CALIFORNIA — NOVEMBER 5, 2026. A closely watched intraparty election for the U.S. House of Representatives in California’s newly drawn District 4 remains unsettled as local registrars process ballots from nine counties. The latest cross-county tracker available to this newsroom was updated on Wednesday, November 4, at 5:46 p.m. Pacific: challenger Eric Jones had 61,856 votes and incumbent Mike Thompson had 58,031. The lead was 3,825 votes, but these totals are not certified or a forecast of the final outcome. The Associated Press’s estimate of ballots counted is separate from the actual county official canvass.

Every county portion: different electorates, different counting times

The table comes from The Ballot Book’s nine-county District 4 results checked November 5, with KQED’s Associated Press race result confirming the combined two-candidate tally. It is vital to understand that the county column is a subset of each county in the congressional district, not the entire county’s election turnout. The reporting time varies from one county to another, and not every county uploaded new ballots in the same release.

County portion Eric Jones Mike Thompson Local lead Margin
Colusa 1,746 1,150 Jones 596
Lake 309 239 Jones 70
Napa 7,178 10,709 Thompson 3,531
Placer 11,710 6,907 Jones 4,803
Sacramento 3,393 2,070 Jones 1,323
Sonoma 12,019 14,630 Thompson 2,611
Sutter 7,902 3,558 Jones 4,344
Yolo 12,826 16,402 Thompson 3,576
Yuba 4,773 2,366 Jones 2,407

Why Mike Thompson leads in Napa, Sonoma and Yolo while trailing districtwide

The county breakdown shows Thompson ahead in Napa, Sonoma and Yolo. Jones leads in Colusa, Lake, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter and Yuba. These are differences in county-level candidate totals at different reporting timestamps, not a claim about why individual residents voted as they did. Local constituencies with more counted ballots have greater numerical weight in the district total, and additional legally valid votes can change the balance.

Napa and Sonoma: local margins favor the incumbent

In the county’s Congressional District 4 precincts, Napa records 10,709 Thompson votes to 7,178 for Jones. Sonoma’s respective figures are 14,630 to 12,019. Neither data point implies that the same ranking must persist when each county finishes its canvass. These counties also have numerous separate mayoral, council, supervisor and ballot-measure elections covered by California58; those contests should be kept in their proper local news editions.

Placer, Sutter and Yuba: early leads favor the challenger

Placer’s District 4 portion reports 11,710 Jones votes to 6,907 Thompson votes, Sutter shows 7,902 to 3,558, and Yuba 4,773 to 2,366. Some of these county reports are still from late Tuesday night or the early hours of Wednesday. Readers cannot assume an unchanged county tally means no ballot processing is taking place. The registrar may wait until a scheduled release to publish an additional batch.

Small fragments also count

The congressional district includes a small reported Lake County slice with just 548 counted votes in the dataset, and the Sacramento County slice has 5,463. Those are district-specific candidate vote counts, not registered-voter turnout totals for all of Lake or Sacramento counties. The full congressional tally already includes these fragments; do not add them again to AP or tracker totals.

What is not known yet

The tracker does not establish one synchronized, districtwide number of outstanding ballots assigned to this House contest. A few counties have published unprocessed-ballot estimates, but some of those numbers cover the whole county, including other House districts and people who may not have chosen a congressional candidate. It would therefore be unsound to project a winner from an uncounted-county estimate or claim that all nine counties have completed counting. A race can remain unresolved even if some local reporters have counted all Election Day precincts.

Certification, auditing and the next update

California election offices continue validating eligible mail, provisional and conditional-registration ballots. The California Secretary of State says counties must complete their canvass by December 3; statewide results are certified December 11. California58 will update local county reports independently when their respective election offices publish fresh figures, and a new headline will be dated to the actual reporting batch.

Sources: The Ballot Book, District 4 by county, updated Nov. 4 at 5:46 p.m.; KQED/AP; California Secretary of State. This page is a November 5 synthesis of unofficial source snapshots. No election prediction is made.

INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM ACROSS CALIFORNIA

Support independent journalism for all Californians

Support reporting, public information and community coverage across California’s 58 counties.

Donate once by card ↗
Support independent California journalism Your contribution helps build and sustain independent community reporting across California.
Support California58

Choose how to support California58:

Credit / Debit Card via Stripe

Choose an amount from $1. One-time support through the publisher's LINKERNO Stripe account.

Continue with PayPal Continue with Zelle

Zelle payments go to Vitaly Ataev Troshin. Please verify the recipient in your bank before sending. Availability depends on your bank.

Optional reader support. Contributions are not advertised as tax-deductible. Support does not influence editorial decisions.
Optional support through the publisher. Contributions are not advertised as tax-deductible and never buy editorial influence.

USEFUL SERVICES

Useful services from our ecosystem

AFFILIATED RESOURCE

Travel smarter worldwide

OptionTrip

AI-powered trip planning for journeys in California and around the world.

Explore OptionTrip →

AFFILIATED RESOURCE

Free tax & property tools

TaxesTime

Free preliminary tax and property tools, including the Property Tax Savings Report.

Explore TaxesTime →

AFFILIATED RESOURCE

California document support

LegalDocSVC

Document preparation support for self-represented Californians. Not a law firm and not legal advice.

Explore LegalDocSVC →

WORK WITH CALIFORNIA58

Have a story, project or partnership idea?

California58 welcomes news tips, interviews, video projects, community partnerships, advertising and other California-focused collaborations.

Work with California58 →