Jay Obernolte
RIncumbentFEC H0CA08135
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Raised this cycle$1.9M
Cash on hand: $1.4M
2026 race
CA-23 — U.S. House
2 candidates on the November ballot. Incumbent: Jay Obernolte.
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How we got here · 1 earlier contest
Primary · Tuesday, June 2, 2026
Called by audit: web-verified
Top-two primary — Jay Obernolte and Tessa Lynn Hodge advanced to the general election.
- RJay Obernolte· inc.Advanced to general
- DTessa Lynn HodgeAdvanced to general
Election held
Counting
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Results appear here once a race is called and verified. Official returns from the California Secretary of State.
Make sure you can vote
Disclosed money in race
$3.0M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Incumbent
Currently in office
Challengers
Sorted by fundraising
Karen Matthews
IChallengerFEC H6CA23289
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Raised this cycle$175K
Cash on hand: $0
Tessa Lynn Hodge
DChallengerFEC H6CA23230
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Raised this cycle$127K
Cash on hand: $12K
Paul Chakalian
DChallengerFEC H6CA23263
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Raised this cycle$73K
Cash on hand: $0
Charles Patrick Wallis
DChallengerFEC H6CA23305
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Raised this cycle$64K
Cash on hand: $24
Alexis Claiborne
DChallengerFEC H6CA23255
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Raised this cycle$12K
Cash on hand: $3K
Local signal
Early read on CA-23 — U.S. House
A directional read on where this seat is trending, from the signals we have so far. This is an early scaffold — more inputs light up as coverage and constituent activity accrue.
Coverage tone · leans negative
Recent news coverage of Jay Obernolte over the last 90 days.
0 positive6 neutral1 negative
7 articles · AI-assessed sentiment toward the rep. A media signal, not a poll of the district.
Constituent stakes
No one here has staked a position on a tracked vote yet. As neighbors weigh in on /pressure campaigns, the district's lean will show up here.
Money in the race
Finance breakdown
Disclosed funding shaping this race — both the money candidates raise themselves and the outside spending dropped by independent groups. Issue-ad spending by 501(c)(4) groups is excluded; the FEC doesn't require disclosure of it. See the note below for details.
Candidate fundraising: FEC reports through October 14, 2026 · 2025–26 cycle
Total disclosed
$3.0M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$2.3M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$739K
$721K for · $19K against
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jay Obernolte(R)incumbent + AMERICAN MISSION $260K − WORKING CLASS HEROES FUND $19K | $1.9M | $260K | $19K | $2.1M |
Karen Matthews(I) + WORKING CLASS HEROES FUND $460K | $175K | $460K | — | $635K |
Tessa Lynn Hodge(D) + SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CENTRAL COMMITTEE $851 | $127K | $851 | — | $128K |
Paul Chakalian(D) | $73K | — | — | $73K |
Charles Patrick Wallis(D) | $64K | — | — | $64K |
Alexis Claiborne(D) | $12K | — | — | $12K |
Where the money comes from
In-state vs out-of-state
Share of each candidate's itemized individual contributions from donors inside CA versus the rest of the country. Excludes sub-$200 unitemized donations (no geography on file) and PAC money — see note below.
Jay Obernolte(R)49% in-state · $559K itemized
$272K in-state$288K out-of-state
Karen Matthews(I)30% in-state · $116K itemized
$35K in-state$80K out-of-state
Tessa Lynn Hodge(D)87% in-state · $40K itemized
$35K in-state$5K out-of-state
Paul Chakalian(D)93% in-state · $31K itemized
$29K in-state$2K out-of-state
Charles Patrick Wallis(D)49% in-state · $30K itemized
$15K in-state$15K out-of-state
Alexis Claiborne(D)64% in-state · $6K itemized
$4K in-state$2K out-of-state
What's counted, what isn't
Candidate-direct is each campaign's reported receipts on FEC Schedule A — individual contributions plus PAC contributions to the candidate's own committee — through the most recent filing.
Outside spending is independent expenditures on FEC Schedule E: money spent by PACs, super PACs, and party committees for or against a candidate, without legal coordination with the campaign. The committees listed under each candidate are the largest disclosed spenders on either side.
In-state vs out-of-state covers only itemized individual contributions — donations over $200, which are the only ones that carry a contributor address at the FEC. Sub-$200 unitemized donations (often a large share for grassroots campaigns) have no geography on file and are excluded, as is PAC money. So the percentages describe where a candidate's itemized individual money comes from, not where every dollar raised comes from.
Not counted: 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations run issue ads that frequently mention candidates by name but aren't classified as express advocacy under FEC rules — they file no Schedule E and don't appear in this breakdown. Press reporting on a race may cite figures that include this dark-money spending; ours doesn't.
About this race page
Candidate roster is sourced from the FEC's active-candidate list for the 2026 cycle. Fundraising totals reflect committee filings through the last reporting period.
Alignment % compares the candidate's extracted policy positions against your quiz answers. Positions are pulled from the candidate's campaign issues page by AI; we save the source quote for each position so you can verify the extraction. Candidates without a campaign issues page show position data pending — we're working through the roster and re-checking stale extractions every 90 days.
News coverage is from the GDELT 2.0 global news feed, filtered to a curated list of national, political, and regional outlets.