Democrat Audrey Denney launches bid to represent rural north state in Congress

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AUDREY DENNEY OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES BID FOR CONGRESS

Via Kate Wolffe...

Audrey Denney is betting Proposition 50, the redistricting measure on this November’s ballot, will pass.

Denney, a Democrat in the north state’s solidly red district, announced Monday she will run to replace current District 1 Rep. Doug LaMalfa in 2026. Denney is a familiar challenger to the six-term congressman, having run against him in 2018 and 2020.

If Prop. 50 passes with the suggested map, District 1 will include more Democratic parts of Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake counties, giving Denney a stronger shot.

“With fair maps and growing grassroots momentum in a district that is poised to flip red-to-blue, she’s running to finally deliver the real representation Northern California families deserve,” Denney’s campaign news release read.

The educator and consultant officially launched her campaign Monday with a video ad showing Denney walking on a farm and chatting with students at Chico State.

“Republican policies are crushing working families while billionaires and big corporations cash in on massive tax breaks,” she says in the video.

Denney, 41, told the Sacramento Bee in August she would run if voters approved the new district map, which was created and passed in response to Texas’ redrawing its map this summer to gain more Republican seats.

A few other Democrats have already joined the fray — Rose Penelope Yee, a retirement firm CEO, and Jim Salegui, a finance industry professional, are also contenders.

LaMalfa has been campaigning against Prop. 50 in his district.

“Congressman LaMalfa is focused on beating Prop. 50 and fully believes the voters will reject Newsom’s scam,“ LaMalfa’s chief of staff, Mark Spannagel, wrote in an emailed statement Friday.

The congressman has said he will run for his seat again in 2026, even if Prop. 50 passes.

CALIFORNIA’S ECONOMY LOOKING WEAKER, NEW STUDY FINDS

Via David Lightman...

California’s economy is poised to weaken in the months ahead, according to a new state outlook from the UCLA Anderson Forecast.

It sees the state’s unemployment rate, the highest state rate in the nation in August at 5.5%. climbing as high as 6.2% by early next year.

It predicted that rate will endure through the first half of 2026 before inching back to 5.5% in the fall next year.

In earlier reports, UCLA said there were “worrying signs” that the state’s economy was weakening. In its new report, it said job data “in the past three months have confirmed the worry and suggest that the state is in an employment contraction, one that will last through the year.”

Overall, the numbers could “show a sharp slowing from last year and possibly a mild contraction in the state’s economy.”

One reason is that industries and services that helped fuel California’s growth in this century have stalled, notably technology, durable goods manufacturing, entertainment and logistics.

Some areas did see increases, notably health care and social services, education, farming and government. But government growth is expected to stall, as budget problems could lead to cuts in the workforce.

Health care jobs could be affected by federal immigration policy as well as the farm, food processing and construction sectors.

The agriculture sector’s troubles “will be disproportionately felt in the inland parts of the state and the agricultural coastal valleys,” UCLA said.

Few regions of the state won’t be impacted by the slower economy, though. In the Sacramento area, for instance, the forecast noted a big drop in business services employment, including tech workers, consultants, lawyers, accountants and architects.

NEWSOM SIGNS BILL ALLOWING RIDESHARE DRIVERS TO UNIONIZE

Via Lia Russell...

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Friday that allows rideshare drivers to unionize, six weeks after the Legislature reached a compromise with ride-hailing giants Lyft and Uber.

Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1340 after throwing his weight behind it in August when lawmakers brokered a deal allowing independent drivers to unionize in exchange for loosening companies’ accident insurance coverage requirements.

Under labor law, independent contractors are barred from collectively bargaining and unionizing. Last year, rideshare companies prevailed in court after organized labor challenged Proposition 22, an initiative passed in 2020 that exempted Uber and Lyft from having to classify their drivers as employees and grant them benefits. That left open a path for the Legislature to allow drivers to unionize.

With Newsom’s signature now on AB 1340, drivers can collectively bargain and unionize, including negotiating contracts, which would set industry-wide standards, according to proponents like bill sponsors Assemblymembers Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, and Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland.

“Rideshare drivers are the backbone of the gig economy, and for too long they have been denied the same rights and protections others take for granted,” Berman said. “This will help raise standards for everyone, because what happens in the gig economy sets the tone for the whole economy.”

SEIU also cheered Newsom’s support, noting the millions that gig companies had poured into passing Prop. 22. “When gig companies spent over $200 million to pass Prop. 22, their goal was simple: protect their profits by stripping workers of basic rights,” said SEIU 1021 President Theresa Rutherford.

“The effects on our communities were devastating: Working people and their families were driven deeper into economic insecurity — most are people of color and many are immigrants. The companies wrote their own labor law to take away basic protections, but workers fought back and found a path forward together with a union.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The cancellation of ARCHES is vindictive, shortsighted and proof that this administration is not serious about American energy dominance.”

— Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, both California Democrats, in a letter to the secretary of energy protesting the cancellation of federal funding for California’s Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems Hub.

Best of the Bee:

• Will shutdown affect CA’s congressional races and spark an anti-Trump backlash? via David Lightman
• US Attorney for Sacramento aims to focus on immigration, Trump priorities via Sharon Bernstein
• California FAIR Plan asks state for major increase for home insurance coverage via Stephen Hobbs

This story was originally published October 6, 2025 at 2:00 AM with the headline "Democrat Audrey Denney launches bid to represent rural north state in Congress."

David Lightman

McClatchy DC

David Lightman is a former journalist for the DCBureau