Despite Calif. redistricting, rural voters stick with familiar names

Thanks to a landslide vote in November, California’s congressional map was redrawn. But as the votes come in from the remote corners of the state, where districts were cut up and divided to give Democrats an edge, California’s rural residents seem to be sticking with what’s familiar. 

Read more Republican wins California district left empty by LaMalfa’s sudden death

From the Oregon border to the southern Sierra Nevada, incumbent candidates from both parties are moving forward to the general election in November. In California’s primary election, the top two candidates with the most votes move forward to the general election in the fall. 

Incumbent Democrat Jared Huffman, who lives in San Rafael, has a more-than-comfortable lead in a packed race for District 2, taking the lead even in Modoc County, a Republican stronghold. District 2 absorbed Shasta, Siskiyou and Modoc counties in the redistricting effort and includes some of the wealthiest residents in the state who live in Marin County, as well as some of its most economically disadvantaged who live in far northern communities. 

Who will run against Huffman remains to be determined. Republican Robin Littau seems to be pulling ahead of the rest of the candidates, with 12.7% of the vote as of Wednesday morning. But the race is still too close to be called. 

Democratic incumbent Ami Bera of Sacramento is also moving ahead to the general election in the fall. Bera represented California’s District 6 in Sacramento since 2013 but now is running for the 3rd District, which pulled in Nevada, Placer and El Dorado counties.

However, Bera is trailing Republican candidate Robb Tucker, from Nevada County, by about 1 percentage point. A wave of red voters in the Sierra Nevada foothills boosted Tucker to the front of the race, while rural Democrats were split between Bera and challenger Heidi Hall. 

And then there’s Tom McClintock, the Republican incumbent who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2009. McClintock took a solid lead in District 5 with 63.1% of the vote. He’ll be running against Democrat Michael Masuda, an engineer who grew up in Amador County. 

California’s least populated county, Alpine, was the lone blue outpost in District 5’s sea of red. Every other county, on both sides of the Sierra Nevada crest, including the gateway communities of Yosemite, voted for McClintock.