# United States Representative, District 33

Compare records and positions simply between Pete Aguilar or Stephanie M. Vargas for United States Representative, District 33 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives (2-year term).

- Jurisdiction: Federal
- Election: November 3, 2026 California general election
- Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements.
- Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/us-rep-33
- Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/
- Sources last retrieved: September 24, 2026
- Source-objectivity score: 92 out of 100 (Very strong), across 8 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **Pete Aguilar** — United States Representative · Democratic
- **Stephanie M. Vargas** — Chief Deputy Clerk · Republican

Representative Pete Aguilar took 53.5% of the June 2 vote and Republican Stephanie M. Vargas took 17.5% to claim the second slot. The district covers San Bernardino and part of the Inland Empire.

The winner holds one of 435 seats in the U.S. House for a two-year term. A member introduces bills, sits on committees that shape federal legislation, votes on the federal budget and on war powers, and handles casework between constituents and federal agencies. Seniority governs committee standing, so a longer-serving member carries influence a newcomer cannot.

The incumbent raised $4.72 million — among the largest congressional funds on this ballot — with PACs and committees as his single largest source at $2.09 million, against an opponent who has reported nothing. Weigh a decade of seniority and that funding shape against a district that gave him 53.5%.

## Pete Aguilar

Pete Aguilar, a fourth-generation San Bernardino County resident, has represented California's 33rd District since 2015; before that he served as mayor of Redlands. He began working at twelve in his grandfather's cafeteria at the county courthouse and financed college with student loans and federal grants (aguilar.house.gov). In the 119th Congress he holds the chamber's fourth-ranking Democratic leadership post as Chair of the House Democratic Caucus. His office says he has authored legislation on water and flood infrastructure, health care access and education funding for the Inland Empire.

He says he is running because he can "bring Democrats and Republicans together to confront issues facing our community" (campaign site). On July 30, 2026, he toured Neighborhood Healthcare in Rialto and the InnovAge PACE Center in San Bernardino after cuts to Medicaid and Medicare funding took effect. His office said Neighborhood Healthcare had lost more than 13 percent of its Medi-Cal patients since the cuts. Roughly 87 percent of the center's patients rely on Medi-Cal coverage. "I'll keep fighting back against these reckless attacks on lifesaving healthcare programs," Aguilar said (aguilar.house.gov).

He promises to lower prescription drug costs and make health care more affordable, and to expand housing affordability. His platform calls for expanding American manufacturing and "creating pathways to middle-class stability." It also calls for cutting taxes and regulatory burdens for small business, expanding protections and employment for veterans, and fixing the immigration system (campaign site).

**Strengths:** A decade of federal seniority and the House Democratic Caucus chairmanship, plus a documented push for local water, health and education funding.

**Trade-offs:** A national leadership role divides his attention between caucus strategy and this district's day-to-day needs.

**Keep in mind:** Coverage found policy actions and funding wins, not personal controversy; independent reporting beyond what his own office publishes was limited.

## Stephanie M. Vargas

Stephanie M. Vargas is the Republican candidate for this seat, listed on the ballot as chief Deputy Clerk. They have not served in elected office.

No campaign website, interview or news coverage of their reasons for running could be located, and no vote, lawsuit or other public incident is on record.

With no published platform to draw on, their promises cannot be listed here in their own words. That is a gap in what is public, not a comment on their candidacy.

**Strengths:** Vargas is giving this seat a contested general election rather than an uncontested one.

**Trade-offs:** No record in office and no published platform leave little for a voter to judge beyond party and occupation.

**Keep in mind:** No campaign website or news coverage of their candidacy could be located; that gap is what is public, not a comment on them.

## Record in office

Pete Aguilar (Democratic) has served in the U.S. House since 2015 and has sponsored 18 bills in the 119th Congress; 3 of their career bills have become law.

Stephanie M. Vargas has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress; these records cover only those offices.

Per Congress.gov and the public-domain congress-legislators roster, retrieved 2026-09-21.

## Record details

Aguilar — Committees: Appropriations

Aguilar — HR 1060 (2024): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1663 East Date Place in San Bernardino, California, as the "Dr. Margaret B. Hill Post Office Building".

Aguilar — HR 1226 (2023): Wounded Warrior Access Act

Aguilar — HR 2979 (2018): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 390 West 5th Street in San Bernardino, California, as the "Jack H. Brown Post Office Building".

Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record.

## Financial info

- **Pete Aguilar** — $4,722,835 raised (Individuals: $1,908,333; PACs & committees: $2,091,001)

Stephanie M. Vargas has no fundraising on file with the FEC.

Total raised is all receipts for the 2026 cycle; the breakdown lists direct contributions, so the pieces can sum below the total. Figures are FEC filings through June 30, 2026, per the FEC bulk campaign-finance summaries, retrieved 2026-09-21.

## Review notes

- Pete Aguilar for Congress may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

## Sources

1. [CA Secretary of State — Statement of Vote, June 2, 2026 primary (certified 2026-07-10)](https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/prior-elections/statewide-election-results/primary-election-june-2-2026/statement-vote)
2. [Ballotpedia — June 2026 California primary](https://ballotpedia.org)
3. [Rep. Pete Aguilar — Full Biography (used for career history, leadership role)](https://aguilar.house.gov/about/full-biography)
4. [Pete Aguilar for Congress — campaign site (used for why running, promises)](https://www.peteaguilar.com/)
5. [Rep. Aguilar Visits Inland Empire Health Facilities Impacted by Republican Healthcare Funding Cuts (used for documented fact)](https://aguilar.house.gov/2026/07/30/rep-aguilar-visits-inland-empire-health-facilities-impacted-by-republican-healthcare-funding-cuts/)
6. [congress-legislators — current members of Congress (unitedstates project)](https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/legislators-current.json)
7. [Congress.gov — member sponsored legislation (Library of Congress)](https://api.congress.gov/)
8. [FEC — 2026 House & Senate current-campaign financial summaries (bulk data)](https://www.fec.gov/files/bulk-downloads/2026/webl26.zip)

## The rest of the ballot

United States Representative, District 33 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/

## How to cite this page

Vote or Else, "United States Representative, District 33 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/us-rep-33 (sources last retrieved September 24, 2026).

Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.