Marin’s veteran congressman faces 4 challengers in primary

U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, running to keep the congressional seat he’s held for nearly 12 years, has drawn four opponents in the March 5 primary.

The race’s winner in November will represent California’s 2nd Congressional District, which stretches along the coast from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border.

Huffman, a Democrat who lives in San Rafael, said he has more work to do in Washington, D.C.

“Up and down this spectacular district, I’ve got underserved, rural communities, Native American tribes and all sorts of other places that need access and productivity from their representative in Congress,” he said during an Independent Journal editorial board meeting with most of the District 2 candidates. “I’ve been able to do that and I want to do that for two more years.”

Two Republicans and two independents are challenging Huffman. Chris Coulombe, a Republican who lives in Sebastopol, is a retired Army captain who went into the cannabis industry and co-founded the Cannabis Distribution Association. Tief Gibbs, a Republican who lives in Novato, is the co-owner of a vehicle business and a former candidate for the Novato Unified School District board. The independent candidates, both from Humboldt County, are internet entrepreneur Jason Brisendine and automotive business owner Jolian Kangas.

Under California’s election system, the congressional candidates who finish first and second in the March primary will advance to the November general election, regardless of party affiliation. Brisendine argues that this system subverts democracy.

“The system is going to be used by Jared Huffman to eliminate his strongest opponent before the election even happens,” he said during an interview with the editorial board. He declined to be quoted further, and issued a statement after the meeting criticizing the newspaper.

Gibbs describes herself as the only “real” conservative candidate in the race. She noted that she protested school campus lockdowns and vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s not that hard to talk about them now,” Gibbs said about those issues. “I talked about them when it was hard to do so, and that shows leadership.”

Coulombe is emphasizing his background as a military officer and a former research fellow for a foreign policy think tank.

“Many of us can see we are on a steady march toward World War III,” he said. “I say that as someone who spent my life in the military, served in think tanks and has an understanding of what is happening at a macro scale.”

Kangas said: “I want to represent people in the North Coast who are tired of partisan bickering and the fact that Congress has been held hostage by extremists from both sides, and rendered completely incapable of moving forward with any of the priorities that working people like myself most abide.”

The state of the national economy looms large in the race. Huffman said the economy has the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years and inflation is dropping.

Gibbs blamed the inflation troubles on the government reaction to the pandemic, which she said caused higher prices and supply chain disruptions. She said that prices are unlikely to drop after Biden leaves office.

“Biden shares the blame with Washington elites in both parties,” Gibbs said. “We are going to have to increase our earning power by reducing regulation, drilling for our own oil and being more circumspect about the amount of money we are spending on foreign wars.”

Coulombe is calling for the suspension of federal income taxes on the first $182,000 in a taxpayer’s income for five years, saying “we need Americans to afford to be American.”

Kangas wants Congress to raise the federal minimum wage. He said California is at a disadvantage because its minimum wage is higher than other states, which has prompted “greedy, corporate barons” to move their businesses elsewhere.

Ideas on how to reform U.S. immigration policy divide the candidates.

Huffman said the southern border is experiencing a crisis and he wants the asylum system to be improved. He said the federal government doesn’t have the resources to handle the high volume of asylum cases.

Gibbs said that immigration should be based on what is “strategically sensible” for the country, such as a special visa program for foreign tech workers if they’re needed.

“What is happening under our current administration is an invasion,” Gibbs said about illegal border crossings. “I would support a no-budget deal unless we stop allowing this mass invasion.”

Kangas said that U.S. immigration policy should allow more migrant workers into the country.

“Employers are complaining left and right about how they have these open positions that nobody is taking,” he said. “Migrants want to come here and work, let them work.”

Coulombe calls for working with embassies in Latin America to improve the immigration system. He said that people should remember that a humanitarian problem is at hand.

“I don’t agree with kicking everyone out and I believe we need to track who is here, but we don’t need to hand them money, we don’t need to hand them a ballot that has a very specific party on it,” he said.

Huffman and his challengers differ on the Israel-Gaza conflict. Huffman said he desires a cease-fire, but he does not want a cease-fire plan that doesn’t address Hamas or the Israeli hostages being held by them.

Kangas said the U.S. government should not be sending more aid to the Israeli military, and described the military’s operations in Gaza as a war crime. In contrast, Gibbs does not call for a cease-fire and she said that she supports Israel’s right to defend itself.

Coulombe said that United Nations intervention is needed in Gaza because there is a humanitarian crisis there.