Race · November 3, 2026

U.S. House · California's 16th District

2 candidates on the ballot.1

How this race is decided: Under California's top-two system, only the two candidates who received the most votes in the June 2, 2026, primary, regardless of party preference, appear on this general-election ballot.1,2

§1Candidates

Why this matters: Every candidate the state lists for this race on the November ballot, in the state's own order.

Sam Liccardo
Democratic · Incumbent
Currently represents California's 16th District in the U.S. House.
Peter Sundin Soulé
Republican · Challenger

§2Side by side

Why this matters: The same facts for every candidate, in the same order. Where we found nothing for a candidate, the cell says so — that means we didn't find it in public sources, not that it doesn't exist.

Scroll sideways on small screens. Select a name for the full page.
Sam LiccardoPeter Sundin Soulé
Party on the ballotDemocratic1,3Republican1,3
StatusIncumbent4Challenger
Raised$3,873,150 through October 14, 20265$4,272 through October 14, 20266
Cash on hand$2,259,6595$4,1256
Oil and gas drilling on federal land and offshore
Stop or sharply limit new leases
His campaign website says he would push against any new offshore drilling and fracking, and for strict limits and enforced lease expirations on existing sites.7
Lease more federal land and offshore areas for drilling
His campaign website says he supports drilling for oil on federal lands in an environmentally safe way to cut the cost of energy.8
Legal immigration levels
Admit more immigrants, such as by adding work visas or clearing family backlogs
His campaign website says he supports giving green cards to foreign STEM graduates of U.S. colleges, raising caps on employment-based visas, creating a startup visa and new visas for jobs with chronic labor shortages, and clearing the green card backlog.9		His campaign website says he would reform the H-1B visa program to favor hiring Americans.8,10
Targeted tax breaks for individuals and families
Add or expand breaks for costs such as education savings, adoption and selling a home
His campaign website says he supports doubling the capital gains tax exclusion on the sale of a home, and proposes a federal tax credit for teachers.11,12
Add or expand breaks for costs such as education savings, adoption and selling a home
His campaign website says he would raise the federal capital gains exclusion on the sale of a primary residence to $1 million for married couples filing jointly.8,10

Issues only one candidate has addressed

By candidate, in ballot order. We found nothing public from the other candidates in this race on these issues.

Sam Liccardo — 36 issues
  • Abortion law
    Legal until about 24 weeks, as under Roe v. Wade, and later to protect the woman's life or health
    His campaign website says Congress must bar states from restricting abortion before fetal viability and must make sure states cannot delay abortion care a doctor deems medically necessary to protect the life and health of the mother, regardless of viability.13
  • Abortion medication
    His campaign website says Congress must bar states from restricting abortion drugs before viability or offering abortion services through telemedicine.13
  • Birth control and IVF
    Guarantee access to both in federal law, including insurance coverage for IVF
    His campaign website says he supports the Right to Contraception Act and that Congress should pass a bipartisan version of the Right to IVF Act protecting access to IVF and fertility treatment nationwide, along with rights to insurance coverage.13
  • Government funding and abortion
    Let Medicaid and other public programs cover abortion (ending the Hyde Amendment)
    His campaign website says Medicaid and other federal funding should cover abortion to the same extent as other health care, and supports the EACH Act.13
  • Who sets abortion law
    A national law making abortion legal in every state, at least until viability, as under Roe v. Wade
    His campaign website says Congress must, at a minimum, bar states from restricting abortion before fetal viability, and supports the Women's Health Protection Act.13
  • Ethanol and biofuel requirements
    Lower the requirements or end the Renewable Fuel Standard
    His campaign website says ethanol and other biofuel subsidies and the Renewable Fuel Standard mandate raise food and fuel prices, and that markets and science, not taxpayer money, should decide the role of biofuels.14
  • Visas for farmworkers
    His campaign website says he supports a path for migrant farmworkers in the United States to earn legal status through reform of the H-2A visa program.9
  • Social media content rules
    His campaign website proposes replacing Section 230's broad liability shield for social media platforms with a safe harbor only for companies that meet the best practices for protecting children.9
  • Voting Rights Act protections
    Restore and widen protections by law, such as federal approval of voting changes in places with a history of discrimination (for example, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act)
    His campaign website says he supports the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and that Congress should restore federal preclearance of new state voting restrictions.15
  • National Guard troops in cities
    His campaign website lists among his accomplishments introducing the SUN Act to address unlawful military deployments in American cities and a bill to strengthen protections against improper military involvement in domestic law enforcement.16,17
  • Cryptocurrency rules
    His campaign website says tokens that are not tied to an investment contract should not be regulated as securities, that many experts see them as more like commodities, and that stablecoins need one set of national rules. It lists among his accomplishments cosponsoring the stablecoin law that was enacted and writing the MEME Act to keep elected officials from profiting from cryptocurrency ventures and other financial conflicts of interest.9,16
  • Tariffs
    Targeted tariffs on some countries or goods
    His campaign website says tariffs can be justified for specific goals such as deterring trade secret theft by China or enforcing labor and environmental standards, but should be used much more selectively because consumers pay for them, and says he supported efforts to eliminate tariffs that raise prices.14,16
  • Trade agreements
    Sign new deals that lower trade barriers
    His campaign website says that as mayor he lobbied House members to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an agreement to reduce tariffs and other trade barriers with Pacific Rim nations.14
  • Who sets tariffs
    His campaign website lists the Trade Review Act and the Prevent Tariff Abuse Act, which it says restore Congress's role in setting tariffs, among bills endorsed by Innovation for Good, a group he founded.16,18
  • US Department of Education
    His campaign website says Congress must keep its promise to fund special education for children with disabilities.12
  • Campaign finance rules
    Limit spending by outside groups, including by amending the Constitution to overturn Citizens United
    His campaign website says he would work toward a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and supports requiring every contribution to a super PAC to be reported within 24 hours.15
  • Drawing district lines (redistricting)
    His campaign website calls for clear, neutral and uniform standards for congressional redistricting to limit partisan gerrymandering, along with faster court challenges to maps.15
  • Voting by mail
    Let any voter request a mail ballot without giving a reason
    His campaign website says federal standards should let every voter apply online for a mail ballot without unreasonable requirements such as notarization, and require early voting in every jurisdiction.15
  • Carbon taxes and cap-and-trade
    A price on emissions from US companies, through a tax, fee or cap-and-trade
    His campaign website says he supports a carbon dividend, under which fees on major fossil fuel companies would be returned directly to taxpayers.7
  • Permitting for energy projects
    His campaign website says permitting reform is needed to expand interstate transmission lines quickly, and lists the SPEED and Reliability Act, which would speed approval of major transmission projects, among bills endorsed by Innovation for Good.7,18
  • Child care costs
    Expand help for lower- and middle-income families through grants and tax credits
    His campaign website proposes expanding the Child Care and Development Fund for low-income families and supporting a bill to enlarge and make refundable the dependent care tax credit for middle-income families.14
  • Child tax credit
    His campaign website says a larger child tax credit, means-tested to target the poorest families, could do more to reduce child poverty.14
  • AR-15-style rifles
    Ban the sale of these rifles
    His campaign website says Congress should reinstate the federal assault weapons ban.19
  • Background checks for gun sales
    Require checks for all gun sales, including private sales (with exceptions such as gifts between family members)
    His campaign website says Congress must close the loophole that lets buyers avoid background checks by purchasing guns from unlicensed sellers, and the gap that lets sales go ahead after three days when a check is not finished.19
  • Red flag laws
    Adopt more red flag laws, including a national one
    His campaign website says Congress must pass a uniform national red flag law.19
  • ACA premium tax credits
    His campaign website lists among his accomplishments introducing the Fix It Act, a bipartisan bill to extend the ACA premium tax credits in a way it says would also save taxpayer money.16
  • Homelessness
    His campaign website says Congress should fund more housing vouchers and make them more flexible, including for transitional housing, and remove a federal limit that keeps Medicaid from paying for more inpatient mental health and addiction treatment beds.20
  • Zoning and new housing
    Give extra state or federal money to communities that allow more homes
    His campaign website proposes that federal tax credits for converting empty downtown buildings into housing be tied to cities and states streamlining approvals, allowing by-right zoning downtown and reducing fees, and lists bipartisan bills he wrote to speed housing construction among his accomplishments.11,16
  • Legal status for immigrants here without permission, including Dreamers
    A path to citizenship for most who meet requirements such as background checks
    His campaign website says there must be a viable path to citizenship, possibly with a fine or fee, for undocumented immigrants who have lived and worked in the U.S. for about a decade without committing crimes, and supports the Dream Act.9
  • State and local tax (SALT) deduction
    His campaign website says removing the cap on the state and local tax deduction would add greatly to the deficit and mostly help the wealthiest taxpayers, and proposes instead doubling the cap, which it describes as $10,000, for all but the wealthiest 5% of homeowners.11
  • Taxes on very large fortunes
    His campaign website says a wealth tax is a bad idea because assets are hard to value, and proposes instead reversing the most regressive parts of the 2017 tax law, such as the large estate tax exemption.12
  • The president's power over approved spending
    His campaign website lists among his accomplishments introducing the Protect Our Constitution and Communities Act to prevent unconstitutional withholding of funds Congress has appropriated.16
  • Children and social media
    His campaign website says some age verification for social media is critical, and proposes standards of best practice for protecting children that companies must meet to avoid lawsuits.9
  • Data privacy
    His campaign website says a federal privacy law should limit data collection to what a company needs, require consent before data is sold, let consumers see and correct their data, allow lawsuits against serious violators and set one national standard that preempts state laws.9
  • Rules for artificial intelligence
    Set rules for specific risks and uses, such as deepfakes, hiring decisions and safety disclosures
    His campaign website calls for a middle-ground approach to AI rules: updating fraud laws, requiring watermarks on AI-generated content and banning sexually explicit deepfakes, while saying it is too early to require third-party testing of AI models.9
  • State AI laws
    His campaign website says Congress should use federal preemption to block state AI testing mandates like California's SB 1047 until the technology matures, and favors uniform national rules over 50 different state regimes.9,21
Peter Sundin Soulé — 10 issues

Issue statements are drafted by AI from the public sources cited, and only cover what each candidate has said publicly.