Scott Peters
Scott Peters, a Democrat who has served in the U.S. House since 2013 and has represented California's 50th congressional district since 2023, faces Republican Steve Cohen, a former television news director, in 2026.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
Live TruthIndex™ and prediction market consensus for races contested by Scott Peters.
- Born
- June 17, 1958
- Birthplace
- Springfield, Ohio
- Education
- Duke University (undergraduate degree, 1980)
New York University School of Law (Juris Doctor, 1984)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Scott Peters was born on June 17, 1958, in Springfield, Ohio, and raised in Michigan, the son of a Lutheran minister and a homemaker. He paid for college partly through student loans and a work-study program, and received his undergraduate degree from Duke University in 1980.
Peters then worked as an economist on the staff of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency before earning a Juris Doctor from the New York University School of Law in 1984.
He later worked as a deputy county counsel for San Diego County and as an attorney in private practice focusing on environmental law.
Career
Peters won a seat on the San Diego City Council from the 1st district in 2000 and was re-elected in 2004, serving until 2008. In 2005 his colleagues elected him the first president of the city council under the city's new mayor-council form of government.
He also served one term on the California Coastal Commission beginning in 2002 and, after a third-place finish in the 2008 race for San Diego city attorney, was a port commissioner from 2009 through 2012, chairing the Port Commission in 2011.
In 2012 Peters won the newly drawn 52nd congressional district, defeating Republican incumbent Brian Bilbray 51% to 49%, and in 2014 he held the seat against Carl DeMaio with 51.59%. After his district became the 50th, he was re-elected in 2022 with 62.8% over Republican Corey Gustafson.
In the 119th Congress he serves on the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on the Budget, and he is vice-chair of the New Democrat Coalition.
2026 race
Scott Peters is the incumbent in California's 50th congressional district, where he was re-elected in 2024 with 64.3% of the vote. In the top-two primary he placed first with 48.15%, and Republican Steve Cohen, a former news director of KUSI-TV, finished second with 39.79%, ahead of Democrat Aishwarya "Sparky" Mitra with 8.01%. Peters and Cohen advanced to the general election on November 3, 2026.