- Lead
- 37,318
- Total
- 366,665
- vs nation
- D+11.6
California 3rd Congressional District
President margin by year
Place winner margin
President results by year
Modeled candidate-vote estimate on current district boundaries
- Lead
- 54,578
- Total
- 390,577
- vs nation
- D+9.5
- Lead
- 28,666
- Total
- 316,053
- vs nation
- D+7.0
- Lead
- 9,211
- Total
- 291,680
- vs nation
- R+0.7
- Lead
- 19,602
- Total
- 306,041
- vs nation
- R+0.9
- Lead
- 28,644
- Total
- 276,608
- vs nation
- R+7.9
- Lead
- 21,280
- Total
- 240,754
- vs nation
- R+9.4
- Lead
- 6,939
- Total
- 219,132
- vs nation
- R+11.7
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+10.2MIT Election Lab
- Population
- 762,7652024 5-year
- Population density
- 214 / sq mi2024 5-year · TIGER/Line
- Land area
- 3,571 sq miTIGER/Line
- Median household income
- $96,9832024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 57.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 5.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 18.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+52.3 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+38.9 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Congressional District 7, CO · twin score 85.8
presidential history
Party record book
California 3rd Congressional District · the strongest Democratic and Republican presidential performances recorded here, measured three ways.
1892–2024 (partial returns from 1876) · 38 presidential cycles · 38 with a vote-share denominator · 34 with a national benchmark
Highest vote share
Largest share of the presidential candidate vote cast here.
Democratic
Franklin D. Roosevelt1936
75.3%
22,914 votes · D+52.3 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1932 · 66.5%
Republican
Warren G. Harding1920
65.3%
8,563 votes · R+38.9 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Theodore Roosevelt, 1904 · 60.9%
Most votes
Largest number of votes cast for the party’s presidential nominee here.
Democratic
Joe Biden2020
217,550votes
55.7% of the vote · D+14.0 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Kamala Harris, 2024 · 195,655 votes
Republican
Donald Trump2020
162,972votes
41.7% of the vote · D+14.0 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Donald Trump, 2024 · 158,337 votes
Best relative to the U.S.
This Place’s margin against the national margin in the same election — positive when it leaned toward the party more than the country did.
Democratic
Franklin D. Roosevelt1936
+28.1pts D vs U.S.
Place D+52.3 · U.S. D+24.3 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Woodrow Wilson, 1912 · +26.2 pts
Republican
Theodore Roosevelt1904
+14.1pts R vs U.S.
Place R+33.7 · U.S. R+19.7 · modeled estimate
Runner-up · Warren G. Harding, 1920 · +12.7 pts
Current officeholders
Federal officeholders only. State and local officeholders are planned for the next data pass.
Senate and governor results are in the Office selector at the top of this page.
U.S. House
Each result reflects the U.S. House district as it was drawn for that election; redistricting has redrawn these lines over time, so they can differ from the current 120th-Congress district shown on the map above.
California's 3rd congressional district, as drawn for the 2026 elections, takes in Sacramento's eastern suburbs and the Sierra Nevada foothills, drawing from El Dorado, Sacramento, Nevada, and Placer counties. About 762,800 people live within its 2026 boundaries, with a median age of 40.2. Measured on those boundaries, the district has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 2012. The margin was D+3.1 in 2012, D+9.0 in 2016, D+14.0 in 2020, and D+10.2 in 2024.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 52.3 points in 1936 and a Republican high of 38.9 points in 1920. Between 2020 and 2024 the district moved 3.8 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 10.2 points.
A population of 762,765, a 57% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $96,983 describe the district. The district's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Congressional District 7 and Congressional District 50.
The congressional districts whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
District research tools
Open the source-auditable district brief for electoral baseline, electorate, current-cycle coverage, geography, official dates, and methodology. Open campaign intelligence report → · Browse all comparisons →
California 3rd Congressional District. Akashic. https://akashic.app/cd/0603/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.