# U.S. House, District 23 (local, San Bernardino County)

URL: https://www.californiapeople.org/local/cd-23

- title: U.S. House, District 23
- office: U.S. House
- cities: [adelanto, apple-valley, barstow, big-bear-lake, hesperia, loma-linda, needles, victorville, yucaipa, yucca-valley, redlands, san-bernardino]
- areas: [Lake Arrowhead, Crestline, Running Springs, Lucerne Valley, Joshua Tree, Morongo Valley, Phelan]

## Key findings
- Covers the **High Desert, the mountains, Loma Linda, Yucaipa, Yucca Valley and Needles**, plus about 15% of Redlands and 5% of San Bernardino. [^1]
- **Jay Obernolte (R)**, in Congress since 2021, faces **Tessa Lynn Hodge (D)**, a social worker and businesswoman. He took **57.1%** in the June primary; Hodge led the Democrats with 21.3%. Cook rating R+9. [^2]
- Obernolte voted for the House version of the 2025 tax-and-spending bill. He says more than **40% of his district is on Medi-Cal**, and he rejects calling its Medicaid changes cuts: "We're just creating some more requirements." [^3]

## U.S. House, District 23
### Jay Obernolte (R, incumbent)
- **Key findings:** Big Bear Lake resident; video-game developer and business owner; former Assemblymember. Won 2024 with 60.1%. Leads House work on artificial intelligence policy. [^2][^4][^5]
- **Votes (2025):** Yes on the House version of the "One Big Beautiful Bill" (tax-cut extension, new Medicaid work requirements). CBO estimated the House bill would add **$2.4 trillion** to deficits; he says his own math shows savings. Backed the strikes on Iran's nuclear sites and sending Twentynine Palms Marines to Los Angeles. [^3]

### Tessa Lynn Hodge (D)
- Ballot designation: social worker and businesswoman. First run for Congress. She answered KVCR's questionnaire; Obernolte didn't. [^6][^7] I found no independent reporting on her record.

## Sources
[^1]: CA Senate, 2025 CD-23 district data. https://sdmg.senate.ca.gov/node/1099
[^2]: Ballotpedia, CA-23. https://ballotpedia.org/California%27s_23rd_Congressional_District
[^3]: Big Bear Grizzly, Obernolte on the budget bill, Iran and deployments (July 2025). https://www.bigbeargrizzly.net/news/obernolte-yes-on-one-big-beautiful-bill-iran-and-military-deployment-on-u-s-soil/article_663f4a8d-0adc-484d-8425-901426fcc914.html
[^4]: Wikipedia, Jay Obernolte. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Obernolte
[^5]: Ripon Advance, Obernolte to lead AI task force. https://riponadvance.com/stories/obernolte-to-lead-new-bipartisan-house-task-force-on-ai/attachment/2020_official_obernolte_jay/
[^6]: CA Secretary of State, certified candidate list (2026 general). https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/statewide-elections/2026-general/cert-list-candidates.pdf
[^7]: KVCR voter guide. https://kvcr.org/voter-guide/san-bernardino