Election 2026 · Federal

U.S. House, California District 32

Published September 29, 2026 · Updated October 7, 2026

Brad Sherman (incumbent) and Larry Thompson are the candidates for U.S. House, California District 32 on the November 3, 2026 ballot.

U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democrat, faces Larry Thompson, a Republican, for the U.S. House seat in the 32nd Congressional District. In the City of Los Angeles, the district covers most of the south and west San Fernando Valley, from Studio City, Sherman Oaks and Encino to Woodland Hills, Chatsworth and Porter Ranch, plus Bel Air and the Brentwood and Pacific Palisades area.

Summary by CityHallPass, not the official text or legal advice. The official text controls: LA County's official election information.

What it means for the City of LA

Congress writes the budgets for federal grant programs that pay for some City of Los Angeles services. One example is the Community Development Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The City's 2026-27 Proposed Budget says the City gets these funds based on its population, poverty and housing overcrowding, and uses them for housing, economic development and social services for low- and moderate-income residents. The same budget estimates $749,787,681 in grant receipts for City departments in 2026-27, from federal, state, local and other sources. About 598,000 City residents live in this district.

Primary results, June 2, 2026

Nine candidates. Brad Sherman and Larry Thompson, the top two, advanced to November 3. The district spans Los Angeles and Ventura counties. In the Ventura County part, Thompson led Sherman 19,175 to 10,004. Total votes for the office: 208,717. Percentages are each candidate's share of all votes cast for the office, from the certified Statement of Vote. Certified results

The candidates

The job

What a House member does. The House makes and passes federal laws; the Senate is the other chamber of Congress (House.gov). Members serve on committees, which consider bills and oversee federal agencies and programs (House.gov). A member’s office also helps constituents with problems involving federal agencies (Sherman’s casework page). Members can request community project funding in spending bills (Sherman release, Feb. 3, 2026).

Pay and staff. A member earns $174,000 a year, a rate unchanged since 2009 (Congressional Research Service, Sept. 10, 2026). Each member gets a Members’ Representational Allowance for staff, offices, district travel and mail. Since 2023 these allowances have ranged from $1,849,149 to $2,088,499 per member, and the levels did not change for 2026. A member may hire up to 18 permanent staff plus up to four more in set categories such as part-time or shared employees (Congressional Research Service).

Why it matters to the City. Congress funds grant programs the City relies on. The City’s proposed 2026-27 budget estimates $749.8 million in grant receipts for City departments from federal, state and other sources, including HUD’s Community Development Block Grant (City proposed budget). Sherman wrote in May 2026 that federal spending on the Los Angeles-area fires had reached $7 billion and that underinsured homeowners need a supplemental appropriation (SCNG). Earmarks reach City departments directly: a 2026 spending law included $2 million to renovate Los Angeles Fire Department stations in the Valley and Westside and $850,000 for Southwest Valley parks, according to Sherman’s office (Sherman release, Feb. 3, 2026).

The new district. Proposition 50 redrew the lines for 2026 through 2030 (Secretary of State).

• City of Los Angeles: 598,267 City residents live here, 15.3% of the City’s 3,912,115 (2020 Census; Statewide Database city splits report).
• Other cities: Simi Valley (126,360 residents) in Ventura County and Malibu (10,673) are wholly inside (Statewide Database city splits report).
• City neighborhoods include Studio City, Sherman Oaks, Encino, Tarzana, Woodland Hills, West Hills, Canoga Park, Winnetka, Reseda, Northridge, Chatsworth, Porter Ranch, Granada Hills, Bel Air, Beverly Crest, parts of Westwood and West Los Angeles, and the Brentwood and Pacific Palisades area. They fall mostly in Council Districts 3, 4, 12, 11 and 5, with small parts of 2 and 6. We placed them by matching census tracts in the Statewide Database block file to the City’s council district and neighborhood council maps, so the edges are approximate. Pacific Palisades and Brentwood are placed from Council District 11 tracts with no neighborhood council match, so that part is the least certain.
• Voters: 492,664 registered as of May 18, 2026, 87,973 of them in Ventura County: 46.46% Democratic, 23.90% Republican and 22.59% no party preference (Secretary of State).

Records

Brad Sherman

Committees (House Clerk):

• Financial Services, where he is the third-ranking Democrat (House Clerk). He is the top Democrat on the Capital Markets subcommittee and also sits on Financial Institutions and on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Artificial Intelligence.
• Foreign Affairs, where he is the second-ranking Democrat (House Clerk). He is the top Democrat on the Middle East and North Africa subcommittee and also sits on East Asia and Pacific.

Bills. Congress.gov lists 230 bills he has sponsored since 1997, 13 of them in 2025-2026. Three became public law on their own: the Hong Kong Autonomy Act (2020) and two post office namings; a private relief bill also became law in the 105th Congress (Congress.gov).

• Housing Unhoused Disabled Veterans Act (H.R. 965), with Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas): stops counting disability payments as income for veterans’ housing vouchers. The House passed it in February 2025 (release). It became law in July 2026 as part of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which took effect without President Trump’s signature (release, July 11, 2026).
• Access to Small Business Investor Capital Act (H.R. 2225): passed the House in June 2025 and awaits Senate action (H.R. 2225).
• Stop Oil Exports to Lower Gas Prices Act (H.R. 8670, May 2026): bans U.S. crude oil exports until hostilities with Iran end and the Strait of Hormuz reopens (release, May 7, 2026). Also the Iran War Oil Crisis Windfall Profits Tax Act (H.R. 8803).
• Also in 2025-2026: the Regulate the Price of All Drugs Act (H.R. 9040), Direct File Act of 2026 (H.R. 7806), Hands Off Greenland Act (H.R. 7192), Nationwide Right to Unionize Act (H.R. 5159), Click to Cancel Act (H.R. 4819) and Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act (H.R. 1841).

Federal money for the district. His office says a 2026 spending law carried over $12 million for nine Valley and Westside projects, including $2 million for LAFD station repairs and $1.2 million for the Labor Community Services food bank (release, Feb. 3, 2026). He also announced more than $1 million for the Jewish Federation Los Angeles security program (release, May 6, 2026) and told SCNG he secured $1 million for the LAPD’s Real Time Crime Center (SCNG).

Voting record. From the Clerk’s 676 roll calls between Jan. 3, 2025 and Sept. 16, 2026 (House Clerk roll call votes):

• He missed 18 votes (2.7%) and voted with most House Democrats on 97.6% of the votes he cast (CityHallPass count of the Clerk’s roll call records).
• No on H.R. 1 (May 22 and July 3, 2025), the SAVE Act, the Laken Riley Act, and the GENIUS and CLARITY crypto bills (roll calls 145, 190, 102, 23, 199, 200).
• Impeachment: he voted against tabling articles of impeachment against President Trump on June 24, 2025, Dec. 11, 2025 and Sept. 15, 2026 (roll call 175; roll call 322; 2026 roll call 298). He co-introduced articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in January 2026 (release, Jan. 15, 2026).
• War powers: yes on every 2025-2026 resolution on Iran and Venezuela (for example 2025 roll call 346, 2026 roll call 48 and 2026 roll call 85). No on both 2026 resolutions to remove U.S. forces from Lebanon (June 4 and June 30); on the second, 187 Democrats voted yes (2026 roll call 201; 2026 roll call 232).
• Israel aid: on July 15, 2026 he voted no on the amendment by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to bar State and foreign operations funds from going to Israel, which would have cut $3.3 billion in military financing. It failed 104-314 (Rules Committee; 2026 roll call 243).
• Where he split from most Democrats: yes on the DETERRENT Act on foreign gifts to universities (March 27, 2025; 31 Democrats voted yes) and the Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act (Sept. 3, 2026; 33 Democrats voted yes); no on the HALT Fentanyl Act (S. 331, June 12, 2025), the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (Jan. 22, 2026) and the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (May 12, 2026) (roll call 83; 2026 roll call 295; roll call 166; 2026 roll call 45; 2026 roll call 157).

Ethics and court records. He was admitted to the State Bar in November 1979 and his license has been inactive since Jan. 1, 1996, with no public discipline (State Bar). No public enforcement actions were found in House Ethics Committee statements and reports, Office of Congressional Conduct referrals, FEC administrative fine or ADR records (searched by his name, his committee’s name and ID, C00308742, and his leadership PAC, Southern California Fund, C00361410), or FPPC and City Ethics Commission records (searched Sept. 30, 2026).

Larry Thompson

Career. Entertainment lawyer, talent manager and producer; founder and president of the Larry A. Thompson Organization. His campaign says he has managed more than 250 performers and produced 21 TV movies, 5 feature films and 2 TV series, and that he managed Patti Davis, President Reagan’s daughter, from 1982 to 1986 (campaign bio). He told SCNG his job is “attorney, talent manager, film producer” (SCNG).

State Bar. Admitted July 6, 1970. His license was inactive from Jan. 1, 1989 until March 20, 2014 and has been active since. No public discipline (State Bar).

Party and past campaigns. His campaign says he was a Republican National Committee “Republican Eagle” donor from 1981 to 1983 and California co-chair of Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign. He ran for the 37th District seat in 2020 as an independent and for this seat in 2024 as the Republican candidate, losing both times (campaign bio).

Public office. None, he told SCNG (SCNG).

Ethics and court records. No public enforcement actions found in FPPC, City Ethics Commission or FEC enforcement records (MURs, administrative fines and ADR cases, searched by his name, his committee’s name and its IDs, C00907626 and C00855270), and no court judgment that could be tied to him was found in CourtListener federal and appellate records (searched Sept. 30, 2026).

Where they stand

Both candidates answered the Southern California News Group questionnaire (Sherman; Thompson; both May 4, 2026). The issues below come from those answers, from Thompson’s issues page (larrythompsonforcongress.com/issues, checked Sept. 30, 2026) and his proposed bills (legislative initiatives). We found no debate.

On the other ballot measures

No statement by either candidate on any November 3, 2026 state proposition was found in the sources we checked: the SCNG questionnaires (Sherman; Thompson), Sherman’s House site and campaign site, Thompson’s campaign site and the JNS article cited below. Measure list: Secretary of State qualified ballot measures page.

City residents in the district also vote on City measures FD, LA, PL, EE, PRK, PRT and SC (County list of measures). We found no position by either candidate on those either.

Endorsements

Brad Sherman

From his campaign’s endorsement page (campaign endorsements page, checked Sept. 30, 2026) unless another source is linked.

• Parties: California Democratic Party, primary endorsement ratified in February 2026 (CDP endorsement list); Los Angeles County Democratic Party; Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley (campaign endorsements page).
• Elected officials: Gov. Gavin Newsom; U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla, Adam Schiff and Cory Booker; House Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar; Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi; most of California’s Democratic House members, including Laura Friedman, Luz Rivas and Judy Chu; Attorney General Rob Bonta; LA County Supervisors Lindsey Horvath, Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis; City of LA: Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmembers Bob Blumenfield, Adrin Nazarian, Imelda Padilla, Traci Park, Nithya Raman and Monica Rodriguez (campaign endorsements page).
• Unions: California Federation of Labor Unions, general election (Labor Fed list, Aug. 4, 2026); SEIU California (SEIU California); LA County Federation of Labor; LA/OC Building and Construction Trades Council; California Teachers Association; United Firefighters of Los Angeles City (IAFF Local 112); Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs; Teamsters Joint Council 42; IBEW Local 11; Operating Engineers Local 12; IATSE Local 80; and others (campaign endorsements page).
• Organizations: Planned Parenthood Action Fund; Equality California; Democratic Majority for Israel; Democrats for Israel Los Angeles; local Democratic clubs (campaign endorsements page).
• Newspapers: None found.

Larry Thompson

From his campaign’s endorsement page (campaign endorsements page, checked Sept. 30, 2026) unless another source is linked.

• Parties: California Republican Party (CAGOP endorsements); Ventura County Republican Party; American Independent Party (campaign endorsements page).
• Organizations: California Federation of Republican Women; West Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley Republican Assemblies; California Hispanic Republican Club; Los Angeles County and California Young Republicans; California Women’s Leadership Association PAC (campaign endorsements page).
• Individuals: actors Kelsey Grammer and Steve Guttenberg; crypto investor Brock Pierce, through his “Franklin Scorecard” (campaign endorsements page).
• Elected officials and unions: None listed on his campaign endorsements page.
• Newspapers: None found.

Polls

No public polls of this race were found. Thompson’s campaign site has a “Polling” page, but its items are campaign messages such as “Thompson Will Win By A Landslide,” not surveys.

Money

Source: FEC candidate summaries (Sherman; Thompson). Sherman’s figures are from the FEC’s bulk candidate summary dated Sept. 29, 2026. Thompson’s are from the FEC’s totals through his October quarterly report, covering through Sept. 30, 2026, checked Oct. 7, 2026 (FEC). Sherman spent about $1.25 million more than he raised in the period, drawing on the $3.92 million he had at the start of 2025 (FEC). The next reports, covering July 1 to Sept. 30, are due Oct. 15 (FEC 2026 reporting dates). Federal law limits individuals to $3,500 per candidate per election, so $7,000 for the primary and general combined (FEC contribution limits).

Who is giving

Method: CityHallPass analysis of itemized individual contributions to each candidate’s campaign committee in the FEC bulk contribution files for 2025-2026, latest amendment of each entry, refunds netted. A donor is a name plus ZIP code. Gifts of $200 or less need not be itemized; unitemized money is estimated as FEC individual receipts minus itemized totals. Location is by ZIP code; a ZIP code counts as City of LA when at least half its area is inside the City, and as in the district when its center falls inside the new district.

Source: FEC itemized contributions (Sherman; Thompson), analyzed by CityHallPass; Thompson’s column includes his itemized gifts through Sept. 30, 2026; locations placed by donor ZIP code using the City’s boundary map and Census ZIP code areas.

Brad Sherman

• Donors: 837 itemized donors gave $1,418,013. 43 gave the maximum for both the primary and the general. Almost none of his individual money came in small gifts (FEC).
• Out of state: 30% of itemized dollars came from outside California (FEC).
• Industries (share of itemized dollars): retired or not employed 26.2%; finance and investment 14.5%; law 9.9%; health care 8.7%; real estate and development 7.0% (64 donors, $99,854); entertainment and media 3.9%. 16.7% could not be assigned an industry (CityHallPass coding of FEC employer and occupation fields).
• Shared employer: 10 donors listing 7-Eleven as employer gave $11,500 on May 23, 2026 (FEC).
• Through conduits: $587,671 in 454 gifts came through Democracy Engine, a conduit platform, and $119,514 through ActBlue (FEC). Another 46 gifts totaling $53,500, made July through September 2025 and half of them from Massachusetts, came through a conduit whose committee ID is cut off in the FEC bulk record (FEC bulk contribution files).
• PACs and other committees: giving committees reported $775,494 to Sherman from 180 committees through August 2026 in their own FEC reports (FEC bulk committee-to-candidate file; FEC committee receipts). That is more than the $703,424 on his own report through June 30, partly because it includes gifts made in July and August. By type: corporate PACs $321,500; trade associations $159,000; labor union PACs $104,000; leadership and other PACs $94,000; membership groups $81,994. Many are from the financial industry, which his Financial Services Committee oversees: $10,000 each from Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, UBS, the Managed Funds Association, SIFMA, the American Bankers Association ($9,500), Deloitte, EY, PwC, KPMG and the American Institute of CPAs. Real estate PACs include American Homes 4 Rent and the National Multifamily Housing Council ($10,000 each) (FEC).

Larry Thompson

• Donors: seven itemized donors gave $7,550 through Sept. 30, 2026. The two largest gave $2,000 and $1,800 (FEC).
• His own money: $17,661 in contributions and $26,291 in loans, 83% of his receipts (FEC).
• PACs: none (FEC).

Outside spending

All of it was before the June 2 primary. No general-election spending had been reported as of Sept. 30, 2026 (FEC independent expenditures for and against Sherman).

Source: FEC independent expenditures for and against Sherman; FEC, New Era Leadership; FEC independent expenditure file; funders from FEC receipts of Valley-Westside United PAC, NAR PAC, New Era Leadership and Progress Action Fund. The FEC’s total for groups supporting Sherman is $974,088.19, which also counts $10.19 reported by two other groups.

Sherman told JNS that “some $3.5 million was spent against me by a candidate who is now receiving less than 14% of the vote,” and his campaign said the attacks were “funded in large part by the crypto industry” (JNS, June 3, 2026). FEC records show Levine’s campaign spent $2,756,527.87 through July 31 (FEC) and outside groups $400,832.50 against Sherman (FEC). No outside spending for or against Thompson was found (FEC).

Key moments

Debates and forums

We found no debate or candidate forum with both Sherman and Thompson for 2026 as of Sept. 30.

Events

• Primary challenge from Jake Levine (spring 2026).

  • What happened: Levine, a Democrat and former Biden administration national security official backed by J Street’s PAC, challenged Sherman and criticized his record on Israel, JNS reported (JNS, June 3, 2026). Levine loaned his campaign $750,000 (FEC). A super PAC funded mainly by Mel Levine, Rick Caruso and Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen ran ads against Sherman (FEC, New Era Leadership), and a super PAC funded by a D.C. group ran $940,000 in ads for him (FEC). Levine finished third with 15.18% (Statement of Vote).
  • Sherman’s response: he told JNS he attributed his result “to the close relationship I built between myself and my constituents” (JNS).
  • Thompson’s response: we found none.

• Thompson led the Ventura County part of the district (June 2026).

  • What happened: districtwide, Sherman led Thompson 36.77% to 32.72%. In the Ventura County portion, Thompson had 19,175 votes to Sherman’s 10,004 (Statement of Vote).
  • Responses: Thompson’s campaign site headlines the result “WIN! WIN! WIN!” (campaign site) and says he will beat Sherman in November (issues page). We found no statement from Sherman on the Ventura results.

• Crypto.

  • What happened: Sherman voted against both 2025 crypto bills, the GENIUS Act, which became law (Public Law 119-27), and the CLARITY Act (roll call 199; roll call 200). Thompson’s site shows a Stand With Crypto “A” rating (campaign endorsements page). Sherman’s campaign told JNS the attacks on him in the primary were “funded in large part by the crypto industry” (JNS). One funder of the anti-Sherman super PAC is Chris Larsen of Ripple (FEC, New Era Leadership).