With 48% of the vote counted in California’s 6th Congressional District primary, Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-Calif.) is poised to advance to the general election, according to the Associated Press.
Kiley leads the field with more than 28,000 votes, or 26.8%. He is followed by Republican Michael Stansfield, who has about 23,000 votes (22.2%), and Richard Pan, a former Democratic state senator, with roughly 22,000 votes (21.2%).
Under California’s primary system, the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation.
Stansfield, who identifies as Jewish, left the Democratic Party during the Biden administration, citing opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza, which he has described as a “genocide,” the AP reported. He told the outlet that he “decided to run in the congressional district before last year’s redrawing and when it was reliably conservative because he wanted his message to reach as many Republican voters as possible.”
Kiley, who caucuses with House Republicans, changed his party affiliation to independent after previously representing the district as a Republican before it was redrawn due to California’s Proposition 50 redistricting measure. His seat had been seen as vulnerable as a result of the redistricting.
He chairs the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education and has held hearings on Jew-hatred at universities and government overreach against families and faith. During a House Education and Workforce Committee hearing in May 2025, he repeatedly questioned Wendy Raymond, then-president of Haverford College, about the college’s handling of antisemitism.
