Federal Election Results

In the Presidential election, Californians favored Vice President Kamala Harris (58.8%) over Donald Trump (38.1%). Rep. Adam Schiff (D) easily won the late Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat in district 30 in a race against Republican Steve Garvey by 59% of the votes.

In the House of Representatives, California had some of the closest races in the country and a significant say in determining the final makeup of the House. Half of the incumbents in competitive races were Republicans, a disproportionate amount:

• Josh Harder (D) in district 9, won
• John Duarte (R) in district 13, uncalled
• Jim Costa (D) in district 21, won
• David Valadao (R) in district 22, won
• Raul Ruiz (D) in district 25, won
• Julia Brownley (D) in district 26, won
• Mike Garcia (R) in district 27, lost
• Jimmy Gomez (D) in district 34, won
• Mark Takano (D) in district 39, won
• Young Kim (R) in district 40, won
• Ken Calvert (R) in district 41, won
• Michelle Steel (R) in district 45, uncalled
• Mike Levin (D) in district 49, won

So far, one incumbent lost: Rep. Mike Garcia (R-27) to George Whitesides (D), giving California its only flip (Republican to Democrat), but two more are possible. The current makeup of the California Delegation is 41 Democrats and nine Republicans, with two uncalled races (Reps. Duarte and Steel in districts 13 and 45, respectively).

In addition to Whitesides, the California Congressional Delegation will also welcome six additional freshmen who took over for Members of Congress who retired or ran for a different office:

• Lateefah Simon (D) in district 12 (replacing Barbara Lee)
• Sam Liccardo (D) in district 16 (replacing Anna Eshoo)
• Luz Rivas (D) in district 29 (replacing Tony Cardenas)
• Laura Friedman (D) in district 30 (replacing Adam Schiff)
• Gil Cisneros (D) in district 31 (replacing Grace Napolitano)
• Dave Min (D) in district 47 (replacing Katie Porter)

State Election Results

In Sacramento, the partisan splits in the Legislature will remain about the same with Democrats having maintained strong supermajorities, in control of both houses. With votes left to be counted, three races remain in which challengers from opposing parties could unseat incumbents. California’s state Senate will be at least 50% women for the first time in history and, depending on a few undecided races, the state Legislature overall could reach gender parity for the first time. The increase in women’s representation is part of a historic level of turnover in the Legislature, with at least 30 new members.

Winning an open battleground seat in San Diego, Darshana Patel hails directly from the life science industry. Assembly District 76 elect-Patel has a Ph.D. in biophysics from the University of California, Irvine, and has had a successful career in biotechnology research. She has also served on the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs.

The new Legislature will convene on December 2 and will immediately start a special session called by Gov. Gavin Newsom to address the potential ramification of the upcoming Trump administration on issues affecting civil rights, reproductive freedom, climate action and immigrant families.

San Diego Election Results

The closely watched race for Board of Supervisors between incumbent Terra Lawson-Remer and Kevin Faulconer has Terra ahead by 13 points. Chair Nora Vargas and Supervisor Joel Anderson have likely won reelection by wide margins. Measure G to fund transportation in the county is trailing but too close to call. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria defeated challenger Larry Turner. Heather Ferbert won the race for City Attorney, and incumbent Councilmembers Stephen Whitburn and Sean Elo-Rivera won reelection handily. Measure E, which would have a big impact on funding for city services, is behind slightly and too close to call. Incumbent Mayor of Oceanside Esther Sanchez pulled ahead in her race by 31 votes as of this publication date.

Bay Area Election Results

In Alameda County, former Emeryville Mayor John Bauters is ahead in the Alameda County District 5 Supervisor’s Race. Berkeley’s mayoral race remains too close to call with Adeni Ishii holding a slight lead over Sophie Hahn, and Measure GG, a tax on natural gas, appears to be defeated.

For the first time in five years, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors will lose its progressive majority. In addition to the change in supervisors, San Francisco voters chose political newcomer Daniel Lurie as their next mayor. Voters also approved sweeping changes to San Francisco’s business tax structure by approving Proposition M.

The new San Mateo County District 4 Supervisor is likely to be Lisa Gauthier, the current Mayor of East Palo Alto. In South San Francisco’s City Council races, District 2 incumbent Mark Nagales and District 4 incumbent James Coleman will both hold on to their seats. Business tax reform measures in South San Francisco, Redwood City, Foster City and Belmont all passed.

Los Angeles Election Results

Current LA County District Attorney George Gascón lost to his challenger, Nathan Hochman. Measure G—which would expand the Board of Supervisors from five members to nine and create an elected county executive position—passed. Measure A to fund homelessness services and Measure E to fund emergency services both passed.

The main races in the city were for Council Districts 2, 10 and 14. Former Assembly Member Adrin Nazarian defeated Jillian Burgos in Council District 2. Current City Councilmember Heather Hutt will easily win reelection in Council District 10. In Council District 14, embattled Councilmember Kevin de León lost to tenant rights attorney Ysabel Jurado. Finally, Charter Amendment DD to create an independent redistricting commission was approved by voters.

All results are current as of November 19, 2024.

View archived newsletters.

BIOSECURE Act Passes House of Representatives

This year has seen an increase in Congressional activity toward prohibiting federal funding that benefits certain Chinese biotechnology service providers. These efforts have primarily translated to legislation called the BIOSECURE Act (H.R. 8333), which prohibits federal agencies from procuring or obtaining equipment or services from specific companies and developing a list for similar companies going forward. The bill also forbids using grant or loan funds with any entity covered by the ban either directly or via a third party. This bill has the potential to impact many Biocom California members.


Biocom California has not taken a position on the bill due to a lack of consensus among our members, but supports the national security objectives while also working with Congress to ensure our members’ supply chains are not abruptly disrupted. Part of that effort has been to ensure the bill retains a grandfathering clause, which provides for a wind-down period until January 2032 for existing contracts.


On September 9, the House of Representatives passed the BIOSECURE Act by a vote of 306-81, with 44 not voting. The Senate has expressed similar interest in this bill and they are considering adding it to their version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). We will continue to engage on this legislation with Congress, our partners and our members as it moves through the legislative process and continue to provide updates to our members.

Biocom California Hosts FDA CBER Director Dr. Peter Marks

On August 22, Biocom California hosted FDA CBER Director Dr. Peter Marks at the joint Regulatory Affairs and Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) committee meeting. Members gathered in SF, SD and on Zoom to hear from Marks about the FDA’s current CGT initiatives and regulatory policy advancements. He discussed the potential of CAR-T cell therapies, current gene therapy challenges, the FDA’s new platform technology designation program and provided an update on the Collaboration on Gene Therapies Global (CoGenT Global) Pilot and Support for clinical Trials Advancing Rare disease Therapeutics (START) Pilot programs.

Carlsbad Climate Action Plan Reach Code Could Require 100% Building Electrification

On September 4, the Carlsbad Planning Commission discussed an update to the city’s Climate Action Plan (CAP). The draft update outlines greenhouse gas emission reduction goals in a variety of categories, including extensive language to improve energy efficiency in buildings. Biocom California submitted a letter related to a potential “reach code”—a policy that would require 100% building electrification. We will continue to engage on the CAP as it moves through the legislative process in Carlsbad; this will tentatively go back to Planning Commission as an action item in October.

San Francisco Legislation Proposal Restricts Lab Use in Urban Mixed-Use Zones

Last week, Biocom California spent the afternoon at San Francisco City Hall talking with members of the Board of Supervisors about Supervisor Walton’s proposed legislation restricting lab use in UMU (urban mixed-use) zoning. We explained why limiting the building and use of labs in UMU zones is detrimental to the life science industry. The planning commission has already recommended disapproval of this legislation and it will be heard next at the Board of Supervisors land use committee later this month.

View archived newsletters.

Bill to Maintain Beyond Benefits Trust Before the Legislature

In 2021, Biocom California sponsored SB 718, which allowed qualified life science trade associations to offer association health plans. The bill was introduced because the biomedical industry’s high-quality health plan was swept into the Managed Healthcare Department’s sweeping action to reign in lower-quality health plans pursuant to prior legislation. Unfortunately, a sunset date was forced into SB 718, necessitating renewal of the enabling legislation.

This year, Biocom California worked with Assemblymember Akilah Weber to introduce AB 2072, which extends the sunset date to January 1, 2030, so that biomedical companies can continue offering affordable, high-quality health insurance to their employees through California’s small employer association health plan law. Extension of the sunset will allow small life science companies to compete with larger companies for talent at all levels. The bill has successfully moved through the State Assembly and State Senate, Gov. Gavin Newsom will have final consideration of the bill in September.

University Community Plan Update Receives Final Approval

On July 30, San Diego City Council gave unanimous final approval to the University Community Plan Update, the land use document that will govern future development of San Diego’s life science hub in Torrey Pines and UTC over the next 30-plus years. Biocom California led a coalition in support of the plan update, which adds capacity for an additional 29,000 homes and 72,000 jobs. That’s not to say these will be built overnight or even in the next ten years—but it gives our industry the room to thoughtfully develop mixed-use campuses and additional housing options for our life science workforce.

The plan update passage is the culmination of six years of work by the city to update the plan, incorporating input from residents, students, community groups and businesses. Biocom California held a seat on the plan update committee and represented the life science industry’s interests during monthly meetings throughout the update process. We thank our partners in this process, including: Our Time to Act United, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, Circulate San Diego, BOMA, NAIOP, Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters, Asian Business Association and the Building Industry Association.

An Update on Bay Area Tax Reform Efforts

Biocom California is closely monitoring cities in the Bay Area that are seeking to increase tax rates in response to budget shortfalls. In the upcoming November elections, Redwood City residents will vote on a new business license tax that proposes a per-employee rate between $10 and $250, potentially generating $7.7 million. Foster City voters will decide on a tax increase ranging from 75 cents to $3 per $1,000 in gross receipts, projected to raise an additional $1.4 million annually. South San Francisco aims to update to more than double the current $2.3 million revenue, with proposed changes including removing the current tax cap. Voters in San Francisco will be asked to vote on a ballot measure which will increase taxes for most industries, including an 18% increase for life science companies. Biocom California was actively involved in these discussions and worked directly with cities, their local chambers and other community partners to advocate for our members.

View archived newsletters.