A former Republican stronghold in California has been redrawn to favor Democratic candidates — pitting Democrats against each other in a high-profile race to be the district’s next representative in Congress, report CalMatters’ Nadia Lathan and Deborah Brennan.
After President Donald Trump pushed Texas Republicans to create five additional GOP seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, California voters passed Proposition 50 last year to gerrymander the state in a way that could enable Democrats to regain the House in the midterm elections.
The result shifted California’s 48th congressional district — a once deep red district — to slightly blue, and prompted U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican who represented the San Diego area in Congress for more than two decades, to end his reelection bid last month.
With the district now up for grabs, Democratic support has been divided between two leading candidates: San Diego Councilmember Marni von Wilpert and Ammar Campa-Najjar, a former public affairs official for President Barack Obama.
During the California Democratic Party convention in February, von Wilpert won more than half of delegates’ votes, but failed to meet the 60% threshold for an official party endorsement. Campa-Najjar, meanwhile, received 18%.
Both candidates have openly criticized one another over the course of their campaigns: Von Wilpert accused Campa-Najjar of being anti-LGBTQ for questioning whether she could win voters outside the gay-friendly Palm Springs, and Campa-Najjar accused von Wilpert of racism for questioning his name changes and residence.
The two Democrats must also contend with San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, the Republican candidate whom Issa endorsed upon his retirement. Because the top two vote-getters in the June primary will face off in November, regardless of party, Desmond is expected to secure one of those spots as GOP support coalesces around him.
Positioning himself as a moderate who is not as closely affiliated with Trump as Issa was, Desmond has outraised both von Wilpert and Campa-Najjar, and is viewed among Democrats as a tough opponent to beat despite the redrawn district.
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Other Stories You Should Know
Carlsbad resident loses fight with HOA
A California judge last week told a homeowner that he’s in the wrong for converting the garage of his condo into a rental unit, writes CalMatters’ Ben Christopher.
In a court dispute highlighting the ambiguous role homeowners associations play in state housing policy, Superior Court Judge Victor Torres on Friday ruled against Adam Hardesty, a Carlsbad resident who tried to turn his condo’s garage into a standalone accessory dwelling unit to rent out.
Hardesty cited a 2019 law that voids any HOA rule that “prohibits or unreasonably restricts” the construction of ADUs. But in an attempt to stop his plans, Hardesty’s HOA sued, arguing that the law only applies to areas “zoned for single-family residential use,” and doesn’t apply to condo developments.
In his ruling, Torres sided with the HOA, saying that if the Legislature wanted to include condos, it would have easily done so by adding language to make it more explicit.
CA stalls at restoring truck licenses
The California DMV has yet to restore the trucking licenses of thousands of immigrant drivers, despite a court order in February directing the state to give drivers a chance to do so, writes CalMatters’ Adam Echelman.
Last year the U.S. Department of Transportation issued new regulations prohibiting certain immigrants from holding commercial trucking licenses. As many as 61,000 California truck drivers will lose their licenses in the coming years, and about 13,000 drivers have already lost their licenses in the state.
Many of the affected drivers are asylum seekers who have a legal right to live and work in the U.S. Singh, for example, has two kids and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. (CalMatters is only using his first name because he fears he will be targeted by immigration officials.) Singh is legally able to live and work in the U.S., but the green card he applied for three years ago has yet to arrive. Singh lost his commercial license in March after the federal policy change, and can no longer drive his truck, support his family or pay the monthly loan payments for his truck.
Multiple lawsuits have been filed to restore the licenses of immigrants like Singh, including one that prompted the February order. But the DMV has not reissued any because of pressure from the federal transportation department, which has threatened to withhold federal highway funds from the state.
And lastly: CA ends funding for salmon restoration
In 2024 Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a partnership between the state and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe to restore the imperiled winter-run Chinook salmon to their ancestral waters in the Sacramento River. But tribe officials say the state is now ending its support, and efforts to save the sacred fish could come to a grinding halt. Read more from CalMatters’ Rachel Becker.
California Voices
Most California legislators wouldn’t dream of letting the Trump administration make it harder to get public records, yet a Democratic bill in the Legislature would do exactly that, writes David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition.
The Legislature must reject Newsom’s proposal to cut $1 billion from Medi-Cal Dental because it would mean fewer providers, longer waitlists and worse health outcomes for the 15 million Californians who rely on the program, writes Pat Hornbecker, retired dental hygienist and disability rights advocate.
Other things worth your time:
House Democrats to hold CA ‘shadow hearings’ on midterm election security // Los Angeles Times
CA election experts sound alarm as rate of rejected ballots quadruples // Los Angeles Times
Trump announces ‘fraud’ crackdown in Democratic states as arrests begin in CA // The Guardian
Judge blocks Trump’s college admissions data push in 17 states, including CA // Politico
These CA research stations prepare for fire risk. The Trump administration is shutting them down // San Francisco Chronicle
UC execs sit on boards of university vendors. A new bill would outlaw these financial ties // San Francisco Chronicle
Who controls your home insurance? A high-stakes CA race could decide // San Francisco Chronicle
Trump asks Congress for $152M to reopen Alcatraz // KQED
Writers Guild of America and Hollywood studios reach tentative contract agreement // LAist
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