# United States Representative, District 48 Compare records and positions simply between Marni von Wilpert or Jim Desmond for United States Representative, District 48 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-48 - 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: 89 out of 100 (Strong), across 10 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Marni von Wilpert** — Councilwoman/Health Advocate · Democratic - **Jim Desmond** — San Diego County Supervisor · Republican This is an open seat and one of the most evenly funded contests on the ballot: Republican Jim Desmond led the June 2 primary with 38.9% on $2,258,836, and Democrat Marni von Wilpert took 20.8% on $2,174,872 — a difference of under $85,000 between them. The district covers inland north San Diego County. 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. Because this seat is open, whoever wins starts at the bottom of the seniority ladder. Neither candidate has held state or federal legislative office and the money is close to level, so neither resources nor record separates them — party and local background do. Both drew the large majority of their funding from named individuals rather than committees, which is unusual for a competitive open seat at this scale. ## Jim Desmond Jim Desmond is a Navy veteran who spent 33 years as a Delta Air Lines pilot before entering politics. He served as Mayor of San Marcos and now serves as a San Diego County Supervisor, and is running for this seat after Rep. Darrell Issa, whose district covered part of this area, chose not to seek re-election and endorsed Desmond instead (campaign site; KPBS). Desmond says "it's time for common sense to return to our government" (campaign site). As a supervisor, he voted to spend 1.8 million dollars in county reserves on a feasibility study to clean the Tijuana River as it crosses from Mexico, saying relief measures like that "are relief, not a fix" and that "the fix runs through Mexico." He opposes the November sales tax measure that would fund construction of an actual treatment plant, and his spokesperson has not said how he would pay for one without it (KPBS). He promises what his campaign calls "an affordable California," "a strong, fair, and dignified immigration system," and a "treatment-focused" plan to end homelessness, along with support for seniors, caregivers, veterans, and working families with childcare (campaign site). **Strengths:** Elected experience as mayor and county supervisor, plus the outgoing Republican incumbent's endorsement. **Trade-offs:** His own river cleanup plan depends on funding he opposes, and he has not explained how he would pay for it otherwise. **Keep in mind:** Weigh a documented local record against a district whose lines were redrawn for this cycle, changing who normally wins here. ## Marni von Wilpert Marni von Wilpert grew up in North San Diego County in a military family; her father immigrated to the U.S. and served in the Army, and her grandfather fought in World War II (campaign site). She served in the Peace Corps in Botswana during the AIDS epidemic, founded a legal clinic in the Deep South, and worked as counsel on the House Education and Labor Committee on the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. She later worked as a civil prosecutor for the San Diego City Attorney's Office, pursuing cases against price gougers, corporate polluters, and opioid manufacturers, before winning a seat on the San Diego City Council, where she chairs the Public Safety Committee (campaign site; sandiego.gov). Her campaign says "the America I believe in doesn't let billionaires buy Congress" and "doesn't let prices crush working families" (campaign site). She has been absent from some city budget review committee meetings this year; her communications director said she "navigates occasional scheduling conflicts" and remains engaged in budget discussions (Voice of San Diego). She promises to lower the cost of food, fuel, and housing, protect "affordable healthcare and Social Security," and defend reproductive rights (campaign site). She also opposes the Golden Pacific Powerlink transmission project and says she would work to repeal Trump-era tariffs. **Strengths:** A documented council record, including authoring California's first ghost gun ban and chairing the Public Safety Committee. **Trade-offs:** She has missed some budget committee meetings this year while campaigning, which her office attributes to scheduling conflicts. **Keep in mind:** Her city record is a smaller stage than the U.S. House seat she is seeking, and this cycle's redrawn map changes who normally wins here. ## Record in office This is an open seat: no candidate on the November ballot currently serves in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress, so there is no legislative record to compare here. These records cover only those offices. ## Financial info - **Marni von Wilpert** — $2,174,872 raised (Individuals: $1,684,546; PACs & committees: $441,300; Party: $2,035; Self-funding: $1,975) - **Jim Desmond** — $2,258,836 raised (Individuals: $2,024,358; PACs & committees: $145,099) 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 - Jim Desmond for Congress and Marni von Wilpert for Congress may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides 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. [San Diego City Council, District 5 — official page (Marni von Wilpert's committee roles)](https://www.sandiego.gov/citycouncil/cd5) 4. [Marni von Wilpert for Congress — campaign site (biography and stated priorities)](https://www.marnivonwilpert.com/) 5. [Voice of San Diego — City Council attendance piece (Marni von Wilpert's missed budget meetings and her office's response)](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2026/06/01/city-council-struggles-with-attendance/) 6. [Jim Desmond for Congress — campaign site (biography and stated priorities)](https://www.desmondforcongress.com/) 7. [KPBS — 'What's Desmond's deal on the Tijuana River?' (his supervisor vote and its funding contradiction)](https://www.kpbs.org/news/environment/2026/09/18/whats-desmonds-deal-on-the-tijuana-river) 8. [KPBS — CA-48 race coverage (used only for the Issa retirement/endorsement context, not the poll numbers)](https://www.kpbs.org/news/politics/2026/07/29/new-poll-reveals-neck-and-neck-race-for-californias-48th-congressional-seat) 9. [congress-legislators — current members of Congress (unitedstates project)](https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/legislators-current.json) 10. [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 48 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 48 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/us-rep-48 (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.