Candidate · November 3, 2026

Scott Peters

On the ballot for U.S. House · California's 50th District

DemocraticIncumbent
raised through Oct 14, 2026
$2.2M
cash on hand
$2.6M
issues with public statements
10

§1On the ballot

Why this matters: This is exactly how the candidate appears on your ballot, from the state's official candidate list.

OfficeU.S. House · California's 50th District1
Party on the ballotDemocratic1
StatusIncumbent — Currently represents California's 50th District in the U.S. House.2
How it's decidedUnder 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.1,3
Also on the ballot

§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.

Scott Peters graduated from Duke University, worked as an economist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and earned a law degree from NYU.4 He practiced environmental law in San Diego for 16 years, including as a deputy county counsel for San Diego County and at his own small firm.4 He served eight years on the San Diego City Council, where his colleagues made him the city's first council president, and later chaired the San Diego Unified Port District.4,5 He has served in the U.S. House since 2013.4

Why they say they're running

His campaign website says he is running again because the work is not finished, pointing to San Diego's high cost of living, sewage from Mexico that keeps closing beaches, and a climate that it says is changing faster than Washington.5

Service in Congress since 2023

  • 2025–nowU.S. Representative, CA-502
  • 2023–2025U.S. Representative, CA-502

Websites and accounts

§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

Zoning and new housing

His campaign website says he wants to build more homes and cut the red tape that slows them down, and that he co-led a 2026 law ending a 1974 rule that required manufactured homes to sit on a permanent steel chassis.8,9

Homelessness

His campaign website says he wants to get more people off the street and into housing, and lists laws he wrote letting local nonprofits receive federal homelessness aid directly and opening HUD-VA housing vouchers to veterans with other-than-honorable discharges.8,9

Social Security and Medicare

Medicare drug price negotiation

His campaign website says his plan laid the groundwork for Medicare drug-price negotiation, $35 insulin and a cap on seniors' drug costs that became law in the Inflation Reduction Act, and that he wants to bring lower drug prices to more families.8,9

Taxes and Budget

Fraud and improper payments in federal programs

His campaign website lists a 2025 law he wrote that stops payments to providers who have died by checking Medicaid rolls against federal death records.9

Targeted tax breaks for individuals and families

His campaign website says he wrote the law, made permanent in 2025, that lets employers help pay off workers' student loans tax-free.4,9

  1. Expand these breaks and make more of them refundable, so families who owe little income tax also benefit
  2. Add or expand breaks for costs such as education savings, adoption and selling a home
  3. Keep the current breaks
  4. Cut back these breaks and use the money for lower tax rates or deficit reduction
Marked: the option their statement matches.

Energy and Climate

Permitting for energy projects

His campaign website says he wants to speed up clean energy projects, and lists a 2018 law he wrote giving hydropower projects more time to get permitted.8,9

Nuclear power

His campaign website lists a 2024 law he wrote that lowers licensing fees for next-generation nuclear reactors.9

Environment and Public Lands

Wildfire prevention and forest management

His campaign website says he wants to prevent the next big wildfire, and that he co-led the Fix Our Forests Act, which it says speeds up forest work that cuts wildfire risk and which passed the House.8

Economy, Jobs and Trade

Small business loans and programs

His campaign website lists a law he wrote that gives defense contractors credit for hiring small businesses at every level of a project.9

  1. Expand SBA loans, research awards and contracting help for small businesses
  2. Keep the programs near their current size
  3. Shrink the SBA or close it, leaving small business lending to private lenders
Marked: the option their statement matches.

Immigration

Legal status for immigrants here without permission, including Dreamers

His campaign website says he supports a secure border and an immigration system that works, including a real path for Dreamers and for the workers San Diego's economy depends on.8

§4Popular bills that never got a vote

Why this matters: Many bills with wide support from both parties never reach a vote, so no member of Congress is ever on record for or against them. Signing on as a sponsor or cosponsor is the only public record of support.

While Scott Peters served, these bills had broad support from both parties but never reached a floor vote. No officeholder ever had to vote on them. Scott Peters sponsored or cosponsored 38 of the 52. How bills die without a vote.

See all 52

§5Money

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, 2026.62

Raised$2,191,968
Spent$1,774,834
Cash on hand$2,567,656
Debts owed by the campaign$170,760

Where the money came from

Individual donors$428K · 20%
PACs and other political committees$1.3M · 61%
The candidate's own money (gifts and loans)$1,922 · 0%
Transfers from the candidate's other committees$332K · 15%
Other receipts (other loans, refunds, interest)$98K · 4%

§6Financial 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.