Ted Lieu
DIncumbentFEC H4CA33119
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Raised this cycle$2.2M
Cash on hand: $1.2M
2026 race
CA-36 — U.S. House
2 candidates on the November ballot. Incumbent: Ted Lieu.
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How we got here · 1 earlier contest
Primary · Tuesday, June 2, 2026
Called by audit: web-verified
Top-two primary — Ted Lieu and Houston Brignano advanced to the general election.
- DTed Lieu· inc.Advanced to general61.1%
- RHouston BrignanoAdvanced to general15.3%
- RLeah Melissa ToomimDefeated13.1%
- DMarianne ShammaDefeated7.0%
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
$2.4M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Incumbent
Currently in office
Challengers
Sorted by fundraising
Claire Ragge Anderson
IChallengerFEC H4CA36161
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Raised this cycle$40K
Cash on hand: $3K
Leah Melissa Toomim
RChallengerFEC H2CA00146
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Raised this cycle$31K
Cash on hand: $4K
Rustin Knudtson
DChallengerFEC H6CA36216
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Raised this cycle$13K
Cash on hand: $13K
Houston Brignano
RChallengerFEC H6CA36208
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Raised this cycle$7K
Cash on hand: $1K
Marianne Shamma
DChallengerFEC H6CA36232
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Raised this cycle$5K
Cash on hand: $425
Local signal
Early read on CA-36 — 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 · mixed
Recent news coverage of Ted Lieu over the last 90 days.
1 positive13 neutral1 negative
15 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
$2.4M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$2.3M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$106K
$106K for · $0 against
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ted Lieu(D)incumbent + PROTECT PROGRESS $106K + SIERRA CLUB INDEPENDENT ACTION $10 + PLANNED PARENTHOOD ADVOCACY PROJECT LOS ANGELES COUNTY ACTION FUND $0 | $2.2M | $106K | — | $2.3M |
Claire Ragge Anderson | $40K | — | — | $40K |
Leah Melissa Toomim(R) | $31K | — | — | $31K |
Rustin Knudtson(D) | $13K | — | — | $13K |
Houston Brignano(R) | $7K | — | — | $7K |
Marianne Shamma(D) | $5K | — | — | $5K |
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.
Ted Lieu(D)53% in-state · $1.3M itemized
$669K in-state$594K out-of-state
Leah Melissa Toomim(R)45% in-state · $21K itemized
$9K in-state$12K out-of-state
Rustin Knudtson(D)100% in-state · $12K itemized
$12K in-state$0 out-of-state
Houston Brignano(R)99% in-state · $6K itemized
$6K in-state$70 out-of-state
Marianne Shamma(D)100% in-state · $4K itemized
$4K in-state$0 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.