WASHINGTON – Culminating a prolonged decision that often evoked a reality dating show, Rep. Kevin Kiley announced Monday that he would seek reelection in a suburban Sacramento seat that could end his career in Congress.
The Rocklin (Placer County) Republican spent months debating where to run after Californians voted last fall to split his conservative district in a gerrymander intended to elect more Democrats to the House. The new map shuffled the communities that he represents into six different seats, and since then, Kiley has gradually revealed one by one which were out of consideration, like a contestant on “The Bachelor” narrowing down his choices for the final rose. Unlike the state Legislature, members of Congress do not have to live in their district.
He finally shared the winner on Monday, days before the candidate filing deadline: the 6th Congressional District, a slice of the northeastern Sacramento suburbs that includes Kiley’s own home. The seat was drawn to favor a Democrat, thrusting Kiley into an uphill battle for a third term in the House of Representatives.
His decision averts a messy intraparty showdown with Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Modesto, in the safely Republican 5th Congressional District, a behemoth that sprawls from near Lake Tahoe to the Mojave Desert along the eastern border of the state. Kiley will instead face a crowded field that includes former state Sen. Richard Pan and Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho, both Democrats.
“Doing what’s easy and what’s right are often not the same,” Kiley wrote on social media. “While this will be a more challenging race, I believe we can build a winning coalition for common sense.”
Proposition 50, the redistricting ballot measure that more than 64% of voters approved in November, left California’s dwindling number of Republican representatives with few good options. It shifted the lines of the state’s 52 congressional seats with the aim of ousting five GOP incumbents and shoring up five vulnerable Democrats in the upcoming midterm election.
Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed for the plan last year to counter a similar move by Texas Republicans, who launched a national redistricting arms race as President Donald Trump tries to hold onto a historically slim GOP majority in Congress. California could wind up with as few as four Republican House members in the process.
Already, Rep. Ken Calvert, a Palm Desert (Riverside County) Republican whose district also was cracked apart in the gerrymander, has announced that he will challenge Rep. Young Kim, R-Anaheim, for a deep red seat based in Orange County.
Others are staying put in their communities despite the longer odds. Perpetual Democratic target Rep. David Valadao, R-Bakersfield, will try again to hold onto his swing district in the southern Central Valley. And after briefly flirting with carpetbagging to Texas, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Escondido (San Diego County), will seek reelection in a district that now has the most even partisan divide in the state.
This article originally published at After ‘Bachelor’-like countdown, Northern California congressman unveils where he’ll run.