Re-elect John Garamendi to keep CA-03 on the right track.

About the Position

The United States is divided into 435 congressional districts, each with a population of about 710,000 individuals. Each district elects a representative to the House of Representatives for a two-year term. California has 53 congressional representatives. There is no term limit for this position.  

About the District

California’s 3rd Congressional District includes the counties of Colusa, Sutter, and Yuba, and portions of Glenn, Lake, Sacramento, Solano, and Yolo counties. Democrats typically hold this district, with Incumbent Garamendi representing CA-03 since 2013. In the 2016 presidential election, 52.8 percent of CA-03 voters cast their ballot for Hillary Clinton, 40.3 percent for Donald Trump, and 6.6 percent for third-party candidates. In the 2018 gubernatorial election, 52.4 percent of CA-03 voted for Gavin Newsom and 47.6 percent voted for the Republican candidate. Of those who voted in the 2020 presidential primary, 61.5 percent of CA-03 voters cast their ballot for a Democratic candidate and 38.5 percent opted for a Republican candidate.

About the Race

In the primary, Democrat Incumbent Representative John Garamendi led Republican challenger Tamika Hamilton by a margin of 27.4 percent. Rep. Garamendi’s campaign has accepted at least $95,000 (as of July 27, 2020) from corporate PACs and $1,000 from fossil fuel giant General Electric Company PAC. Both Garamendi’s and Hamilton’s campaigns have not pledged to reject fossil fuel, corporate PACS, or police money. Hamilton’s campaign is funded by WinRed and Maggie’s Lists, PACS that are committed to electing conservative candidates, and individual contributions.

About the Candidate

Rep. Garamendi is from Walnut Grove, CA. According to campaign materials, Rep. Garamendi is running for re-election to improve education for students, create middle-class jobs by rebuilding the nation’s deteriorating infrastructure with American materials and workers, fight climate change, improve flood control, and ensure that everyone has good, affordable health care.

Rep. Garamendi’s priorities for CA-03 this year have included creating jobs, protecting the California environment, and affordable health care for all. He currently sits on two committees: the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. This year, Rep. Garamendi has voted 100 percent of the time with Nancy Pelosi and 94 percent of the time with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. One significant piece of legislation that Rep. Garamendi voted for and AOC voted against was H.R. 5430, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

This year, Rep. Garamendi has sponsored 28 bills about a wide variety of topics, including transportation, national security, international affairs, civil rights, and government operations, of which one has become law (H.R. 5671--WWII Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2020) and one that has passed both the House and Senate (H.R. 550--No War Against Iran Act).  On July 21, 2020, Rep. Garamendi voted against the Progressive Caucus on H.R. 6395, the Pocan Amendment, which would have cut all Pentagon funds and accounts by 10 percent. This is not surprising, considering Rep. Garamendi has accepted $30,500 in campaign contributions from corporations that receive billions of dollars in contracts by the Defense Department every year. As of August 21, 2020, Rep. Garamendi has still yet to cosponsor H.R. 40, which would begin the formal process of studying the case for reparations to Black Americans, despite saying that he has been a lifelong proponent for social justice.

Rep. Garamendi is endorsed by a strong majority of progressive groups and elected officials in the district, such as National Organization for Women, California Teachers Association, California Labor Federation AFL-CIO, and the California Democratic Party. He is also endorsed by a former Yolo County sheriff. However, the threat of Republican challenger and avid Trump supporter Hamilton’s potential policies greatly outweighs Rep. Garamendi’s corporate PAC and military-industrial complex campaign financing. According to our analysis, Rep. Garamendi is the strongest choice for representative leadership in office.