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U.S. House · General election

U.S. House: California District 48

Tuesday, November 3, 2026

On the ballot

2 certified candidates, listed alphabetically by last name.

Where they stand

Topic by topic, from each candidate’s own statements and public records.

Economy & Jobs

Jim Desmond
  • Supports lowering taxes, reducing overregulation and empowering small businesses to support job growth and keep California affordable.
    “Supporting job growth by empowering small businesses, promoting innovation, and ensuring California is a place where businesses thrive.”
    Source →
Marni von Wilpert
  • Supports strengthening labor rights (including passage of the PRO Act), combating wage theft, and opposes tariffs she says raise costs for working families.
    “In Congress, she will finish the work she started as counsel to the House Education and Labor Committee by passing the PRO Act to strengthen workers’ rights to organize, bargain, and earn higher wages.”
    Source →

Taxes & Cost of Living

Jim Desmond
  • Wants to make life more affordable by lowering taxes, reducing overregulation and curbing costs he says are driving seniors and families out of California. Source →
Marni von Wilpert
  • Campaigns on lowering costs for families, opposing tariffs, fighting corporate price-gouging, and cites her role banning digital-only grocery coupons; no specific federal tax-rate or spending/debt proposal found.
    “Marni will fight against Trump’s tariff war that has made essential goods more expensive”
    Source →

Housing & Homelessness

Jim Desmond
  • Treats homelessness as requiring treatment for addiction and mental illness and has published a four-step homelessness and mental health plan.
    “pretending that addiction and mental illness don’t require treatment is not kindness. It’s abandonment.”
    Source →
Marni von Wilpert
  • Wants to cut red tape and make it easier to build affordable housing near jobs; cites first-of-its-kind downpayment grants for local teachers.
    “Marni will cut red tape and make it easier to build more affordable housing to make sure people can live closer to where they work.”
    Source →

Health & Health Care

Jim Desmond
  • Wants to end the Medicaid rule that blocks funding for larger psychiatric hospitals and expand treatment.
    “Expand resources to build treatment facilities and end the Medicaid rule that blocks funding for larger psychiatric hospitals.”
    Source →
Marni von Wilpert
  • Supports protecting and expanding the ACA, restoring enhanced ACA tax credits, adding a public option, expanding Medicare drug-price negotiation, and capping out-of-pocket costs.
    “Marni will fight to protect and expand the Affordable Care Act, restore ACA tax credits, and include a public option that gives families more affordable choices.”
    Source →

Reproductive & Social Issues

Jim Desmond

No published position on this topic.

Marni von Wilpert
  • Supports codifying Roe v. Wade into federal law and reversing cuts to Planned Parenthood, and cites passing a San Diego law to protect abortion rights after Roe was overturned.
    “she'll lead the fight to codify Roe into federal law.”
    Source →

Education & Schools

Jim Desmond
  • Proposes a federal program offering free vocational training (e.g., trades, coding, engineering, finance, healthcare) to military service members as an alternative to traditional college, aimed at addressing skilled-trade/STEM workforce shortages; does not address higher-education tuition or student debt broadly. Source →
Marni von Wilpert
  • General support for prioritizing domestic education investment over increased military spending, without detailed higher-ed, student debt, or pre-K proposals.
    “our taxpayer dollars should be used to provide access to healthcare and education at home.”
    Source →

Family & Social Services

Jim Desmond
  • Wants tax-free childcare savings accounts, a monthly childcare tax credit, and tax credits for employer childcare.
    “Families should be able to save specifically for childcare expenses, tax-free”
    Source →
Marni von Wilpert
  • Opposes cuts or privatization of Social Security and wants it strengthened for retirees. Source →

Immigration & Border

Jim Desmond
  • Supports increased border security and enforcement while also creating streamlined legal immigration pathways, including for skilled workers, family reunification, and labor-shortage sectors; supports requiring asylum claims be filed at embassies or designated centers abroad rather than at the border. Source →
Marni von Wilpert
  • Leads the fight against ICE tactics and supports reform that keeps borders secure and provides legal pathways to citizenship for long-term residents and Dreamers.
    “She supports meaningful reform that keeps our borders secure and provides legal pathways to citizenship for hardworking long-term residents and Dreamers who have grown up here as Americans.”
    Source →

Environment, Energy & Climate

Jim Desmond
  • Supports a balanced energy approach that uses fossil fuels responsibly, expands nuclear power (including small modular reactors) and invests in carbon capture and hydrogen, while opposing EV mandates and income-based electricity pricing. Source →
Marni von Wilpert
  • Calls climate change an urgent threat, opposes offshore oil drilling on California's coast, supports reversing Trump-era environmental rollbacks, and cites prosecuting corporate polluters like Monsanto.
    “Marni will protect our beaches and waters from Trump’s plan to drill for oil on our coast.”
    Source →

Government, Elections & Democracy

Jim Desmond
  • Supports imposing term limits on members of Congress. Source →
Marni von Wilpert
  • Supports banning members of Congress from trading stocks, passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and For the People Act, and overturning Citizens United.
    “Marni will crack down on corruption by banning members of Congress from trading stocks and using their positions for personal gain.”
    Source →

Foreign Policy & Defense

Jim Desmond
  • Wants to attract volunteers to the military by offering free vocational education and training.
    “encourage volunteer military service by offering free, high-quality vocational education and training in diverse fields”
    Source →
Marni von Wilpert
  • Opposes Trump's unauthorized wars and supports rebuilding U.S. alliances, NATO, support for Ukraine, a two-state solution, PEPFAR and restoring USAID funding.
    “Marni opposes Trump’s unauthorized wars”
    Source →

Technology & Privacy

Jim Desmond

No published position on this topic.

Marni von Wilpert
  • Supports regulatory clarity for emerging technologies, citing support for the CLARITY Act and GENIUS Act (digital-asset/stablecoin regulation frameworks); no specific data-privacy, AI, or antitrust position found.
    “Marni supports legislation like the CLARITY Act, the GENIUS Act, and similar efforts that provide regulatory clarity for the safe development of emerging technologies that are essential to growing the American economy.”
    Source →

Guns & Gun Safety

Jim Desmond

No published position on this topic.

Marni von Wilpert
  • Supports banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, universal background checks, red flag laws, manufacturer accountability, and banning untraceable 'ghost guns.'
    “Marni wrote the first law in California banning the sale of untraceable ghost guns”
    Source →

Veterans' Affairs

Jim Desmond
  • Proposes offering free vocational education to those who volunteer for military service, saying it would give veterans and active-duty members skills that transfer to civilian careers. Source →
Marni von Wilpert

No published position on this topic.

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Candidates are those certified for the official ballot, listed alphabetically by last name. Photos appear only when we have an official, reusable photo of every candidate in the race. Positions are compiled from the candidates’ own statements and public records. We never tell you how to vote.