Seat in Congress draws crowd for primary election
Five challengers are hoping to unseat the North Coast's veteran congressman in his bid for a sixth term.
Rep. Jared Huffman, a Democrat who lives in San Rafael, is competing against the most candidates since his first primary for the open 2nd Congressional District seat in 2012. The primary election this year is on June 7.
Huffman's challengers include four Republicans — pastor Douglas Brower of Ferndale, business owner Chris Coulombe of Sebastopol, business owner Darian Elizondo of Laytonville and neurosurgeon Archimedes Ramirez of San Anselmo — and one Democrat, education administrator Beth Hampson of Rohnert Park.
Huffman, 57, said his nearly 10 years in Congress have put him in a position to increasingly deliver results through his senior positions on committees, his relationships and his experience.
Combatting and adapting to the climate crisis will continue to be the No. 1 issue, Huffman said, calling for clean energy investments, upgrading transportation systems such as the flood-prone Highway 37, forest fuel reductions and working with all stakeholders to address water issues.
“My campaign this time around is going to be the same that we've always done,” Huffman said. “I believe that the work I do every single day is the best possible campaign. It speaks for itself. We are working hard and delivering and that has been a winning formula for me in the past.”
Coulombe, 40, said he decided to run for public office for the first time because he saw a general lack of leadership in the district and the damage that partisan politics has been causing. He said Congress needs representatives who understand and represent small businesses and who base their decisions on what is happening with the global economy.
Coulombe said one of his first pieces of legislation would be to suspend the federal income tax for the first $170,000 of income for the next five years.
“I think the most important thing is that Americans can afford to be American,” he said. “We need people to come up with innovative solutions to help Americans afford their basics. We're watching massive government programs destroy the value of the dollar and we have the way to save the average American without printing more cash.”
Having worked in cannabis logistics and distribution, Coulombe said he supports cannabis legalization. To address climate impacts,
Coulombe said the federal government should incentivize businesses to adopt more sustainable practices through tax cuts.
Hampson, 42, said her nearly 20 years of experience in public education has allowed her to be on the ground to see the impacts of what the federal government makes possible for students, families and the district.
Her platform includes calls for teacher recruitment, increasing federal investment in education and expanding early childhood education. In addressing housing and jobs issues, Hampson said she advocates for investment in workforce training and programs such as helping first-time homebuyers, preventing foreclosures and providing incentives for housing development. She said she also supports the government playing a key role in addressing climate issues facing the North Coast, including fires and utility outages.
“I'm a moderate Democrat, a pragmatic problemsolver and excellent at listening to diverse viewpoints respectfully and synthesizing those to craft meaningful solutions to pressing problems,” she said.
Elizondo, a former lumber worker who runs an import business, described himself as a “leader of men and a builder of business.”
Elizondo, 51, a former Green Party member, is running on a platform involving several issues where he said the federal government should play a larger role.
“I really do believe in less government,” Elizondo said. “But unfortunately what I have been watching over the past few years is a blatant disregard and abuse of power at our state level. Normally I wouldn't say I want federal intervention.”
For homelessness, he is proposing to increase access to mental health institutions and have the federal government pay for half of a person's salary during workforce training. He also supports “medical freedom” and is opposed to what he called an abuse of power by health officials during the pandemic.
Elizondo also said he is anti-war and wants Congress to enforce its war declaration powers. On immigration, Elizondo said he supports a more streamlined process to allow workers and their families to legally cross the border.
Other priorities would be to reduce the burden on police officers and to end what he sees as overregulation of small businesses, Elizondo said.
Brower and Ramirez did not respond to requests for interviews.