Former U.S. Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, endorsed Doris Matsui for Congress during a debate between Matsui and Sacramento Councilmember Mai Vang on Saturday during the California Democratic Party Convention at Moscone Center West in San Francisco. Pelosi supported Proposition 50, put forward by Gov. Gavin Newsom to redraw California congressional districts to favor Democrats.
JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS
jvillegas@sacbee.com
SAN FRANCISCO
California Democratic Party leaders made the case Saturday at the state party convention at San Francisco’s Moscone Center that the party was poised for a midterm comeback, fresh off victories like the successful passage of Proposition 50, the recent blocking of President Donald Trump’s tariffs by the Supreme Court and plummeting public opinion in the White House after immigration agents shot and killed two people.
Prop. 50, led by Gov. Gavin Newsom, redrew all 52 state congressional districts to make them easier for Democrats to win and retake the House in the November midterms after Trump pressed Republican states to do the same and shore up the slim GOP majority. Experts have predicted the race could net up to five more seats for the Democratic congressional delegation. Democrats in California outnumber Republicans by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.
“In the midterms later this year, we have the chance to use our power in a way that Donald Trump and J.D. Vance won’t ever forget,” U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff told convention-goers. “November is coming, and with it, a reckoning. In every special election since Donald Trump’s election, Democrats have prevailed.”
It’s unclear yet, though, whether redrawing districts or stirring up anger at the White House will automatically translate to voter support for Democrats in formerly conservative and independently-leaning areas. While Prop. 50 and Newsom’s anti-Trump message animated much of the party leadership, voter turnout was low. A recent Quinnipiac University poll put congressional Democrats’ favorability at a record-low 18%.
“Rural communities have been taken for granted for a long time. Yes, Trump has left rural America behind,” said Audrey Denney, a Democrat who is running for the 1st Congressional District to succeed the late Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Oroville. “But the truth is, trust was fraying long before he came on the scene, and Democrats have to own that.”
The 1st Congressional District, which spanned much of the north state, was redrawn via Prop. 50 and shifted to include more liberal voters in parts of the North Bay. After Prop. 50 passed in November, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report predicted a Democrat would win the district, which has been reliably Republican for years.
Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, said Friday that he would also run for the June 2 special election to serve the remainder of LaMalfa’s term until November, along with Denney and Assemblymember James Gallagher, R-Yuba City. Denney and McGuire both declared their intentions to run for the new 1st District seat in November shortly after Prop. 50 passed last year.
Eric Jones is running in the newly redrawn 4th Congressional District that covers Woodland, Yuba City and Napa. He is trying to unseat Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, who has served in Congress for over 25 years.
Jones said he was running to lowering the cost of living, which he said was an issue that effected younger, middle-income and working class people of all political persuasions.
“That’s how you reach out to, the Obama-Trump voter or the Bernie Sander-Trump voter, right? You meet them and you talk about things like child care. You meet them and you talk about things like senior care,” he said. “You talk about things like, ‘how about a tax cut for the middle class and the working class, and how about raising taxes on large corporations?’”
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Salinas, helped orchestrate support among state Democrats for Prop. 50 as Newsom and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi worked to build a national coalition. He said he was confident that volunteers’ engagement, combined with the Legislature’s recent overhauling of environmental laws to spur development, would translate to enthusiasm at the ballot box.
“There’s no lack of resources to get all the work done, but what is encouraging is there is so much energy and excitement to push back on this corrupt administration in Washington,” Rivas said. “The volunteer base is swelling, and so now it’s being structured and organized to put them to work.”
Rep. Dave Min, D-Irvine, is running for reelection in the 47th District, which he described as one of the state’s more affluent and moderate areas.
His constituents were animated last year in particular by mass federal layoffs, brought on by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency and Elon Musk, and the state of democracy.
“That can be a luxury if you’re more concerned with putting food on the table,” Min said.
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Lia Russell covers California’s governor for The Sacramento Bee’s Capitol Bureau. Originally from San Francisco, Lia previously worked for The Baltimore Sun and the Bangor Daily News in Maine.