Helen Saulnier 
Vital Residence Races in California
A few seats are up for grabs, and the races are incredibly restricted.
Three U.S. Dwelling races in California are rated as toss-ups. They could perfectly be portion of a Republican wave in November. On the other hand, if the wave falters, these seats could be vital to control of the Property, or to how a great deal of a Republican margin Kevin McCarthy will be capable to operate with following calendar year.
CA-13. This district is just south but nicely-inland from the Bay Area. This is an open seat, so neither prospect has the benefit of incumbency. The Democrat, Adam Grey, touts his company to the district in the point out assembly. His website states very little about the surroundings but touts his initiatives to stop water from remaining diverted from the district for environmental needs. The Republican, John Duarte, is a nursery owner who produced a name for himself as an opponent of Obama’s WOTUS rule.
CA-22. This district commences south of Bakersfield, runs east of downtown, and then balloons out to the northwest of the town. The Democrat, Rudy Salas, doesn’t have an concerns tab and speaks mostly about the added benefits he’s introduced to the district as a point out legislator. The internet site is unusually bare-bones. The incumbent, David Valadao, is a single of the handful of Republicans voting to impeach Trump who survived their primaries. He has a life time LCV score of 7%. His web site speaks about California’s ability to create much more oil and gas as properly as renewables. He also pledges to secure the area’s h2o imports.
CA-27. This district is aspect of north LA County. The incumbent Republican, Mike Garcia, Garcia is staying challenged by Christy Smith. Smith’s internet site is the only 1 to dedicate significant attention to environmental challenges. She calls for “building a thoroughly renewable and cleanse electrical power infrastructure applying wind and solar to develop great home loan-shelling out work opportunities and combat the local weather crisis so we can assure our local community is a position where by households can stay and prosper for generations to appear, right before it is much too late.” In advance of likely to Congress, he was a navy pilot and a protection marketplace government. He suggests was determined to operate for Congress “after looking at the menace of Sacramento’s superior taxes and career-killing guidelines spreading to the federal level.” All through his quick time in Congress, his LCV score has been 17%. A lot of of Republican members of Congress experienced rather great scores final calendar year for some reason. (For instance, Kevin McCarthy had an LCV rating of 13% for 2021 but lifetime rating of 4%.) Garcia had only a person prior year to harmony 2021.
With the exception of Christy, none of these candidates appears to be likely to turn into an critical voice for environmental or strength policy if they are elected. Specified present-day political polarization, their party affiliations are most likely extra significant to policy results than their private characteristics.
