# Brandon Riker Entrepreneur and early-money leader in the 2026 Democratic field for [[CA-41-2026]] — the Riverside County / Palm Springs / Inland Empire seat that **Proposition 50** redrew from Trump +6 (2024) to Harris +12–14 (2024 vote retrofit). Reported **$250K in the first 24 hours** of his April 2025 launch. With [[Ken Calvert]] having moved to CA-40 and two-time nominee [[Will Rollins]] not running, CA-41 is an **open-seat pickup opportunity** but has no consensus front-runner — Riker competes in a fragmented 5+ candidate D field on a June 2 top-two primary ballot. ## 2026 cycle - **Primary date**: 2026-06-02 (California top-two jungle — all parties one ballot) - **Ratings (post-Prop 50)**: Sabato effectively **Safe D**; Cook PVI 2025 R+2 under **pre-Prop 50** lines; post-Prop 50 effectively D+10 or better - **Full D field on ballot**: Riker, Abel Chavez (school board), Dave Karson (investment banker), Jason Byors (software engineer), Ferguson Porter (small business owner). **Anuj Dixit** withdrew CA-41 and moved to CA-39; **Tim Meyers** (former OneRepublic bassist) withdrew to run for CA Lt. Gov. - **Only R on ballot**: [[Cody Wiebelhaus]] — Palm Springs healthcare executive - **Top-two lockout scenario**: If D vote splits 5 ways at 15–25% each, Wiebelhaus could finish second with 25–30% and make the November ballot. This is the only viable GOP path in a structurally D+10 redraw. ## Background - Entrepreneur (sector / ventures — NEEDS VERIFICATION) - Background and Inland Empire / California tenure — NEEDS VERIFICATION - First federal-office run - Launched April 2025 ## Ideological positioning - Mainstream Democrat (specific lane — NEEDS VERIFICATION) - $250K-in-24-hours launch number is the clearest signal of early donor-network strength — larger than any rival in the field at that point ## Related - [[CA-41-2026]] — 2026 race file - [[Ken Calvert]] — prior CA-41 incumbent now in CA-40 - [[Will Rollins]] — 2022/2024 D nominee, not running 2026 - [[Cody Wiebelhaus]] — only R on CA-41 ballot - [[Proposition 50 (California)]] ## Sources - [Ballotpedia — CA-41 2026](https://ballotpedia.org/California's_41st_Congressional_District_election,_2026) - [CalMatters — Candidates challenge Calvert](https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/05/inland-empire-election-congress/)