Maxine Waters is headed back to Washington. The 88-year-old Democrat has won reelection to represent California's 43rd Congressional District, which stretches across Inglewood, Compton, Hawthorne and Torrance, extending a congressional career that began in 1990.
NBC News projected the win, according to NBC Los Angeles, with the race called as ballots continued to be tallied statewide. The outlet reported that Waters had captured 81.8 percent of the vote, totaling 74,762 ballots, against Republican challenger Cristian Morales, who drew 18.2 percent, or 16,631 votes, with the NBC News Decision Desk noting that 56.5 percent of expected votes had been counted at the time of the projection. The margin tracked with the June primary, when Waters pulled in roughly four times as many votes as Morales, per the same report.
Tuesday's election marked the first general election held under California's newly redrawn congressional maps, a change voters approved last year through Proposition 50, according to NBC Los Angeles. Republicans had held a slight edge in the House heading into the November election, the station reported, raising the stakes for races like this one even in a seat as safely Democratic as the 43rd.
A District Rooted in South LA and the South Bay
The 43rd District has a sizable Black and Latino population and has long been considered one of Waters' political strongholds, encompassing South Los Angeles and South Bay communities including Inglewood, Compton, Hawthorne and Torrance, per NBC Los Angeles's reporting. Waters, known affectionately by supporters as Aunty Maxine, has represented versions of this district since she was first elected to Congress in 1990, following 14 years in the California State Assembly, where she served as Democratic Caucus chair.
Her political resume extends well beyond Sacramento and the district lines. She has served on the Democratic National Committee since 1980 and has played key roles in five presidential campaigns, according to the same NBC Los Angeles report.
Eyeing the Financial Services Gavel Again
Waters is expected to lead the House Financial Services Committee again if Democrats retake the chamber, a panel that oversees the banking industry, housing and financial markets. She chaired the committee from 2019 to 2023, becoming the first woman and first African American to hold that gavel, per NBC Los Angeles.
She has led Democrats on the panel since 2012, according to Punchbowl News, and has made clear she has no intention of stepping aside. Punchbowl News reports she intends to hold the leadership post “for a lot more time.” Earlier this year, Waters was similarly direct with NBC News, which described her as the top Democrat on the Financial Services Committee and noted she has served in Congress since 1991. “My work is not finished, and I don't know if it will ever be finished,” she told the outlet.
Part of a Broader Pattern in an Aging Congress
Waters's continued run fits a wider trend NBC News has tracked among the chamber's oldest members. Of the two dozen members of the Silent Generation serving in the 119th Congress, more than half — 13 lawmakers — decided to run again in 2026, the network reported. That generation's ranks in Congress have still shrunk sharply, falling from 39 members in 2021 to just 24 in 2025, per the same report.
Waters isn't alone in defying retirement talk at an advanced age. In the Senate, Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley remains the chamber's oldest sitting member at 93, according to ABC News, currently serving his eighth Senate term, which is set to expire on January 3, 2029.
Past Ethics Scrutiny
Waters has weathered scrutiny during her decades in office, including an ethics matter tied to allegations that she improperly used her influence to help a bank secure federal funding. The House Committee on Ethics described the matter as involving a conflict-of-interest allegation connected to OneUnited Bank, in which Waters's husband held stock and had previously served on the board. The committee unanimously found that the evidence did not establish, by clear and convincing evidence, that Waters violated House rules; it also found that her chief of staff acted on behalf of the bank and issued him a letter of reproval.
For now, voters in the 43rd District have sent her back for another term, continuing a congressional tenure that began in 1991.
