Congressional candidates line up against Huffman
The June 8 first-round primary election features three partisan contests involving the North Bay: Congress, state Senate and California Assembly. We'll first look at the election for the U.S. House of Representatives from California's Second Congressional District stretching from the Golden Gate to Oregon's state line.
The incumbent Congress member is Jared Huffman. He faces four Republican opponents and one Democrat.
California partisan elections follow the top-two system. The candidates who come in first and in second regardless of party in June's primary both move on to November's runoff.
Huffman is expected to come in first in top-two balloting. He's been reelected with landslide margins since 2012. In 2020, the San Rafael Democrat scored 75.7% of the votes over perennial GOP candidate Dale
Messing of Humboldt County.
The district is “deep blue,” fostered by Democratic supermajorities in Sonoma and Marin, where the bulk of the voters reside.
Since the Berlin Wall's fall, foreign policy has faded as a congressional election issue. That's changed with Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
“These are times that demand level-headed leadership. President (Joe) Biden, while not perfect, consistently shows good judgment,” Huffman said. “The tripwire in this conflict is Russia's nuclear capacity, but we can and should give Ukraine everything they need to win this war.”
Huffman is a consistent supporter of Biden's “Build Back Better” legislation, including its efforts to stem human-induced climate change.
California's Republican
Party officially endorsed the
Rev. Douglas Brower as its Second District candidate. The ordained minister and Congressional term limit-backer is a past
Ferndale City Council member in Humboldt County.
“I feel our family values are not currently being represented by our District 2 Congressman,” Brower wrote on his website. “I feel I have been uniquely prepared to represent our district with core Biblical principles and sound business decisions.”
He's yet to specify which Bible passages are “core” to his campaign.
Sebastopol's Chris Coulombe called himself a “small `r' Republican.”
“There are things on the left I support and issues on the right I agree with,” Coulombe said. He was the owner of a cannabis industry logistics and distribution firm.
“The real threat is China,” the Sonoma County native and military veteran native warned.
Coulombe contends the
United Nations should pursue war crimes charges against Russian President Vladimir Putin for atrocities in Ukraine.
“If elected, one of the first things I'd advocate is suspending the federal income tax for those making less than $175,000,” he said. “This will increase demand. Taxpayers then will allocate capital more efficiently than governments.”
He's emphatic about reinforcing “parents' ability to influence their children's education for the better.”
When Dr. Archimedes Ramirez — a San Rafael neurosurgeon — successfully ran for Marin Healthcare District Board in 2004 his slogan was “Sometimes it takes a brain surgeon.” Now he's a Republican congressional candidate using the same line.
In his campaign statement, Ramirez writes: “As a minority I am disturbed by the harsh attacks and divisiveness around race. You cannot cure discrimination with more discrimination. Similarly, needed equality for (transgender people) should not come at the expense of advances made by young women in sports — by permitting biological males to compete with girls.”
Ramirez is a graduate of Virginia Military Institute.
“I worry that calling fellow White soldiers `inherently racist' will drive them out of the military, leaving minorities only,” Ramirez said.
The fourth GOP candidate is Darian Elizondo from Laytonville in Mendocino County. The former owner of a Willits building supply business is self-described on Twitter as a “pro American candidate” who pledges to “end homelessness.”
The sole Democrat challenging Huffman is Rohnert Park's Elizabeth “Beth” Hampson. She previously managed College of Marin's Community Education and Lifelong Learning programs. Hampson now runs adult workforce training programs for Lake County's Office of Education.