San Diego Democratic House members largely skip Trump’s 2026 State of the Union amid widening protests

Delegation split emerges as multiple representatives cite concerns over immigration enforcement, governance and institutional norms

Most of San Diego County’s Democratic members of Congress did not attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address delivered at the U.S. Capitol on February 24, 2026, a high-profile break from a tradition in which lawmakers from both parties typically appear in the House chamber for the annual speech.

Representatives Scott Peters and Juan Vargas publicly said they would not be in attendance. Peters said it was his first time skipping a State of the Union since taking office in 2013. Vargas said he was boycotting the address. Their absence aligned with a broader national pattern: roughly half of Democratic lawmakers in Congress were not present when the speech began, as Democrats pursued a mix of nonattendance, alternative events and other forms of protest.

The San Diego-area delegation’s decisions reflected different approaches within the party. Peters said he was not attending but did not frame his decision as a formal boycott. Vargas used the term boycott and tied his decision to concerns about immigration enforcement and the overall direction of federal governance.

Not all San Diego-area Democrats took the same approach. Representative Mike Levin of the 49th District did not announce that he would skip the address; instead, his office said he planned to bring as his guest Stephanie Quintino, whose parents were deported after decades in Southern California following a detention during a routine immigration check-in. Quintino said she planned to attend to highlight the impact of mass deportation operations on families.

The address itself unfolded against a tense political backdrop in Washington. The speech drew multiple forms of Democratic dissent inside and outside the chamber, including organized counter-programming and walkouts. Early in the event, Representative Al Green of Texas was removed from the House floor after holding up a protest sign referencing a racist depiction that had circulated earlier in the month.

With many Democrats absent, party leaders also urged members who attended to avoid disruptions that could overshadow their message.

For San Diego, the boycott and nonattendance underscored how national political conflict is increasingly filtering into local representation choices—both in whether to participate in major institutional events and in how members use those events to spotlight policy disputes, particularly around immigration enforcement and the treatment of mixed-status families.

• Two San Diego-area Democrats, Peters and Vargas, announced they would not attend.
• Levin’s office said he planned to attend with a guest affected by immigration enforcement.
• Nationally, Democratic absences were widespread, with alternative events held outside the Capitol.