Michael Stansfield, a 50-year-old tech support worker, decided to run as a Republican in his congressional district in the suburbs of California's capital to make a statement about the need for peace in the Middle East.
The ex-seminary student and father of two took out a loan against his home to pay for the $17,000 cost of filing the various forms to run for the seat. He received no other donations. He had no visible campaign and no staff.
Yet on Wednesday, the day after California's primary, Stansfield had done well enough with voters to be holding on to second place, potentially locking Democrats out of the November general election in a U.S. House race that the party had put at the center of its national redistricting strategy.
“I wanted to show Christianity and Judaism a God from the Bible who loves Muslims,” Stansfield said in a telephone interview before rushing to his son's sixth-grade graduation. “I wasn't necessarily going after it to win a race.”
It is too soon to know which two candidates will advance in the 6th Congressional District, but the early results are already serving as a cautionary tale about the assumptions both major parties make when they gerrymander political boundaries to expand their power. California Democrats won voter approval last year to redraw the state's congressional map as a way to counter Republican moves elsewhere before this year's midterm elections. Democrats had planned on gaining five seats in the state, and one was the 6th District, which stretches from Sacramento into Republican-leaning suburbs to the east.
Democrats assumed that one of the top two finishers would be a member of their party. But Stansfield's showing is evidence that the best-laid partisan mapmaking plans can go awry when they run into the unpredictable reality of campaign politics.
Kevin Kiley is the congressman whose conservative district was split in two and fused with a more Democratic area. Kiley, who left the Republican Party and filed to run as an independent and has nabbed the largest share of votes so far. That left Stansfield the only candidate on the ballot with an “R” next to his name, helping him land, for now, above the nine Democrats who split the majority of the votes recorded at this point.
Both Democratic and Republican strategists expect heavily Democratic-leaning mail ballots that comprise the tens of thousands and have yet to be counted to break for the party's candidates, making it likely one of them supplants Stansfield in the final tally.
“I would think there'd be an advantage to Democrats,” said Rob Stutzman, a GOP consultant in Sacramento.
The state allows mail ballots to count if they are postmarked by Election Day and received up to seven days afterward. Officials also must contact each mail voter whose signature does not match the one on file and offer that voter a chance of proving identity in other ways. Close races in the state often take weeks to resolve.
Stansfield, who said he is married to a Muslim woman from the Middle East and was kicked out of seminary for arguing that Palestinians have a biblical right to the Holy Land, has made a quixotic run for Congress before. In 2018, he sought an Oregon congressional seat as a Democrat, a party he joined after the Iraq War.
He ended up losing badly in that primary, receiving about 4% of the vote in a district that included part of Portland, but a candidate survey he completed at the time offered more insight into his views. In a response to a question about his top priorities if elected, Stansfield said, among other things, that he was “against ignorance in all its forms.”
“If we are ever going to call ourselves a tolerant society we need to learn to embrace the diversity of our world with love,” he wrote.
In the questionnaire, he described himself as Jewish and said one of the public policies he was most passionate about was supplying water and medical equipment in Gaza.
Stansfield said he left the Democratic Party after the Israel-Hamas war broke out, during Democrat Joe Biden's presidency, and over what he described as the “genocide” in Gaza. After moving to California, he decided to run in the congressional district before last year's redrawing and when it was reliably conservative because he wanted his message to reach as many Republican voters as possible.
“I wanted to go to the Republican Party and say ‘Guys, I love you, but you’ve messed up,'” Stansfield said.
He had no idea he would end up in such a potentially pivotal role.
Democrats had fretted about being locked out of one of the five seats they expected to gain in their redistricting bid, but their concern was centered on a San Diego-area district where they had a similarly broad field of candidates. One of them, San Diego City Councilwoman Marni von Wilpert, surged ahead to secure a spot in the general election and will face Republican Jim Desmond, a San Diego County Supervisor, in November.
In another redrawn congressional district, Republican Rep. Ken Calvert secured a slot on the November ballot after a bruising campaign against fellow Republican Rep. Young Kim. The second slot in that race was still up for grabs on Wednesday.
Three veteran Democratic members of Congress who were challenged by younger upstarts from within their party seemed to have avoided upsets.
Reps. Brad Sherman and Mike Thompson emerged as the top voter-getters in their respective races and will move on to the general election. Rep. Doris Matsui was leading the tally Wednesday in her Sacramento district, although it remained uncertain which two candidates would move on to the general election.
Associated Press writer Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon, contributed to this report.
Voters cast their ballots for the California primary election on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif.. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
A voter casts her ballot for the California primary election on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif.. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
PARIS (AP) — After letting another big lead slip with an error-strewn performance at the French Open, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka felt like getting as far away from the courts as possible.
“Just want to quit tennis right now,” Sabalenka said after wasting a lead of a set and two breaks in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss to Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. “We’ll see in few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.”
Sabalenka's wait for a first French Open title continues despite the four-time major winner leading 4-1 in the second set and being two points from victory while serving for the match at 5-4. What followed was a complete collapse as she lost 12 of the last 13 games against a player appearing in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, looking increasingly frustrated and forlorn in the windy conditions.
Just like her loss to Coco Gauff in last year's final, when she also won the first set before becoming undone with a slew of unforced errors, this one will take some time to get over.
“You know those rooms where you just go in and you smash everything,” Sabalenka said. “Probably I will spend a whole day tomorrow over there destroying stuff. Maybe it will help, maybe not.”
Shnaider next faces Maja Chwalinska, who extended her remarkable Roland Garros run by beating No. 22-seeded Anna Kalinskaya 7-6 (3), 6-3.
In the men’s quarterfinals, 10th-seeded Flavio Cobolli beat No. 4 Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 and will face fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi for a spot in the final.
Arnaldi advanced when Matteo Berrettini, yet another Italian, retired due to an apparent physical issue with Arnaldi leading 7-5, 5-2.
Berrettini appeared to have his left groin area treated during a medical timeout earlier in the second set.
The strong Italian showing comes despite top-ranked Jannik Sinner getting stunned in the second round.
Second-seeded Alexander Zverev and No. 26 Jakub Mensik will meet in the other semifinal.
Sabalenka stood still and screamed loudly after losing a point to fall 0-30 down in the sixth game of the decider and, although she saved two match points at 0-40 down, she lost when she sent a shot into the net.
“I just think it’s combination of everything,” Sabalenka lamented. “You overthink, then you make easy mistakes, then you miss opportunities.”
Her struggles were reminiscent of the match against Gauff, when she remonstrated loudly, shouting to herself and glaring at her team box.
“I just have to sit back and openly think about what’s going on in my head in those tough moments,” Sabalenka said, recalling that match. “Because I’m quite an experienced player. I have been through so many things, and I overcome so many things.”
Sabalenka had already looked agitated when serving for the first set but still looked in control as she served for the match in the second, holding a 30-15 lead.
“Of course I saw some moments of her frustration,” Shnaider said. “I know Aryna, that she’s a very emotional person."
Shnaider, who was already on her best run at a major, broke Sabelenka before taking complete control.
“Well, honestly I am speechless. Super happy,” Shnaider said. “I feel like I was trying to focus point by point. Not thinking about the score. She is the world No. 1, so I just trying to do my best. I just had to fight for every point.”
Sabalenka looked increasingly frustrated as the third set wore on, and when she missed a volley at the net in the fourth game of the decider she crouched and rested her head on her racket.
It was another big upset in a tournament where defending champion Gauff (third round) and four-time winner Iga Swiatek (fourth round) already tumbled out.
Sinner, last year's runner-up, served for the match in a second-round defeat, and 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic wasted a two-set lead in a third-round loss.
That opened things up for lesser-known players. According to Opta, this is the first major without a former champion in either the men’s and women’s semifinals since the French Open in 1977.
The unseeded Chwalinska came through three qualifying rounds to become only the second Polish woman to reach the semifinals at Roland Garros, along with Swiatek.
Chwalinska said British player Emma Raducanu’s run to the 2021 U.S. Open title as an 18-year-old qualifier had inspired her.
“It was such an impressive run, you know,” Chwalinska recalled. “Also, she was so young.”
When Kalinskaya’s big forehand from the back of the court went out, the 24-year-old Chwalinska had her biggest win, having never been beyond the second round at any major before this tournament.
Chwalinska’s total prize money heading into Roland Garros was $864,030 and reaching the last four here earns her 750,000 euros (about $872,000).
The roof was open on Court Philippe-Chatrier and there was a lot of wind.
“I don’t know why would they keep the roof open when it was crazy windy,” Sabalenka said. “It was very dirty tennis. I don’t know how people could actually just sit there and watch me play.”
Kalinskaya also struggled.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Italy's Flavio Cobolli reacts after winning the quarterfinal tennis match against Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus hugs Russia's Diana Shnaider after the quarterfinal tennis match at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Russia's Diana Shnaider reacts after winning the quarterfinal tennis match against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus reacts after losing the quarterfinal tennis match against Russia's Diana Shnaider at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Russia's Anna Kalinskaya walks off the court after the quarterfinal tennis match against Poland's Maja Chwalinska at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Poland's Maja Chwalinska reacts after winning the quarterfinal tennis match against Russia's Anna Kalinskaya at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Poland's Maja Chwalinska reacts after winning the quarterfinal tennis match against Russia's Anna Kalinskaya at the French Open in Paris, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
