![\"Lauren](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2D5A9636.jpeg\")
Lauren Babb Tomlinson joins the crowded race for California\u2019s 6th District House seat. Courtesy of Lauren Babb Tomlinson.<\/p>\nLauren Babb Tomlinson still remembers sitting at her grandmother\u2019s kitchen table in Detroit, carefully practicing cursive and writing letters to City Hall about potholes and broken streetlights.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was how I learned that government is supposed to work for people,\u201d she says. \u201cIf something\u2019s wrong, you speak up and ask them to fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now 33, the longtime labor organizer and reproductive rights advocate wants to be the one answering those letters.<\/p>\n
Tomlinson has entered the race for California\u2019s newly redrawn 6th Congressional District, staking her campaign on health care access and the rising cost of living for working families. She joins a competitive field that includes Sacramento District Attorney Thien Ho, former state Sen. Richard Pan, and West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero.<\/p>\n
The seat is open because Rep. Ami Bera is running in a neighboring district under the newly drawn congressional map. Portions of the redrawn district previously were represented by Republican Kevin Kiley, who has not publicly announced which district he plans to seek in 2026.<\/p>\n
With no incumbent on the ballot, the contest is expected to be one of the region\u2019s most closely watched of the cycle.<\/p>\n
Under California\u2019s updated congressional map, the 6th District stretches across much of northern and eastern Sacramento County, including parts of Sacramento, Arden-Arcade, Citrus Heights, Fair Oaks, Antelope and Rancho Cordova, and extends west into West Sacramento. It also reaches into parts of Placer County, including Roseville and Rocklin, communities that tend to lean more conservative than Sacramento\u2019s urban core.<\/p>\n
The mix of older suburban neighborhoods, working-class communities and fast-growing exurbs has produced an electorate that is both politically diverse and older than those of many neighboring districts, setting up what could be a competitive general election.<\/p>\n
California\u2019s top-two primary is scheduled for Tuesday, June 2. Mail ballots are expected to begin going out to voters in early May, with early in-person voting opening in the days before Election Day. Under California\u2019s election rules, the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to November. If a candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the primary, they win outright and the general election for that seat is canceled.<\/p>\n
Lauren Babb Tomlinson joins the crowded race for California\u2019s 6th District House seat. Courtesy of Lauren Babb Tomlinson.<\/p>\n
Tomlinson traces her interest in public service to childhood.<\/p>\n
Born and raised in Detroit, she says her grandmother \u2014 who raised six children on a union job and Social Security after Tomlinson\u2019s grandfather died \u2014 impressed on her how government programs could keep families afloat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was my first lesson in how government is supposed to take care of the most vulnerable,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
She later studied political science at American University and political management at George Washington University in Washington, then went to work as an organizer.<\/p>\n
Her early career took her across the West Coast with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, helping recruit workers and build retiree chapters. She later worked for the United Auto Workers at UC Berkeley and UC Davis, organizing postdoctoral researchers.<\/p>\n
Five years ago, her husband\u2019s job brought the family to Sacramento, where they bought a home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always been fascinated with how government works and how you actually move policy that improves people\u2019s lives,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Tomlinson says her political identity sharpened most during her years with Planned Parenthood, where she served in public affairs and government relations roles in Northern California and beyond.<\/p>\n
She returned to the organization as the fall of Roe v. Wade loomed, saying it felt urgent to protect access to reproductive and primary care.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a shock,\u201d she says. \u201cWe knew it was coming. But it showed how fragile access really is.\u201d<\/p>\n
She points to several wins: securing $1.2 million in funding for health centers in Nevada during a special legislative session; working with a Republican governor and lawmakers from both parties to keep clinics open; and helping advance legislation in California to make it easier for new clinics to open.<\/p>\n
One of those efforts grew out of a fight in Visalia, where a planned health center faced local opposition and city officials revoked its conditional use permit after nearby businesses objected. Tomlinson says the episode exposed how easily local governments could stall or block health care facilities for political reasons.<\/p>\n
Working with Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, she helped push Assembly Bill 2085, which streamlined the approval process for reproductive and primary care clinics.<\/p>\n
The law limited the ability of cities and counties to deny or delay permits based solely on the type of services provided, effectively treating reproductive health centers like other medical offices under zoning rules and preventing local officials from blocking clinics for political reasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a lot of communities, if that clinic closes, there\u2019s nowhere else to go,\u201d Tomlinson says. \u201cThis was about making sure a city council couldn\u2019t decide whether people get health care.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the campaign trail, Tomlinson frequently talks less about ideology and more about what she calls \u201ckitchen-table issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the mother of a 1-year-old son, she says rising costs feel immediate.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy child care bill is almost more than my mortgage,\u201d she says. \u201cGroceries are up. Prescriptions are up. Families are choosing between paying rent and getting their medication. That\u2019s not how it should be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her platform includes raising the federal minimum wage, strengthening unions and collective bargaining rights, expanding child care and paid leave, and cracking down on corporate price gouging.<\/p>\n
She also supports federal efforts to lower prescription drug prices and health insurance costs, arguing Congress can directly target expenses people feel most: housing, health care and energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe might not be able to magically make everything cheaper overnight,\u201d she says, \u201cbut we can lower everyday costs and make sure wages actually keep up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tomlinson has begun building early institutional support for her campaign, earning endorsements from Congressional Black Caucus PAC, Voter Protection Project and Leaders We Deserve.<\/p>\n
Unlike the rest of the field, Tomlinson hasn\u2019t held elected office, which she pitches as an asset rather than a liability.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m someone who\u2019s spent my career organizing, fighting for health care, fighting for working families,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
The district\u2019s large share of seniors and working households mirrors the communities she has worked with for years, she says, from union retirees to patients relying on safety-net clinics.<\/p>\n
If elected, Tomlinson also would be among a small but growing number of Black women representing California in Congress, following leaders such as Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters and Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m standing on the shoulders of giants,\u201d she says. \u201cBlack women have always been on the front lines of this work. Now it\u2019s our turn to lead.\u201d<\/p>\n
She then returns to the image that started it all \u2014 a child writing letters about cracked streets.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day,\u201d she says, \u201cI\u2019m still that kid who thinks government should fix what\u2019s broken.\u201d<\/p>\n
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