WASHINGTON — California’s crop of newly elected members of Congress pulled off a remarkable feat in the midterms, unseating battle-tested Republican incumbents and reshaping the state’s political map — and their early days visiting Capitol Hill show that these political newbies are comfortable jumping into the middle of a tough fight.

On their first major vote this week, Southern California Rep.-elect Gil Cisneros stood alone among the Golden State’s seven new House members by joining the rebel Democrats trying to block Nancy Pelosi from returning as Speaker of the House, saying he had campaigned on new leadership.

His incoming Los Angeles County colleague, Katie Hill, on the other hand, delivered an impassioned nominating speech for Pelosi at a party caucus meeting. Giving Pelosi the boot after a banner year for female candidates “just reeks of sexism, and I wasn’t OK with that,” Hill said in an interview.

The debate over Pelosi was just the first of many balancing acts the new Democratic members will have to pull off over the next two years as they navigate the task of representing districts that have historically voted Republican. They’ll also need to weigh investigations of the Trump administration with fighting for their own agendas and figure out how to build a legislative record when the GOP controls the other branches of government.

They got an early taste of that challenge during the past two weeks of new-member orientation, a mix of first-day-of-school bustle, closed-door political strategizing and getting lost in the mazelike tunnels that snake under the Capitol complex.

“They’re energetic, they’re idealistic, and they’re not afraid to speak up,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, the chair of California’s Democratic delegation, who’s shepherded the new members during their first days.

Not only are these fresh-faced Democrats new to D.C., they are all first-timers as elected officials, period. The group of Californians come with a range of different experiences, from a law professor who studied under Sen. Elizabeth Warren to a venture capital investor who helped fund Blue Apron. They include California’s first Filipino-American member of Congress, first openly bisexual member, and first member to have won $266 million in a lottery jackpot.

And while they agree on many issues, they span the ideological spectrum, with four joining the Congressional Progressive Caucus and three joining the moderate New Democrat Coalition. Hill signed on with both groups.

“We all have shared interests as Californians, but we also have to represent the people of our own districts,” said environmental lawyer Mike Levin, a progressive who strongly backed Pelosi, as he scoped out office space Friday.

The new representatives also bring more youthful energy to a Golden State delegation full of Capitol Hill veterans — all of the newcomers are under the average age of the current House, 57 years, with Hill and the Central Valley’s Josh Harder just 31 and 32.

“I’m so happy to see there’s someone who looks younger than me,” baby-faced Pennsylvania Rep. Brendan Boyle told Harder as the two strode down a hallway Wednesday.

Most of the newbies won their elections only after extended vote counts, causing a flap between House Speaker Paul Ryan and state officials. TJ Cox eked out a narrow victory on Wednesday, three weeks after news organizations called the race for his opponent. He closely studied his vote totals before deciding to jump on a red-eye flight to D.C. on Monday night.

Harder learned that he had officially won his race while he was in the middle of a late-night Capitol tour with the other Democratic freshmen, which ended with their first steps onto the House floor.

“It sounds a little cheesy, but when you’re there, it’s pretty cool,” Harder said. “You can’t believe you’re sitting in this hall talking about this tradition you’re suddenly a part of.”

Thursday in Washington, and I’m a woman about town. New cards, TV interview, got my ID badge to hang outside the Longworth Building. Thanks to all whose support made this possible! #ElectWomen pic.twitter.com/vH5xlvGxMO — Katie Porter (@katieporteroc) November 29, 2018

Their wins helped swell California’s Democratic delegation in the House to 46 members, a record high and more than double the size of the next-largest group of Democrats, New York’s 21 members. One out of every five House Democrats will be from California come next year, and one out of every four will be new to Congress.

They’re ready to use the power that comes with those numbers. In a letter to House leadership, freshmen from California and other states argued for reforms giving their class representation among the top committees and more influence over the party agenda.

“We’re the majority makers,” said Hill, who was elected to a leadership position among the class. “We should be looking at seniority not just as when you were elected to Congress, but what you’ve done in the past.”

The newbies are well aware that they’re facing voters again in two years in districts that consistently voted Republican not so long ago.

“They really can’t take anything for granted,” said Bob Shrum, a longtime Democratic strategist and a political science professor at the University of Southern California. “They have to work their districts hard. They have to be there all the time. Look at some of the Republicans who lost those races — that’s what they didn’t do.”

With that in mind, the new Democrats are vowing to work across the aisle and focus on policies that have bipartisan appeal. During their campaigns, they generally talked about bread-and-butter issues such as protecting the Affordable Care Act and investing in infrastructure — and avoided endorsing more controversial proposals such as eliminating the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency or impeaching President Trump.

In the meetings so far, “We’re not talking about any of that,” said Cox. “We’re talking about having a Congress that is accountable to the people and working for the people.”

Several said they were making a point at building relationships with members across the aisle — and chafing against the partisan tint of some social activities that made up orientation, starting on day one, when freshman Democrats and Republicans got on separate buses to be whisked to separate meetings.

“It’s completely absurd, because I don’t have the luxury of getting re-elected if only the Democrats vote for me,” Harder said.

Thank you to Congressman Rohrabacher for having me to his office today and offering his help in this transition. This is how Democracy works. A spirited exchange of ideas leading to working together for common good. pic.twitter.com/v3i14oQRPr — Harley Rouda (@HarleyRouda) November 28, 2018

In one display of bipartisanship, Orange County businessman Harley Rouda sat down with his former opponent, Republican Dana Rohrabacher, in a meeting Wednesday that both described as friendly despite their acrimonious race. The 30-year incumbent explained that Rouda will inherit his spacious office — instead of being shunted into the office lottery and ending up with a smaller one — because their race hadn’t been called right away.

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Letters: Power and housing | Vote on zoning | Fallen heroes | Lacking leadership “Had I conceded right off the bat, Harley would have ended up in a little cubbyhole,” Rohrabacher said in an interview. “I have a beautiful view of the Capitol out of my window — usually the freshmen have a beautiful view of a wall.”

“It says something good about America that we can have a knock-down, drag-out fight and still treat each other well after the dust settles.”