[1] However, the partisan balance of the state's congressional delegation did not change, despite the strong Democratic dominance during the broader elections.

The race had been so close that it took four weeks of counting all mailed and provisional ballots before McClintock could be assured of victory.

[5] Charlie Brown is a retired Air Force officer who first ran for this seat in 2006, losing to incumbent John Doolittle by three percent of the vote.

[6] On March 4, 2008, State Senator Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks officially launched his campaign for this district at the Placer County Courthouse in Auburn.

[9] Other Republican candidates had withdrawn from the race and thus did not appear on the ballot, including Rico Oller, Eric Egland, and Auburn City Councilman Mike Holmes.

[10] Charlie Brown won the Democratic primary with 88% of the vote, ahead of John "Wolf" Wolfgram,[9] who had little financial support.

Often regarded as the most liberal member of Congress (and its only atheist), Stark ran for re-election and was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Napolitano's heavily Democratic east Los Angeles-based district is a largely Hispanic one that includes Montebello, Pico Rivera, La Puente, and part of Norwalk.

Before the election, Miller suffered bad press, with four ex-aides accusing him of conflict-of-interest and using his position to profit from the sale of personal land holdings.

Sanchez won 62% of the vote in a district that barely went to George W. Bush with around 50% to 49% in 2004, which could have resulted in an opening for Republicans, who had not recruited a strong candidate in years.

Bilbray won 53% of the vote in a Republican-leaning district north of San Diego that was previously represented by the scandal-plagued Duke Cunningham (R).

Democratic incumbent Bob Filner of San Diego is seeking reelection and is being challenged by Republican businessman David Lee Joy of Spring Valley.

The Libertarian candidate is musician and software systems engineer Dan "Frodo" Litwin of San Diego.

(map) This race is for an open seat, being vacated by former Republican presidential candidate Duncan Hunter.