Running for Congress in California: Filing, FEC Rules, and Primary

To run for Congress in California, you need to meet three constitutional qualifications, register with the Federal Election Commission once your campaign crosses $5,000 in activity, and file a Declaration of Candidacy with a county elections office during the February–March filing window, along with 40 to 60 nomination signatures and either a $1,740 filing fee or an in-lieu signature petition. Everything else — fundraising strategy, ballot designation choices, voter guide statements — sits on top of those three foundations. For the 2026 primary on June 2, the formal filing window opens February 9 and closes March 6, so the groundwork needs to start well before then.

Who Can Run

The U.S. Constitution sets three hard requirements for the House. You must be at least 25 years old by the time you would take office, have been a U.S. citizen for at least seven years, and live in California when elected.¹

You do not have to live in the specific congressional district you are running in. The Constitution requires state residency, not district residency.² Voters tend to notice when a candidate lives outside the district, and opponents will point it out, but it is not a legal bar.

California adds one state-level qualification: you must be a registered voter in California at the time you file your Declaration of Candidacy.² If your registration has lapsed or you recently moved, fix it well before February.

A felony conviction does not disqualify you from running for or serving in Congress. The Constitution does not list it as a bar.¹ Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment does bar anyone who previously swore an oath to support the Constitution as a government official and then engaged in insurrection or rebellion; Congress can lift that bar only by a two-thirds vote of both chambers.³

The 2026 Filing Calendar

Four dates matter. The in-lieu-of-filing-fee petition period runs from December 19, 2025, through February 4, 2026. The main filing window for the Declaration of Candidacy and Nomination Papers runs February 9 through March 6, 2026. If the incumbent does not file, that window extends five days, from March 7 through March 11, for other candidates. The write-in filing period runs April 6 through May 19, and the primary is June 2.⁴

Filing With the County

You file your Declaration of Candidacy with the county elections official in the county where you live and are registered to vote.⁵ If you live outside the district you are running in, you file with the county elections official in any county within that district.² The Declaration includes your name as you want it on the ballot, your ballot designation, and a sworn statement that you meet the qualifications for office.

You must also circulate Nomination Papers and collect between 40 and 60 signatures from registered voters in the congressional district.⁶ Forty is the floor; collecting closer to 60 gives you a cushion if some signatures fail verification.

The Filing Fee and the In-Lieu Petition

The filing fee for U.S. Representative is 1% of the first-year salary for the office, set by California Elections Code Section 8103.⁷ With the current congressional salary at $174,000, that comes to $1,740, and it is nonrefundable whether you make the ballot or withdraw.⁶

You can waive the fee entirely by collecting 1,714 valid signatures from registered voters in the district during the in-lieu window (December 19, 2025 through February 4, 2026).⁶ A partial count reduces the fee proportionally. Even well-funded campaigns often run the in-lieu petition anyway, because the signature drive doubles as an early voter contact operation.

Your Ballot Designation

The short descriptor that appears under your name on the ballot is governed by California Elections Code Section 13107, and it is stricter than most first-time candidates expect. You have four options: your current elective office if you hold one, the word “Incumbent” if you are seeking reelection, your principal profession or occupation in no more than three words, or nothing at all.⁸

The profession-based designation must reflect a substantial, principal occupation, not a hobby, volunteer role, or honorary title. Compound designations separated by a slash (“Teacher/Attorney”) are allowed if the total stays within three words. Commercial titles like “CEO, Acme Corp” are prohibited. So are laudatory adjectives such as “experienced” or “dedicated,” and you cannot put “Former” in front of a past office title.⁸ A rejected designation forces you either to submit an alternative during the filing window or to appear on the ballot with a blank space under your name.

The Voter Information Guide Statement

Congressional candidates can purchase space for a 250-word candidate statement in the voter information guide mailed to every household.⁹ Because most House districts span multiple counties, you have to submit and pay for the statement in each county where you want it to appear. Fees vary by county population, so contact each county elections office directly for pricing and its own submission deadline. Many voters, especially in crowded primaries, rely on the voter guide to sort through unfamiliar names.

Registering With the FEC and Handling Money

Federal law treats you as a candidate once you have raised or spent more than $5,000 in connection with your election.¹⁰ First-time candidates often cross that threshold faster than they expect, particularly when they are paying for early outreach out of pocket.

Within 15 days of crossing $5,000, you must file a Statement of Candidacy (FEC Form 2), which formally registers you and designates your Principal Campaign Committee — the single committee authorized to receive contributions and make expenditures on your behalf. That committee then has 10 days to file its own Statement of Organization (FEC Form 1), listing its name, address, and treasurer.¹⁰ Every committee must have a treasurer, and it is not a ceremonial title. The treasurer is personally responsible for filing reports, authorizing spending, tracking contributions, and signing disclosures.

Contribution Limits and Prohibited Sources

For the 2025–2026 cycle, an individual can contribute up to $3,500 per election to your campaign, indexed for inflation.¹¹ The primary and general count as separate elections, so a single donor can give up to $7,000 total across the cycle.

Your campaign cannot accept contributions from corporations, labor unions, federal government contractors, or foreign nationals. Contributions made in someone else’s name are also prohibited.¹² Corporations and unions can create separate PACs, but their own treasury funds cannot go directly to your campaign.

You can spend unlimited personal funds on your own campaign, either as direct spending or as loans to the committee. Once personal funds enter the campaign account they are subject to the same reporting rules as any other money, and loans have to be documented in writing.

Reporting

The campaign committee files quarterly financial reports with the FEC. For 2026, the quarterly deadlines are April 15, July 15, and October 15, with a year-end report due January 31, 2027.¹³ Additional pre-election reports come due right before the primary and again before the general. Late or missing reports trigger the FEC’s administrative fines program, and penalties escalate quickly for reports filed close to election day.

How the Top Two Primary Shapes the Race

California uses the Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act for congressional races, and it changes the strategic picture in ways worth understanding before you file. Every candidate appears on a single primary ballot regardless of party, and every registered voter can vote for any candidate regardless of their own party registration.¹⁴

The two candidates with the most primary votes advance to the general election. That is true even if one candidate wins a majority outright, and true even if both top finishers share a party. Same-party general elections are common in heavily partisan districts with crowded primaries.¹⁴

Political parties cannot formally nominate candidates for U.S. Representative under this system. You can list a party preference on the ballot, but even if you finish in the top two you are not the party’s official nominee.¹⁴ Party endorsements still carry weight, but they do not confer nominee status.

If You Miss the Filing Window

A write-in candidacy is the fallback. For the 2026 primary, the write-in filing period runs April 6 through May 19, and you still have to file a Statement of Write-In Candidacy and gather 40 to 60 nomination signatures from registered voters in the district.⁴

Under Top Two, a write-in campaign can compete only in the primary. Advancing to the general requires finishing in the top two of the primary, and doing that without your name printed on the ballot is a very steep climb. There is no write-in option in the general election for voter-nominated offices, and no independent nomination process that bypasses the primary.¹⁵ Making the March 6 deadline is, in practical terms, mandatory for any serious campaign.

1
Library of Congress. Constitution Annotated – Article I, Section 2
2
California Secretary of State. Summary of Qualifications and Requirements for United States Representative in Congress
3
Legal Information Institute. Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3 – Disqualification Clause
4
California Secretary of State. Key Dates and Deadlines – Primary Election June 2, 2026
5
California Legislative Information. California Elections Code 8040
6
Tehama County Elections. Candidate Guide 2026 Primary
7
California Legislative Information. California Elections Code 8103
8
California Secretary of State. Ballot Designation Regulations
9
California Secretary of State. Candidate Checklist
10
Federal Election Commission. Registering as a Candidate
11
Federal Election Commission. Contribution Limits for 2025-2026
12
Federal Election Commission. Who Can and Cannot Contribute
13
Federal Election Commission. 2026 Quarterly Reports
14
California Secretary of State. Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act and Voter-Nominated Offices
15
Placer County Elections. Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act