Candidates debate affordability in Congressional District 6

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Editor's note: This story has been updated to add comments from U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley, I-California. And this article 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.

Kiley said the No. 1 issue is the cost of living.

“We lead the nation in highest gas prices, highest electricity prices, with water and housing and groceries, and much of that is because of overreaching state policies, which are not well adapted to what will make things affordable in our state,” Kiley told The Center Square. 

According to AAA, the average price in the Golden State on Monday was $6.15 a gallon, far above the national average of $4.52.

"So I'm doing everything I can to restore some balance, to bring prices down, to serve as a check and balance on some of these runaway policies," Kiley said. "And I think we've had some success in doing that, but we certainly have a long way to go to make things more affordable in California.”

California's economic problems include the nation's highest unemployment rate and homelessness.

“An issue that I've focused a lot on is trying to alleviate traffic in our area, and I've gotten many millions of dollars in funding for key road improvement projects,” said Kiley. “You know, that's actually one of my highest priorities because we have a growing region, and we need to, you know, make sure our infrastructure keeps up in order to protect our quality of life.”

When asked about his move this year from being a Republican to an independent, Kiley said he has always considered himself an independent voice for his district and that he answers to constituents and not party leaders.

“So I think that this is just a reflection of that approach and of my belief that we need to find ways to get beyond these partisan divisions and come together," said Kiley, a former state legislator and schoolteacher.

In addition to affordability, one topic on the minds of voters nationwide is U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement and its efforts to locate and remove illegal immigrants.

“I've been very clear that it's extremely important that we have now largely secured the border,” said Kiley. “It is a completely different situation than we had when there were millions of people coming across illegally with, you know, grave consequences for our country.”

When it comes to interior enforcement, Kiley said it ought to be focused on those who have committed crimes and pose a risk to public safety.

Meanwhile, Kiley said he has advocated for “common-sense bipartisan reforms” to interior enforcement when it comes to things such as having to obtain warrants before entering a home, not doing enforcement around sensitive areas such as schools and daycares, and requiring identification.

“I think that these are things that the vast majority of Americans support,” said Kiley.

Other candidates note it's a rough time for Californians.

“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 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.