--- title: "Simon vs. Joyce: 2026 California’s 12th District race" url: "https://www.2026election.com/race/2026-house-ca-12" updated: "2026-08-01" source: "Candidates' campaign sites and Ballotpedia, quoted verbatim" publisher: "Pluribus" --- # 2026 California’s 12th District race: Lateefah Simon (D) vs. Jamie Joyce (D) Rating: Safe D · Election: November 3, 2026 · Ballot checked: October 9, 2026 · Positions captured: August 1, 2026 In California's 12th Congressional District, incumbent Democrat Lateefah Simon faces Democratic challenger Jamie Joyce in a top-two general election. The election hinges on competing progressive approaches to legislative strategy, government oversight, artificial intelligence regulation, public safety, mass transit, and housing affordability. ## Candidates - **Lateefah Simon** (Democrat, incumbent) · [Campaign site](https://www.lateefahsimon.com) · [Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Lateefah_Simon) - **Jamie Joyce** (Democrat) ## Issues ### Artificial intelligence, government surveillance, and oversight Salience: high Joyce advocates passing her pre-drafted 650-page MAD Act to set hard guardrails on AI and executive surveillance, whereas Simon emphasizes judicial ethics, campaign finance disclosures, and stock trading bans. **Lateefah Simon:** Supports government transparency and judicial reforms Simon focuses her oversight agenda on reducing dark money in politics, banning stock trading for members of Congress and federal judges, and reforming the judiciary. She supports Supreme Court term limits, expanding the number of justices, and enforcing an ethics code, and she voted to release investigative materials related to Jeffrey Epstein. - Supports banning stock trading and ownership for members of Congress and federal judges - Advocates expanding the Supreme Court, imposing judicial term limits, and enforcing a strict code of conduct - Voted YEA on the Epstein Files Transparency Act (H.R. 4405) to publish unclassified investigative materials > “As a member of Congress, I will aim to reduce the influence of big money interest in politics by eliminating secret corporate spending in elections, promoting transparency and accountability in government, and supporting a ban on stock trading and ownership for members of Congress and the Federal Judiciary.” > — Lateefah Simon, via [Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Lateefah_Simon) **Jamie Joyce:** Supports MAD Act for AI guardrails Joyce centers her campaign on passing her 650-page drafted legislation, the MAD Act, to place hard limits on government surveillance, dark money, and artificial intelligence. She advocates organizing a voting bloc of 11 or more House members to leverage legislative power and demand structural reform. - Drafted the 650-page MAD Act to set guardrails on AI, limit government surveillance, and enforce dark money disclosure - Proposes building a voting bloc of 11+ House members to withhold votes from bills that do not serve voters first - Advocates modernizing Congress internally with tech tools to counter executive overreach and corporate influence > “So I wrote the MAD Act, 650 pages of real legislation, drafted and ready. It puts teeth on dark money disclosure, hard limits on surveillance, guardrails on AI, and real accountability for the Epstein network.” > — Jamie Joyce, via Ballotpedia > “One of our greatest challenges is structural: we have an overpowered executive branch with increasing capabilities in surveillance, AI, and military force that exceed any countervailing power available to Congress or the people.” > — Jamie Joyce, via Ballotpedia ### Public safety and criminal justice reform Salience: high Simon promotes community-based non-police interventions and nationalizing BART's ambassador program, while Joyce offers no detailed standalone public safety platform in the provided sources. **Lateefah Simon:** Supports community safety and police reform Simon emphasizes a community-first approach to public safety grounded in her 30 years of advocacy. She pioneered non-police BART safety ambassadors and anti-recidivism programs, and in Congress she introduced legislation to nationalize the transit ambassador model. - Introduced legislation to nationalize BART's unarmed, de-escalation-trained transit ambassador program - Created the Back on Track anti-recidivism program for young adult offenders in the San Francisco District Attorney's office - Supports comprehensive policing reform, closing federal gun law loopholes, and funding addiction and mental health services - Voted NAY on the Laken Riley Act and DUI deportation legislation > “For over 30 years, I have been an advocate for public safety. I started the nationally recognized Back-on-Track program in then-DA Harris’ office to prevent recidivism.” > — Lateefah Simon, via [Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Lateefah_Simon) > “In Congress, I will support comprehensive policing reform to ensure that policing reflects community values and upholds civil rights and reinvests resources in communities.” > — Lateefah Simon, via [Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Lateefah_Simon) **Jamie Joyce:** No documented position in our sources ### Housing affordability and homelessness Salience: high Simon advocates for federal renter tax credits and tenant protections, whereas Joyce outlines no explicit housing platform in the sources. **Lateefah Simon:** Supports rent relief and public housing Simon views housing as a fundamental human right and supports tenant protections, tenant unions, and public housing investments. She champions federal Rent Relief legislation to create refundable tax credits for cost-burdened renters. - Supports federal Rent Relief legislation providing refundable tax credits to renters paying more than 30% of income on rent - Advocates for tenant protections, lifting up tenant unions, and revitalizing public housing infrastructure - Supported California SB 567, the Homelessness Prevention Act > “As a Congresswoman, I will always prioritize protecting housing as a human right.” > — Lateefah Simon, via [Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Lateefah_Simon) **Jamie Joyce:** No documented position in our sources ### Immigration and border policy Salience: medium Simon explicitly opposes linking local law enforcement offenses to federal deportation, while Joyce has no documented immigration positions in the sources. **Lateefah Simon:** Supports humane immigration system reform Simon supports creating a fair and humane immigration system that expands legal pathways to work authorization and citizenship. She advocates disentangling local law enforcement from federal immigration enforcement and opposed Republican-led immigration enforcement bills. - Advocates expanding legal pathways to citizenship and work authorization - Supports separating the criminal justice system from federal immigration enforcement - Voted NAY on the Laken Riley Act (S. 5) and the Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act (H.R. 875) > “work to create a fair and humane immigration system that would disentangle the criminal system from the immigration system and expand legal pathways to work authorization and citizenship.” > — Lateefah Simon, via [Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Lateefah_Simon) **Jamie Joyce:** No documented position in our sources ### Transportation and infrastructure Salience: medium Simon uses her position on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to advocate for federal mass transit funding, whereas Joyce provides no transit policy details. **Lateefah Simon:** Supports expanded federal mass transit funding Drawing on her background as a BART Director and board president, Simon prioritizes reliable public transit access. She serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and introduced federal legislation based on Bay Area transit models. - Serves on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure - Led the BART Board through the pandemic to secure operational funding for transit-dependent workers - Introduced the RIDER Act to nationalize BART's transit safety ambassador model > “Through my experience on the BART Board of Directors, my daily commutes on public transportation, and being born legally blind, I know first hand how transportation touches every person’s life.” > — Lateefah Simon, via [Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Lateefah_Simon) **Jamie Joyce:** No documented position in our sources ### Healthcare and reproductive freedom Salience: medium Simon emphasizes codifying abortion rights and protecting federal healthcare funding, while Joyce does not articulate a specific healthcare platform. **Lateefah Simon:** Supports codifying reproductive rights and healthcare funding Simon views high-quality healthcare as a fundamental human right and advocates codifying federal protections for reproductive care. She helped lead efforts to restore federal health funding cuts in the House. - Advocates codifying federal protections for abortion and reproductive healthcare - Promotes access to high-quality healthcare as a fundamental human right - Claimed victory alongside Bay Area Democrats in reversing a $1.9 billion federal cut in health funding > “I will champion comprehensive policing reform, expand voting rights, codify protections for reproductive care, and work to create a fair and humane immigration system” > — Lateefah Simon, via [Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Lateefah_Simon) **Jamie Joyce:** No documented position in our sources ## Polls and markets _Updated Oct 31._ - [Polymarket](https://polymarket.com/event/ca-12-house-election-winner) — CA-12 House Election Winner: Democrats 97.4%, Republicans 1.6% - [Kalshi](https://kalshi.com/events/KXCAELECTION-2612) — CA-12 House winner?: Lateefah Simon 97.0%, Jamie Joyce 2.0% [View this race on 2026election.com](https://www.2026election.com/race/2026-house-ca-12)