Candidate · November 3, 2026
Jim Desmond
On the ballot for U.S. House · California's 48th District
- raised through Oct 14, 2026
- $3.2M
- cash on hand
- $718K
- issues with public statements
- 10
- outside spending for or against
- $5.9M
§1On the ballot
Why this matters: This is exactly how the candidate appears on your ballot, from the state's official candidate list.
| Office | U.S. House · California's 48th District1 |
|---|---|
| Party on the ballot | Republican1 |
| Status | Open seat — no incumbent is running for this seat. |
| How it's 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, |
| Also on the ballot |
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§2Who they are
Why this matters: Background and experience help you judge how someone might do the job. These come from public records and the candidate's own materials.
Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.
Jim Desmond was born in Illinois, served in the U.S. Navy and earned a bachelor's degree from San Diego State University.3,
Why they say they're running
His campaign website says he is running because families in the district face rising costs, a housing market shutting out the next generation and a government that too often forgets who it works for, and that they deserve a representative who understands those challenges and focuses on practical solutions.4
Websites and accounts
- Campaign websitedesmondforcongress.com3,
5 - Instagraminstagram.com/desmondforcongress5
- Facebookfacebook.com/DesmondForCongress5
- X (Twitter)x.com/JimDesmondSD5
§3What they've said on the issues
Why this matters: These are positions the candidate has stated publicly — on their campaign website or in public statements — summarized in plain words with a link to where they said it. Issues they haven't spoken about publicly are left out.
Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.
Each issue has its own range of views. A position is marked on that range only when the candidate's own statement clearly matches one option; there is no overall left–right score.
Housing
His campaign website calls for a treatment-first approach to homelessness instead of what it calls a one-size-fits-all Housing First approach, including mandatory treatment for people with severe addiction or serious mental illness, more psychiatric care, a national audit of homelessness spending and federal money tied to measurable results.7,
His campaign website's housing plan calls for expanding down-payment assistance and creating a fund to help local first-time buyers compete.9
His campaign website's housing plan supports higher costs and more restrictions on investors buying three or more homes, with the money going to the first-time buyer fund.9
His campaign website's housing plan calls for firm time limits on permitting so housing gets built faster and at lower cost.9
Immigration
His campaign website says asylum claims should have to be filed at U.S. embassies or designated centers abroad.10
His campaign website says he would streamline legal immigration for skilled workers, family reunification and humanitarian cases, give priority to areas of economic need such as agriculture, technology and health care, and create an online application system.10
Energy and Climate
His campaign website says he would preserve and modernize existing nuclear plants, develop small modular reactors and streamline regulations to encourage building new nuclear plants.11
- Build no new reactors and rely on other energy sources
- Support new reactors under the current licensing process
- Speed up licensing further and expand federal support to build many new reactors
His campaign website says buyers should have incentives for electric, hybrid, hydrogen and gas-powered vehicles rather than mandates, and criticizes policies that force electric vehicles on people.11
- No tax credits or emissions rules that favor electric vehicles
- Tax credits or other incentives, but no emissions rules that favor them
- Tax credits plus greenhouse gas limits that push automakers toward them
- Phase out new gas-only car sales by a set year, such as 2035
Taxes and Budget
His campaign website's plans call for a caregiver tax credit, tax-free savings accounts for child care and for buying a home (including letting unused 529 college savings roll into a housing account), and changes to capital gains taxes on the sale of owner-occupied homes.9,
- Expand these breaks and make more of them refundable, so families who owe little income tax also benefit
- Add or expand breaks for costs such as education savings, adoption and selling a home
- Keep the current breaks
- Cut back these breaks and use the money for lower tax rates or deficit reduction
Family and Social Policy
His campaign website's child care plan calls for expanding and simplifying the child care tax credit so help arrives monthly, tax-free child care savings accounts, and tax credits for employers that provide or arrange child care.13
§4Money
Why this matters: Campaigns report where their money comes from and how much they have left. Outside groups that spend on their own, without coordinating with the campaign, report that too.
Reported to the Federal Election Commission for the 2025–2026 election cycle, through October 14, 2026.14
| Raised | $3,177,972 |
|---|---|
| Spent | $2,460,454 |
| Cash on hand | $717,518 |
| Debts owed by the campaign | $3,129 |
Where the money came from
Outside spending
Groups spending independently reported $244,373 supporting and $5,644,253 opposing Jim Desmond this cycle, primary and general combined, in the 24- and 48-hour reports the law requires for larger expenditures, filed through October 24, 2026.15
| Group | Supporting | Opposing |
|---|---|---|
| HMP | — | $4,357,301 |
| Health Care Saves Lives | — | $806,603 |
| 48Th Accountability Project | — | $336,668 |
| NO GOING BACK PAC INC. | $134,303 | — |
| CIVIC RENEWAL FUND INC. | $105,164 | — |
| Equality PAC | — | $79,500 |
| Elect Democratic Women | — | $64,181 |
| MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN ACTION INC | $4,906 | — |
Smaller expenditures that appear only on a group's regular monthly or quarterly report aren't in these totals, so the full amounts can be somewhat higher. When a group amends a report, only its latest version is counted.
§5Financial disclosures
Why this matters: Federal candidates and members of Congress must report their assets, income, debts and outside jobs, and members must report stock trades. These filings show possible conflicts of interest.
- Amended financial disclosure report16filed Jul 30, 2026
- Candidate financial disclosure report17filed Jul 30, 2026
- Candidate financial disclosure report18filed Feb 3, 2025