In the final weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm election, Northern California’s race for the seat held by the late U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, is heating up over issues such as taxes.
In California’s 1st Congressional District, U.S. Rep. James Gallagher, R-Nicolaus, Calif., is running against California state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg. Gallagher, a former California Assembly minority leader, is the incumbent after being elected in a special election during the June primary following LaMalfa’s death in January.
Neither Gallagher or McGuire responded to The Center Square’s request for an interview.
According to Gallagher’s campaign website, he is running for his first full term in Congress with the aim of lowering taxes for Northern Californians, enact more tough-on-crime policies, expand energy production to lower energy prices, continue President Donald Trump’s border security policies and reduce government regulations on farms and businesses.
McGuire, according to his campaign website, is running on a platform of reversing Medicaid cuts, ensuring taxpayer-funded federal broadband money pays for technology in rural communities and restoring federal funding for roads, bridges and other infrastructure, among other policy priorities.
Gallagher received $1.24 million in campaign contributions, and seven of the 19 highest campaign contributions came from the Gallagher for Congress committee. The panel contributed $283,829 from those six campaign contributions. The National Association of Realtors also contributed $5,000 to Gallagher’s campaign, while Electing Majority Making Effective Republican PAC, also known as EMMER PAC, gave three of the top 19 campaign contributions.
Those three contributions added up to $25,000.
BluePAC, or the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association PAC, contributed $5,000.
Other political action committees who gave substantial amounts to Gallagher’s campaign included the Eureka PAC, who contributed twice to give Gallagher’s campaign $10,000, and Eye of the Tiger PAC, which contributed $5,000.
Some of the most impactful bills passed in the California Legislature this year, including a bill that established a tax on digital software, garnered McGuire’s support. He voted in favor of that bill twice this year when it came up for a vote on the Senate floor. Gallagher did not vote on that bill this year, in large part because he resigned his post as an Assembly member after he won the special election in June to represent Congressional District 1. His last day in the Assembly was June 8, as reported by The Center Square.
Another bill, which established a tax on managed health care organizations, passed the Legislature this year. Gallagher also did not vote on that one, according to the state’s bill tracker. However, McGuire voted in favor of that tax this year. He also voted in favor of a bill that placed a bond measure on the November ballot this year, which would cost California’s taxpayers $11.25 billion of general obligation bonds to pay for housing for veterans, youth and the homeless, The Center Square previously reported. That bill was introduced after Gallagher left for Congress.
Gallagher wrote on social media after the June 2 primary that he was honored voters in Northern California voted for him to succeed LaMalfa in Washington.
“I am humbled that the voters of the First District have placed their faith in me, in the same way, to be a voice and champion for our North State communities,” Gallagher wrote in June. “This was only one vote, but it is perhaps the most important one. The communities and people of the North State are united through our history, our jobs, our farms and industries, and most importantly, by our values and roots that run deep into the land. Their confirmation and vote of confidence means everything to me.”
McGuire, according to Federal Election Commission filings, has received $1.827 million in campaign contributions. Resource Conservation PAC gave the single biggest contribution to McGuire’s campaign, coming in at $7,000. ActBlue, the political donation platform individuals can contribute through, gave two large contribution amounts of $5,000 each. Advancing Democracy and Mobilization PAC contributed $5,000, while Amalgamated Transit Union – COPE contributed $5,000 twice. America’s Credit Unions PAC of Credit Union National Association, Inc. gave $5,000. The American Association for Justice PAC also gave $5,000 four times to McGuire’s campaign, although the group twice deducted $5,000 from McGuire’s campaign, according to campaign filings.
“The hardworking folks who call the 1st District home are tired of the chaos, corruption and cruelty of the Trump administration – and they’re ready for representation that actually delivers,” McGuire previously told The Center Square. “Come this November, we will flip this seat and give the people what they deserve – a fighter who never folds, a leader who will deliver for rural California, and a representative who will hold Donald Trump accountable.”
