Editor's note: This is part of a series of stories that will appear this week on the primary elections in California. The stories include comments from candidates who agreed to interviews with The Center Square.
(The Center Square) – Affordability is a major concern for voters in California's Congressional District 6 election.
U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley, a Rocklin independent who caucuses with Republicans, is seeking another term in Congress, but this time in District 6 instead of his District 3, which was redrawn to favor Democrats. In District 6, which is in the Sacramento area, Kiley faces Democratic challengers Lauren Babb Tomlinson, Thien Ho, Richard Pan, Tyler Vandenberg and Martha Guerrero. The race's only Republican candidates are Kiley and Michael Stansfield, an applications engineer and author. Under California law, the two candidates with the greatest number of votes in the June 2 primary, regardless of party affiliation, will go on to the Nov. 3 general election.
Tomlinson is chief public affairs officer at Planned Parenthood Advocates Mar Monte. Ho is the Sacramento County district attorney. Pan is a pediatrician. Vandenberg is a Marine veteran. Guerrero is the mayor of West Sacramento and, like many candidates for office, is concerned about the “cost of living crisis” for Americans.
“People are stressed,” Guerrero told The Center Square. “There's a lot of anxiety about being able to make ends meet, being able to pay their rent, putting food on the table, and being able to afford gas.”
Now in her third term as mayor with 25 years of public service overall, Guerrero said she will bring a lot to the office.
“I'm a social worker, and I have worked to get people services,” said Guerrero. “As mayor, I've led a growing city through major investments such as housing, public safety, infrastructure and early education, so I understand how government works, and I understand how to make it work for people.”
President Donald Trump says his administration is hard at work for the people, but Guerrero does not see it that way.
Guerrero said Trump has failed this country, beginning with his tariffs.
“The tariffs had a rippling negative effect in local jurisdictions in many ways, from small businesses being able to afford the goods to sell to people, to the people that are seeking to buy it,” said Guerrero. “In addition to the war in Iran and seeing how that's increasing our gas prices, farmers are having a hard time, and we're also seeing the illegal ICE raids that are occurring, where some people are getting killed.”
Guerrero said she never envisioned we would be in this situation.
Neither did Vandenberg.
“It’s an extreme abuse of the way we do law enforcement in this country,” Vandenberg told The Center Square about Trump and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. “It is not a way to run a country, and I think it has to stop.”
In terms of Iran, Vandenberg said Trump ill-advisedly started a conflict with no plan and no congressional authorization and has no idea what to do now that the U.S. is deep in it.
As for the affordability crisis, Vandenberg said the U.S. needs to invest in home construction and find ways to bring healthcare costs down.
“The United States already spends more per capita than any other industrialized country on our healthcare, and what that means to me is the time is now for Medicare for All,” said Vandenberg. “It’s a system that covers everybody, where no one is worried about falling between the cracks or going bankrupt, and where everyone can be assured of coverage.”
Vandenberg – who is running for office for the first time - is also a proponent of building more renewable energy, renovating the grid, and making sure that Social Security is keeping up with the actual cost of living.
The Center Square also reached out to Kiley, Tomlinson, Ho and Pan for comment, but they did not respond by press time. No contact information was available for Stansfield.
Voting centers will be open May 23 to June 1 in Voter's Choice Act counties and May 30 to June 1 elsewhere. Voters should check with their counties for further details.
Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. June 2, Election Day. For more information, go to the Secretary of State's website, sos.ca.gov. Early election results will be published on the evening of June 2 at www.thecentersquare.com/california.
