Sonoma County election results.

Click here to track your ballot and make sure it is counted.

As of September, the California Secretary of State reported that 23,164,977 Californians were registered to vote, which accounts for more than 85 percent of the state's eligible voting population.

Not surprisingly, there are far more registered Democrats than Republicans in the state, with 45 percent for the former and 25 percent for the latter. [Find your county’s registration stats here on page 17 of the Secretary of State’s report].

In Sonoma County, the rate of voter registration is high. As of September, it topped 89 percent — with 55 percent of voters registered as Democrats, 18 percent as Republicans.

Record Turnout

Based on early voting, California is poised to see 60 percent of registered voters head to the polls, a record for a gubernatorial race, Paul Mitchell, of political data analysis firm Political Data told The San Francisco Chronicle.

While the governor’s race was expected to be called early Tuesday, it’s California’s congressional races and ballot measures poised to offer the biggest upsets and surprises. Hanging in the balance is control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mitchell predicted that five key redrawn congressional districts appear poised to deliver Democratic victories driven, in part, by high turnout among Latino voters.

“I think the blue wave is on track,” Mitchell told The Chronicle. “It seems to be on track that we’re going to have a really strong turnout.”

So far, voter turnout has been higher in competitive races such as the Central Valley’s District 22 and the 48th Congressional District in San Diego — two districts Democrats hope to flip after their mid-decade gerrymander.

As of Oct. 29, Democratic voters represented 51 percent of ballots returned statewide compared to just 28 percent among Republican voters, according to the Political Data tracker.

Click here for all Sonoma Valley election results.

SONOMA VALLEY

Sonoma Valley voters’ choices began to come into focus Tuesday night, with early leads in local races and support for measures affecting parks, schools and fire services. As of 10 p.m., the returns offered a glimpse of the valley’s direction, with more ballots still to be counted.

U.S. House, District 4 — Democratic incumbent Mike Thompson was leading among Sonoma County voters with 56 percent of the votes, followed by Democrat Eric Jones with 44 percent. These totals excluded votes from other counties in the district (13,471 votes to 10,640 votes).

California Assembly, District 4 — Democratic incumbent Cecilia Aguiar-Curry ran unopposed and had 100 percent of the votes counted in Sonoma County (4,888 votes).

Sonoma City Council, District 1 — Julian MacKie was leading with 59 percent of the votes, followed by Michael L. Menefee with 23 percent and Peggy Hutton with 18 percent (331 votes to 132 votes to 100 votes).

Sonoma Valley Unified School District, Trustee Area 1 — Amanda Radzik was leading with 75 percent of the votes, followed by Susan Joyce McIntosh with 25 percent (814 votes to 265 votes).

Local ballot measures

Measure H — Yes was leading with 77 percent of the votes, followed by no with 23 percent, above the two-thirds approval threshold in the preliminary count. The measure proposed continuing the existing countywide one-eighth-cent parks sales tax until voters ended it, supporting parks, trails, habitat, water protection and wildfire prevention (67,161 yes votes to 20,339 no votes).

Measure AB — Yes was leading among Sonoma County voters with 65 percent of the votes, followed by no with 35 percent. The measure required 55 percent approval and proposed authorizing $830 million in Sonoma County Junior College District bonds for Santa Rosa Junior College facilities, repairs and career-training spaces. These totals excluded participating voters in other counties (55,978 yes votes to 30,134 no votes).

Measure N — Schell-Vista Fire Protection District — Yes was leading with 82 percent of the votes, followed by no with 18 percent. The measure proposed retaining increased spending limits for fire, rescue and emergency medical services in the district’s unincorporated Sonoma Valley service area (654 yes votes to 139 no votes).

These figures reflected the 9:58 p.m. report, when additional ballots remained to be counted. Percentages were rounded to the nearest whole number.

Gubernatorial Race

California voters headed to the polls Tuesday, facing high gas and grocery prices, the effects of climate change on wildfires and rising seas amid a shortage in insurance coverage and the ever-present housing affordability crisis.

The governor’s race was somewhat anticlimactic following a chaotic primary with a crowded field of candidates roiled when the frontrunner was forced to step down amid sexual assault allegations. Since then, Becerra maintained a steady lead over Hilton in the polls.

In the final days of the election, a new SurveyUSA poll showed Becerra with a 22-point lead.

Click here for real-time results in the California Governor’s races.

Congressional Races

All 52 of California’s Congressional seats were on the ballot.

Congressional races across California were under intense scrutiny following voter approval of Proposition 50, a partisan redistricting measure expected to reshape the state’s political map. Thanks to the redistricting, only a handful of districts were truly competitive. Democrats hoped to flip as many as five Republican House seats in a bid to overturn the GOP’s slim House majority.

Democrats think they can flip as many as five seats, with four seeming very much in reach, according to the polls. Both parties are spending like control of the House is on the line.

Click here for real-time results in California’s Congressional races.

Propositions

There were 14 statewide propositions on the ballot this week. Arguably, the most hot-button ballot initiatives involve taxation. Proposition 40 is the highly discussed billionaire tax, while Propositions 41 and 42 aim to counter the measure. Proposition 3 also addresses taxes on the state's highest earners.

Click here for real-time results for all of California’s ballot measures.