Long odds for Solis in contest against Fong
California’s 34th Assembly District is a Republican stronghold, a so-called “safe district” for the GOP — and that means Democrats who run for office in the 34th know almost certainly that they will be sent packing on Election Day.
With 42 percent of registered voters in the district checking the box as Republicans, 28 percent as Democrats and 23 percent claiming no party preference, the odds are indeed long for the blue team.
Despite those odds, incumbent Assemblyman Vince Fong says he’s not about to coast into November like a bicyclist on a downhill ride.
“We are taking nothing for granted,” Fong, 40, told The Californian.
And that means working hard to prove to voters that he’s their best choice in the 34th.
Challenger Julie Solis, 42, a political neophyte who became passionate and involved in activism and politics after her husband contracted valley fever — and who later became a California State Democratic Delegate — says it didn’t feel right to let Fong run unopposed.
So she jumped in the race, despite the uphill climb.
“We need change. We need something different,” she said.
The 34th, anchored by Bakersfield, encompasses the southern ends of the San Joaquin Valley and the Sierra Nevada, along with the Tehachapi Mountains and a section of the northern Mojave Desert. The district includes Bear Valley
Springs, Maricopa, Oildale, Ridgecrest, Taft and Tehachapi.
“My top priority is to safely reopen our economy and schools,” Fong said.
“A lot of small businesses are hurting,” he said. “They’re just trying to survive.”
By freezing taxes and fees for small businesses, and providing relief from costly regulations, state government could give struggling businesses a much-needed break.
“Lift those burdens off, allow small businesses to reopen safely and bring the economy back.”
Fong criticized the Democrats’ supermajority in the state Legislature, saying it places too much power in the hands of a single party.
As a result, Fong said, Sacramento is becoming less transparent, less accountable.
“We can’t continue to allow Gavin Newsom to run as a king in California.”
Meanwhile, Solis said many of the problems area residents see every day — lack of affordable housing; homelessness; rising health care costs; the climate crisis and resulting wildfires — will never get fixed as long as corporate dollars continue to pour into the political campaigns of both parties.
“My son has had asthma since he was 10 months old,” she said. “It’s preventable.”
But traditional politicians tied to political contributions from corporations that are not held accountable have taken decades to make improvements in the valley’s air quality, Solis said.
Bakersfield residents continue to breathe some of the worst air in the nation, and what have local elected officials done about it?
“The people we vote for don’t care about us,” she said.
“All California residents should have affordable health care. But the insurance companies are big donors to both parties,” Solis said. “Until we can rein them in, nothing will change.”