By admin 
As was predicted, incumbent Josh Harder, D-Tracy, was selected as one of the two candidates to move forward in the 9th District Congressional race following the June primary. The second spot was secured by a self-described “constitutional conservative” from Lodi.
Read more Gallagher leads 1st District special election, primary in early voting returns
The Associated Press called the race for Harder at 9:08 p.m.
As of 9 p.m., Harder led the race with 67.5% of votes tallied. John McBride, R, earned 15.4%, with trailing opponents Martin “Vmann” Veprauskas (9.4%), Khalid Jeffrey Jafri (5.6%) and Parminder “Happy” Singh (2.1%).
The three candidates who did not earn enough votes to move on past the primary did not have many, if any, donations, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Veprauskas did not have an FEC profile for this year’s race and Jafri had zero contributions listed. Singh had two $201 donations.
The 9th District was redrawn prior to this year’s elections as part of Proposition 50. The redrawn map, which the Cook Political Report, which provides independent, nonpartisan election analysis, said includes about 70% of the former district, includes the northern San Joaquin Valley and extends into the East Bay. Lodi, once fully within the district, is split among three districts, and part of Stockton is shifted into the 13th District, the other district that supported Trump while electing a Democrat.
With its old boundaries, the district was one of two that went for Donald Trump in the 2024 election but sent a Democrat to Congress.
It used to “lean” toward the Democratic Party, but now it is considered “solid,” according to the Cook Political Report. While Harder won by less than four percentage points in 2024, the report said he would “have no trouble” winning this year.
The primary suggest that the likely result of the November general election will be similar.
Who are the candidates moving on?
Rep. Josh Harder, 39, was first elected to Congress in 2018 within the 10th District and in 2022 was moved to the 9th due to redistricting. He previously worked in venture capital and taught at Modesto Junior College.
Harder said he chose to run for office in order to defend the Affordable Care Act, and reducing the cost of healthcare has remained his key focus. He has been an advocate for banning corporate political action committees, a stance that he said has severed ties between himself and pharmaceutical companies and put him in a unique position to push for cuts for prescription drugs like insulin.
In an April interview with The Sacramento Bee, Harder said the two most important issues he is focused on are accountability, specifically holding a “reckless and often lawless” federal administration accountable, and affordability.
“We can’t let PG&E jack up prices. We have to drive down our sky-high housing and gas prices,” Harder said. “If folks in Washington and this administration are unwilling to do those jobs, we need to hold them accountable in the new Congress with strict oversight and reforms, and that’s exactly what I’m going to.”
Read more Initial results show Bera, Tucker leading CA 3rd Congressional District
In order to achieve this goal of “more affordable” living in the valley, Harder has pushed against California’s gas tax and advocated for the development of alternative energy projects, including through a bill he introduced earlier this year that aims to eliminate red tape and provide political protections for such permitted projects.
Harder has received about $3.7 million in campaign contributions and has nearly $980,000 of cash on hand as of mid-May, according to FEC filings. He received just under 8,200 entries, the majority of which were $3,500 or lower. Some of the submissions were bank transfers.
Some of his largest donations from Democratic Political Action Committees, including Democracy Summer 2026, Jeffries Battleground Protection Fund and FrontLine Protection Fund, which raises money for House Democrats in swing districts. PACs representing different working groups, such as airline pilots, engineers and the real estate investment trust industry, or topics of interest, like reproductive rights and supporting Israel, also donated to Harder’s campaign.
John McBride, 65, is pursuing the 9th Congressional District seat for the second time, following an unsuccessful run for the same position in 2024.
McBride moved to California in 1989 and has lived in the Central Valley for 40 years. He has worked primarily as a strength and conditioning coach for athletes, including at the University of the Pacific and St. Mary’s High School in Stockton.
He described himself as “firmly invested” in the community. He has volunteered with organizations such as Helping Hands Ministry, which provided free meals, and has served on the board of a Christian-based nonprofit now named Directions Medical Clinic, whose goal is “helping women choose to keep their babies, as opposed to abortion,” McBride said in an interview with The Sacramento Bee.
McBride’s priorities include support for agriculture and health care, and has been a supporter of Robert F. Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again movement. He also supports stricter penalties for crimes and backs measures targeting judges he has described as “soft on crime.”
He is also focused on affordability. He said that he sees “freedoms being stolen every day,” adding that residents who are beholden to landlords or must pay property taxes are not free.
McBride is endorsed by the Republican Party in both San Joaquin and Contra Costa counties.
About $8,100 campaign contributions to McBride’s campaign were noted in FEC filings, and he has nearly $7,000 cash on hand as of Mid-May. A total of 14 entries were listed on the FEC website, with the donations ranging between $1,000 and $250.
Read more Davis’ Measure V trailing early for Village Farms project, but more votes to count
The Bee’s Velvet Wu contributed to this story.