special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

was held on June 6, 2017, to elect the member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

for California's 34th congressional district. A special open primary election was held on April 4, 2017.

Incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

Representative

Xavier Becerra Xavier Becerra ( ; ; born January 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 25th United States secretary of health and human services since March 2021. Becerra previously served as the attorney general of California from Jan ...

, nominated by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...

to succeed

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...

, was confirmed as

Attorney General of California The attorney general of California is the state attorney general of the Government of California. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (Constitution of California, Article V, Section ...

on January 23, 2017. Harris, who was elected to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

to succeed

Barbara Boxer Barbara Sue Boxer (née Levy; born November 11, 1940) is an American politician and lobbyist who served in the United States Senate, representing California from 1993 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the U.S. ...

, resigned as attorney general on January 3, 2017. Democrats

Jimmy Gomez Jimmy Gomez (born November 25, 1974) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2017. His district includes the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Eagle Rock, Boyle Heights, Downtown Los Angeles, Koreatown, and other com ...

and Robert Lee Ahn advanced to the runoff. Gomez defeated Ahn 59.22% to 40.78%.

Candidates

Democratic Party

Upon the announcement of incumbent Representative

's selection as

John Pérez John A. Pérez (born September 28, 1969) is an American union organizer and politician. He has been a Regent of the University of California since November 17, 2014, previously serving as the 68th Speaker of the California State Assembly from M ...

, the former

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The A ...

, announced his candidacy to succeed him in the House of Representatives. He soon withdrew from the race, citing a recent health diagnosis.

Declared

* Robert Lee Ahn, attorney and Los Angeles City planning commissioner * Vanessa Aramayo, former congressional aide and former California Assembly aide * Maria Cabildo, former Los Angeles City planning commissioner and director of homeless initiatives at the LA County Community Development Commission & Housing Authority, Co-Founder of East LA Community Corporation * Alejandra Campoverdi, former

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

aide for

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

* Arturo Carmona, former

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

presidential campaign President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...

staff member *

Wendy Carrillo Wendy Maria Carrillo Dono is an American politician serving in the California State Assembly. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, she represents the California's 51st State Assembly district, 51st State Assembly district, encompassing ...

, labor activist and radio host * Ricardo De La Fuente, businessman and son of

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

presidential candidate

Rocky De La Fuente Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente Guerra (born October 10, 1954) is an American businessman and politician. A perennial candidate, De La Fuente was the Reform Party of the United States of America, Reform Party United States presidential election, nomi ...

* Yolie Flores, former

Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district in ...

board member * Melissa "Sharkie" Garza, filmmaker and businesswoman *

, state assemblyman * Sara Hernandez, former public school teacher, attorney, nonprofit founder, and former district director and special counsel to LA City Council Member Jose Huizar. * Steven Mac, Los Angeles County Deputy

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

* Sandra Mendoza, candidate for the State Assembly in 2014 and 2016 * Raymond Meza,

SEIU Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of members ...

labor organizer * Armando Sotomayor, activist * Richard Joseph Sullivan, attorney * Tracy Van Houten, aerospace engineer * Tenaya Wallace, public relations strategist

Withdrew

, former

of the

* Dr. Jason Ahn, Physician at UCLA

Declined

Gil Cedillo Gilbert Anthony Cedillo (born March 25, 1954) is an American politician, who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 1st district from 2013 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, Cedillo was previously a member of both the ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

City Councilman A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural council ...

Kevin de León Kevin Alexander Leon (born December 10, 1966), known professionally as Kevin de León and colloquially as KDL, is an American politician serving as the Los Angeles City Council member for district 14 since 2020. A member of the Democratic Party, ...

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

and President pro tempore of the California State Senate * Monica Garcia, Los Angeles School Board member *

José Huizar José Luis Huizar (born September 10, 1968) is a Mexican-American politician and a former member of the Los Angeles City Council. Huizar was arrested and indicted on June 23, 2020, on federal corruption charges. Huizar was elected on November 8, ...

, Los Angeles City Councilman * Jesse Leon, aide to Los Angeles City Councilman

Holly Mitchell Holly J. Mitchell (born September 7, 1964) is an American politician currently serving as a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. A Democrat, Mitchell served as a State Senator for California's 30th senate district from 2013 ...

, state senator *

Nick Pacheco Lauro "Nick" Pacheco Jr. (born February 9, 1964) is an American disbarred lawyer, politician, and a member of the Democratic Party. Pacheco served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council (1999–2003). Prior to serving on the Los Angeles City ...

, former Los Angeles City Councilman and candidate for

Los Angeles County District Attorney The District Attorney of Los Angeles County is in charge of the office that prosecutes felony and misdemeanor crimes that occur within Los Angeles County, California, United States. The current district attorney (DA) is George Gascón. Some mi ...

in 2004 *

David Ryu David E. Ryu (Korean: 유은석; born 1975) is an American politician, who served as the Los Angeles City Councilman for District 4 from 2015 to 2020.Miguel Santiago Miguel Santiago (born March 6, 1973) is an American politician, currently serving in the California State Assembly, where he serves as chairman of the Communications and Conveyance Committee. Santiago is a Democrat representing the 53rd Asse ...

, state assemblyman

Republican Party

Declared

* William Rodriguez Morrison, apartment building manager and perennial candidate

Green Party

Declared

Kenneth Mejia Kenneth Mejia (born November 7, 1990) is an American activist, accountant, and politician, serving as the controller of Los Angeles since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party and a former Green, Mejia was a three-time candidate for the Unite ...

, certified public accountant and candidate for this seat in

Libertarian Party

Declared

Angela McArdle Angela Elise McArdle (born June 7, 1983) is an American politician from Texas and California who was elected on May 28, 2022 as the 22nd and current chair of the Libertarian National Committee. She was also the Secretary of the Libertarian Party ...

, litigation paralegal and legal aide

Independents

Declared

*Mark Padilla, law office administrator

General election

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Runoff

Endorsements

Results

References

{{California elections California 2017 34 California 2017 34 2017 34 Special California 34 Special United States House of Representatives 34 Special United States House of Representatives 2017 34

Candidates

Democratic Party

Declared

Withdrew

Declined

Republican Party

Declared

Green Party

Declared

Libertarian Party

Declared

Independents

Declared

General election

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Runoff

Endorsements

Results

See also

References