The deadline came and went, and no prominent Republicans filed to run against Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, meaning for the second election in a row there will be two Democrats facing each other in a race at the top of the ballot in California. 

Feinstein, 84, is seeking her fifth full term. She will have 31 opponents on the June 5 primary, with one serious contender, a Democrat, taking most of her attention and showing up in polls.

California has a top-two primary system, which means the top-two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party. In 2016, a handful of Republican candidates in the top of the pack split the GOP vote, and sent then-Rep. Loretta Sanchez, a Democrat, to the general election with Democrat Kamala Harris, who won the race. It was the first time two Democrats ran against each other statewide.

Democrats may have added both the 4th and 22nd congressional districts to their California target list, but they face an uphill battle where Republicans hold a large voter registration advantage and where President Trump won by a large margin. Still, several candidates are banking on a wave election to attempt to oust sitting Republicans.

Rep. Tom McClintock’s 4th Congressional District wasn’t initially on the radar, but unexpectedly strong fundraising by two Democrats prompted Times editors to recently add the race as No. 10 on the ranking of the most competitive House races.

Local Democrats have been particularly enthusiastic about their chances, and five people have filed to run against McClintock, 61, a conservative fifth-term congressman who lives in Elk Grove.

Republicans are going to be largely on the defensive this year in California’s House races, defending 10 of their 14 seats, seven of which were won by Hillary Clinton in 2016.

There are some swing districts where Republican challengers are attempting to make gains and where the GOP will invest resources, however unlikely the chances of ousting a Democrat this fall.

Here’s a look at who has filed to run in each district. The list still needs to be finalized by the Secretary of State.

Antonio Villaraigosa is best known as the former mayor of Los Angeles. But that title will not be on the ballot when voters choose the next governor of California.

It’s official: Well-known Orange County Republican Scott Baugh filed papers Friday evening to run against GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, his onetime friend and mentor. 

In a statement, Baugh said voters “deserve a Representative who is in touch and focused on what’s important to the families who live here.”

“Three decades in Congress can change a person and unfortunately Dana has changed,” his statement continued. “He has lost focus on what’s important and does not seem to understand that the middle-class families in our district care more about their jobs, the economy and taxes than about Vladimir Putin, Julian Assange and marijuana.”

Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iraq war veteran and up-and-comer in the GOP, will give the keynote address at the California Republican Party’s three-day convention in San Diego in early May.

Ernst, the first woman to represent Iowa in Congress, was considered to be on President Trump’s short list of potential vice presidential running mates in the 2016 campaign — but removed her name from consideration.

The senator has come out in opposition to the president’s plan to place tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. She also criticized the White House for the way it handled the Rob Porter domestic abuse scandal.

Although Tony Mendoza resigned from his state Senate seat last month under threat of expulsion, he could be back in the seat as early as June in time to vote on the state budget.

The Artesia Democrat, who was pressured to quit because of sexual harassment allegations, was among a handful of candidates who took out papers on Friday to run in a special election to fill the vacancy in the 32nd Senate District caused by his own resignation.

Mendoza, 46, is running in the special election for the remaining months of the current term that ends Dec. 3 as well as in the primary for the new, four-year senate term. That means voters on June 5 will see Mendoza as a candidate for two elections at the same time. 

California Sen. Kamala Harris, who is serving her first term, has an estimated net worth that puts her financially near the middle of the pack in a delegation that includes both the richest and poorest members of Congress.

Harris reported an estimated minimum net worth of $391,100 in 2017, the first year she held federal office and had to submit the disclosures every member of Congress files.

Harris is thought to be considering a presidential bid in 2020, and the disclosure was among the first glimpses of the former California attorney general’s finances. Harris released tax returns during the 2016 campaign that showed she and her husband made $1.17 million in 2015 and paid $450,000 in state and federal income taxes.

California’s homeless population has grown to more than 130,000 people, an increase of nearly 14% over the last year. 

On this episode of Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Pod, we delve into some of the causes of the increase and discuss why a state-approved $2-billion bond to help finance new housing for the homeless is tied up in court. 

We recorded the show from the Housing California conference in Sacramento, one of the state’s largest annual gatherings of low-income housing developers and advocates. Our guests are advocates for the homeless from across the state: Ann English of the Corporation for Supportive Housing in Los Angeles, Laura Guzman of EveryOne Home in Alameda County and Stephen Russell of the San Diego Housing Federation. Our interviews focus on how homelessness is different around the state and how the homeless population has changed over the years.

California’s relatively new system in which 16- and 17-year-olds can preregister to vote has been used by 88,700 teenagers during its first months in existence, with most of them declining to identify as Republicans or Democrats.

The data released by Secretary of State Alex Padilla on Thursday cover the first 18 months of a law designed to encourage teenagers to begin thinking about the voting process before they actually become eligible.

“It’s just picking up as time goes on,” Padilla said in an interview. “More and more young people are aware of it.”