# United States Representative, District 8 Compare records and positions simply between Rudy Recile or John Garamendi for United States Representative, District 8 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-8 - 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: 86 out of 100 (Strong), across 11 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Rudy Recile** — Business Owner/Consultant · Republican - **John Garamendi** — Member of Congress · Democratic Representative John Garamendi took 54.4% of the June 2 vote and Republican Rudy Recile took 27.8% to claim the second slot. The district covers part of Solano and Contra Costa counties and the Sacramento River delta. 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 less than most members in the delegation and drew the majority of it from committees, while taking 54.4% in his own primary — a modest showing for seventeen years of tenure. His opponent raised under $9,000. Weigh seniority against that combination. ## John Garamendi John Garamendi has represented California's 8th District in Congress since 2009. Before that he spent decades in state government, including terms as California's insurance commissioner and lieutenant governor (campaign site). In the House he has focused on water policy, veterans' issues and what he calls "Make It In America" policies meant to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, and his office says it has helped return benefits owed to veterans in the district (campaign site). He says he wants to "use the experience and knowledge that I've acquired over the many years in many different positions to really advance the well-being of the men and women and families that reside in the 8th Congressional District" (Richmondside). On July 22, 2026, he voted no on the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2027, as the senior Democrat on the House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee. He said "there is no world in which I can justify spending [that much] on defense so that President Trump can continue to recklessly start wars around the globe" (Garamendi press release). He promises to keep fighting to "stop the tunnels" under the Delta while backing water infrastructure like the Sites Reservoir, and to defend Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid from cuts or privatization (campaign site). He also supports lowering prescription drug costs through drug importation and a national public option (campaign site). **Strengths:** Seventeen years in the House and senior rank on the Armed Services Readiness panel, with a sustained record on water and veterans issues. **Trade-offs:** A modest primary share for a member of his tenure, and a campaign that drew less support than most of the delegation's. **Keep in mind:** He voted against this year's defense funding bill over its cost, breaking from many House Democrats who supported it. ## Rudy Recile Rudy Recile, a retired U.S. Army major, served 26 years, including postings in South Korea and at the Pentagon, before retiring in 2014 and settling in Fairfield (campaign site; Contra Costa Herald). He then worked as a data manager and instructor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, training agricultural officers in 35 of California's 58 counties. Today he owns a small web-development company (Contra Costa Herald). He resigned from the USDA in May 2021, citing the Hatch Act's restrictions on federal employees seeking office, in order to run for this seat (Contra Costa Herald). This is his third campaign against Garamendi; Richmondside reports he "lost ... in the 2022 and 2024 general elections, each time by roughly 50 percentage points" (Richmondside). He says he is running because "like many Americans, I have watched families struggle with rising costs, small businesses face unnecessary obstacles, and communities feel increasingly disconnected from the decisions being made in Washington" (campaign site). He promises to put "people over political interests" and says he will listen to constituents before taking positions, working across party lines rather than following a partisan line (campaign site). His platform lists veterans' support, small-business relief, water infrastructure, border security and government transparency among his priorities (campaign site). **Strengths:** A long military and federal career, and two prior runs that have made him a familiar name to the district's Republican voters. **Trade-offs:** He has never held elected office, and lost his last two runs against this same opponent by wide margins. **Keep in mind:** Richmondside reported he did not respond to its inquiries for this race, so most of what is known about his platform comes from his own campaign materials. ## Record in office Rudy Recile has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress; these records cover only those offices. John Garamendi (Democratic) has served in the U.S. House since 2009 and has sponsored 14 bills in the 119th Congress; 1 of their career bills have become law. Per Congress.gov and the public-domain congress-legislators roster, retrieved 2026-09-21. ## Record details Garamendi — Committees: Armed Services; Transportation and Infrastructure Garamendi — HR 5671 (2020): Merchant Mariners of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2020 Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record. ## Financial info - **Rudy Recile** — $8,576 raised (Individuals: $8,551; Self-funding: $25) - **John Garamendi** — $489,135 raised (Individuals: $154,593; PACs & committees: $334,500) 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 - John Garamendi for Congress, John Garamendi for Congress, and Rudy Recile 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. [John Garamendi for Congress — campaign homepage (bio, career background)](https://www.garamendi.org/) 4. [John Garamendi for Congress — Issues page (policy priorities)](https://www.garamendi.org/issues) 5. [Richmondside — Congress District 8 primary results (Garamendi/Recile advance to runoff; Garamendi quote on why he's running)](https://richmondside.org/2026/06/02/congress-district-8-election-results-garamendi/) 6. [Congressman John Garamendi — statement on NDAA no vote, July 2026 (documented conduct: his vote and reasoning)](https://garamendi.house.gov/2026/07/22/top-democrat-on-house-armed-services-readiness-rep-garamendi-statement-votes-no-on-ndaa/) 7. [Rudy Recile for Congress — campaign homepage (bio, military background, why running)](https://rudyforuscongress.com/) 8. [Contra Costa Herald — profile of Rudy Recile (military and career background, USDA resignation)](https://contracostaherald.com/small-business-owner-retired-army-major-first-generation-american-running-for-congress-in-8th-district/) 9. [congress-legislators — current members of Congress (unitedstates project)](https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/legislators-current.json) 10. [Congress.gov — member sponsored legislation (Library of Congress)](https://api.congress.gov/) 11. [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 8 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 8 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/us-rep-8 (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.