How much every candidate for Congress spent per vote this election
Congressional candidates in California spent over $112 million during the last election cycle to win a seat on Capitol Hill. Some races were competitive and expensive fights that had the potential to effect which party controlled the House. Others were snoozers.
We look at who got the most bang for their buck — Democratic Rep. Mark DeSaulnier spent just $1.47 for every vote he got in a quiet Northern California contest — and who had to spend big to win: Congressman Darrell Issa spent about $37.49 per vote to beat back his surprisingly strong Democratic challenger.
To calculate the cost per vote The Times looked at campaigns operating expenditures instead of a campaign’s total overall spending — which can include money given to other campaigns or charities. The data is based off of campaign’s latest filings with the Federal Election Commission.
| Candidate | Outcome | Percent | District | Votes | Expenditures | Per vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darrell Issa (R) | W | 50.3% | 49 | 155,888 | $5,843,931.83 | $37.49 |
| David Valadao (R) | W | 56.7% | 21 | 75,126 | $2,807,639.13 | $37.37 |
| Jeff Denham (R) | W | 51.7% | 10 | 124,671 | $4,194,093.23 | $33.64 |
| Mike Honda (D) | L | 39.0% | 17 | 90,924 | $3,013,758.12 | $33.15 |
| Kevin McCarthy (R) | W | 69.2% | 23 | 167,116 | $4,620,518.68 | $27.65 |
| Ro Khanna (D) | W | 61.0% | 17 | 142,268 | $3,641,413.88 | $25.60 |
| Ami Bera (D) | W | 51.2% | 7 | 152,133 | $3,873,699.82 | $25.46 |
| Ed Royce (R) | W | 57.2% | 39 | 150,777 | $3,299,814.35 | $21.89 |
| Isadore Hall (D) | L | 47.8% | 44 | 85,289 | $1,862,463.99 | $21.84 |
| Nanette Barragan (D) | W | 52.2% | 44 | 93,124 | $1,740,102.87 | $18.69 |
| Raul Ruiz (D) | W | 62.1% | 36 | 144,348 | $2,460,148.43 | $17.04 |
| Salud Carbajal (D) | W | 53.4% | 24 | 166,034 | $2,814,743.52 | $16.95 |
| Jim Costa (D) | W | 58.0% | 16 | 97,473 | $1,595,133.55 | $16.36 |
| Pete Aguilar (D) | W | 56.1% | 31 | 121,070 | $1,830,023.53 | $15.12 |
| Justin Fareed (R) | L | 46.6% | 24 | 144,780 | $2,186,169.80 | $15.10 |
| Scott Peters (D) | W | 56.5% | 52 | 181,253 | $2,439,155.52 | $13.46 |
| Bryan Caforio (D) | L | 46.9% | 25 | 122,406 | $1,643,231.05 | $13.42 |
| Michael Eggman (D) | L | 48.3% | 10 | 116,470 | $1,523,917.82 | $13.08 |
| Tony Cardenas (D) | W | 74.7% | 29 | 128,497 | $1,545,112.68 | $12.02 |
| Steve Knight (R) | W | 53.1% | 25 | 138,755 | $1,633,147.55 | $11.77 |
| Julia Brownley (D) | W | 60.4% | 26 | 169,248 | $1,781,967.35 | $10.53 |
| Denise Gitsham (R) | L | 43.5% | 52 | 129,403 | $1,347,226.76 | $10.41 |
| Emilio Huerta (D) | L | 43.3% | 21 | 57,282 | $590,333.63 | $10.31 |
| Doug Applegate (D) | L | 49.7% | 49 | 154,267 | $1,527,135.53 | $9.90 |
| Scott Jones (R) | L | 48.8% | 7 | 145,168 | $1,287,386.89 | $8.87 |
| Mimi Walters (R) | W | 58.6% | 45 | 182,618 | $1,619,701.03 | $8.87 |
| Jerry McNerney (D) | W | 57.4% | 9 | 133,163 | $1,125,084.20 | $8.45 |
| Xavier Becerra (D) | W | 77.2% | 34 | 122,842 | $1,001,385.84 | $8.15 |
| Ken Calvert (R) | W | 58.8% | 42 | 149,547 | $1,165,627.61 | $7.79 |
| Linda Sanchez (D) | W | 70.5% | 38 | 163,590 | $1,263,615.11 | $7.72 |
| Johnny Tacherra (R) | L | 42.0% | 16 | 70,483 | $509,533.08 | $7.23 |
| Lou Correa (D) | W | 70.0% | 46 | 115,248 | $809,185.94 | $7.02 |
| Grace Napolitano (D) | W | 61.6% | 32 | 114,926 | $793,946.14 | $6.91 |
| Jimmy Panetta (D) | W | 70.8% | 20 | 180,980 | $1,233,910.02 | $6.82 |
| Paul Cook (R) | W | 62.3% | 8 | 136,972 | $882,864.62 | $6.45 |
| Paul Chabot (R) | L | 43.9% | 31 | 94,866 | $604,465.99 | $6.37 |
| Mark Takano (D) | W | 65.0% | 41 | 128,164 | $813,769.68 | $6.35 |
| Mike Thompson (D) | W | 76.9% | 5 | 224,526 | $1,414,509.62 | $6.30 |
| Eric Swalwell (D) | W | 73.8% | 15 | 198,578 | $1,101,233.48 | $5.55 |
| Casey Lucius (R) | L | 29.2% | 20 | 74,811 | $415,276.82 | $5.55 |
| Devin Nunes (R) | W | 67.6% | 22 | 158,755 | $847,496.10 | $5.34 |
| John Garamendi (D) | W | 59.4% | 3 | 152,513 | $812,959.61 | $5.33 |
| Bao Nguyen (D) | L | 30.0% | 46 | 49,345 | $242,922.38 | $4.92 |
| Duncan Hunter (R) | W | 63.5% | 50 | 179,937 | $862,844.82 | $4.80 |
| Doris Matsui (D) | W | 75.4% | 6 | 177,565 | $835,632.64 | $4.71 |
| Maxine Waters (D) | W | 76.1% | 43 | 167,017 | $764,570.37 | $4.58 |
| Anna Eshoo (D) | W | 71.1% | 18 | 230,460 | $1,020,219.96 | $4.43 |
| Nancy Pelosi (D) | W | 80.9% | 12 | 274,035 | $1,174,892.19 | $4.29 |
| Lucille Roybal-Allard (D) | W | 71.4% | 40 | 106,554 | $431,609.49 | $4.05 |
| Tom McClintock (R) | W | 62.7% | 4 | 220,133 | $879,948.57 | $4.00 |
| Doug La Malfa (R) | W | 59.1% | 1 | 185,448 | $730,461.97 | $3.94 |
| Barbara Lee (D) | W | 90.8% | 13 | 293,117 | $1,070,291.80 | $3.65 |
| Zoe Lofgren (D) | W | 73.9% | 19 | 181,802 | $654,541.34 | $3.60 |
| Jeff Stone (R) | L | 37.9% | 36 | 88,269 | $311,240.08 | $3.53 |
| Ted Lieu (D) | W | 66.4% | 33 | 219,397 | $743,368.19 | $3.39 |
| Eugene Cleek (R) | L | 40.6% | 3 | 104,453 | $352,285.61 | $3.37 |
| Juan Vargas (D) | W | 72.8% | 51 | 145,162 | $484,654.74 | $3.34 |
| Adam Schiff (D) | W | 78.0% | 28 | 210,883 | $689,603.26 | $3.27 |
| Doug Shepherd (R) | L | 35.0% | 41 | 69,159 | $221,296.74 | $3.20 |
| Dana Rohrabacher (R) | W | 58.3% | 48 | 178,701 | $547,170.93 | $3.06 |
| Norma Torres (D) | W | 72.4% | 35 | 124,044 | $369,478.22 | $2.98 |
| Judy Chu (D) | W | 67.4% | 27 | 168,977 | $468,366.24 | $2.77 |
| Jack Orswell (R) | L | 32.6% | 27 | 81,655 | $198,976.91 | $2.44 |
| Karen Bass (D) | W | 81.1% | 37 | 192,490 | $430,595.07 | $2.24 |
| Jared Huffman (D) | W | 76.9% | 2 | 254,194 | $567,634.46 | $2.23 |
| Brad Sherman (D) | W | 72.6% | 30 | 205,279 | $412,429.49 | $2.01 |
| Alan Lowenthal (D) | W | 63.7% | 47 | 154,759 | $296,985.48 | $1.92 |
| Jackie Speier (D) | W | 80.9% | 14 | 231,630 | $418,304.71 | $1.81 |
| Richard Alarcon (D) | L | 25.3% | 29 | 43,417 | $69,554.70 | $1.60 |
| Roger Hernandez (D) | L | 38.4% | 32 | 71,720 | $114,539.02 | $1.60 |
| Susan A. Davis (D) | W | 67.0% | 53 | 198,988 | $312,595.08 | $1.57 |
| Mark DeSaulnier (D) | W | 72.1% | 11 | 214,868 | $315,716.34 | $1.47 |
| Tim Sheridan (D) | L | 41.2% | 42 | 104,689 | $127,883.32 | $1.22 |
| James Veltmeyer (R) | L | 33.0% | 53 | 97,968 | $117,135.44 | $1.20 |
| Jim Reed (D) | L | 40.9% | 1 | 128,588 | $124,697.95 | $0.97 |
| Juan Hidalgo Jr (R) | L | 27.2% | 51 | 54,362 | $49,158.92 | $0.90 |
| Brett Murdock (D) | L | 42.8% | 39 | 112,679 | $75,190.74 | $0.67 |
| Robert Derlet (D) | L | 37.3% | 4 | 130,845 | $85,406.89 | $0.65 |
| Kenneth Wright (R) | L | 33.6% | 33 | 110,822 | $71,396.97 | $0.64 |
| Andy Whallon (R) | L | 36.3% | 47 | 88,109 | $52,671.80 | $0.60 |
| Rafael Dagnesses (R) | L | 39.6% | 26 | 111,059 | $60,720.65 | $0.55 |
| Suzanne Savary (D) | L | 41.7% | 48 | 127,715 | $68,489.18 | $0.54 |
| Wendy Reed (D) | L | 30.8% | 23 | 74,468 | $31,151.86 | $0.42 |
| Antonio Amador (R) | L | 42.6% | 9 | 98,992 | $39,305.57 | $0.40 |
| Rita Ramirez (D) | L | 37.7% | 8 | 83,035 | $31,479.31 | $0.38 |
| Patrick Malloy (D) | L | 36.5% | 50 | 103,646 | $20,423.87 | $0.20 |
| Ron Varasteh (D) | L | 41.4% | 45 | 129,231 | $19,725.11 | $0.15 |
| Sue Caro (R) | L | 9.2% | 13 | 29,754 | $3,735.81 | $0.13 |
| Roger Petersen (R) | L | 27.9% | 11 | 83,341 | $7,046.88 | $0.08 |
| G. Burt Lancaster (R) | L | 26.1% | 19 | 64,061 | $5,250.00 | $0.08 |
| Tyler Fischella (R) | L | 27.6% | 35 | 47,309 | $3,698.80 | $0.08 |
| Angel Cardenas (R) | L | 19.1% | 14 | 54,814 | $4,029.13 | $0.07 |
| Omar Navarro (R) | L | 23.9% | 43 | 52,499 | $3,196.12 | $0.06 |
| Dale Mensing (R) | L | 23.1% | 2 | 76,572 | $3,549.81 | $0.05 |
| Preston Picus (NPP) | L | 19.1% | 12 | 64,810 | $3,056.08 | $0.05 |
| Carlos Santamaria (R) | L | 23.1% | 5 | 67,565 | $2,700.00 | $0.04 |
| Robert Evans (R) | L | 24.6% | 6 | 57,848 | $2,490.67 | $0.04 |
| Danny Turner (R) | L | 26.2% | 15 | 70,619 | $263.68 | $0.00 |
| Richard Fox (R) | L | 28.9% | 18 | 93,470 | $30.34 | $0.00 |
| Louie Campos (D) | L | 32.4% | 22 | 76,211 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Lenore Solis (R) | L | 22.0% | 28 | 59,526 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Mark Reed (R) | L | 27.4% | 30 | 77,325 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Adrienne Edwards (D) | L | 22.8% | 34 | 36,314 | $1.80 | $0.00 |
| Chris Wiggins (D) | L | 18.9% | 37 | 44,782 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Ryan Downing (R) | L | 29.5% | 38 | 68,524 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Roman Gabriel Gonzalez (NPP) | L | 28.6% | 40 | 42,743 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Sources: Federal Election Commission records and California Secretary of State election results.