Candidate speculation begins in the wake of Prop. 50

Californians handed a big win to Proposition 50, according to preliminary Nov. 4 election results, signaling a major change to congressional maps in historically red districts like District 1.

The majority of voters in the rural Northern Sacramento Valley opposed the proposition, which will significantly reshape its District 1 that is now represented by Republican Doug LaMalfa. The Butte County Clerk-Recorder reports today that almost 46% of the county’s voters favored Prop 50 and more than 54% opposed.

Opposition was even greater in Glenn and Tehama counties, with the “yes” vote further behind at almost 29% and 27% respectively. 

Statewide the picture was quite different. CalMatters’ reports today that nearly 64% of Californians voted for Prop. 50.

Redistricting will matter a lot to District 1 voters. It would mean drawing a new state map for the U.S. House of Representatives to be used from 2026 until 2030. In the proposed map, District 1 takes on a more horizontal shape, from Santa Rosa through Chico and Paradise to the Nevada border, while excluding some northeastern counties bordering Oregon.

That shift could create a more liberal voter majority and puts LaMalfa’s seat, held since 2013, at risk.

It is not yet clear who will throw their hat into the contest, but the two names already echoing in political circles are Audrey Denney of Chico and Mike McGuire of Healdsburg. Both Denney and McGuire celebrated the Proposition 50 victory.

Denney, former chair of the Democratic Action Club of Chico, views agriculture as “a tremendous asset in the fight against climate change,” and said she would run if the new map is approved and push for more incentives for farmers to adopt regenerative practices. 

Denney said in a statement Tuesday that the early results send “a strong message to Donald Trump and Washington Republicans.”

“We will not stand by while you try to rig elections and continue your dangerous agenda of ripping away health care, raising costs, and undermining our democracy,” Denney said.

Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire, who terms out of office at the end of 2026, poured campaign funds into passage of Prop. 50, according to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. A McGuire spokesperson told ChicoSol that the senator has not yet made a decision about running but “is incredibly honored by the encouragement to run.”

Following the election, McGuire issued a statement about the damage the Trump Administration has caused.

“The people of California delivered a powerful message straight to the White House — you turn your back on the hungry, cancel people’s healthcare, kidnap our neighbors, and terrorize our communities — we will fight back,” McGuire wrote. “Passing Proposition 50 spells trouble for Donald Trump. A tidal wave of change is coming to rescue this great country, and it’s starting right here in California.”

LaMalfa hasn’t indicated whether he will run in a newly reshaped district, but Rich Ober, chair of the Butte County Democratic Party, said he hopes LaMalfa will compete.

“He has been in such a secure position for six or so cycles, terms, he has not really had to work ,” Ober said on a Nov. 5 KZFR talk show. “If he truly wants to be a representative of the people, he is going to have to work for it.”

 Ober told KZFR’s “The Real Issue” that he likes the fact that in the newly-redrawn district, Chico would be grouped with Santa Rosa, a “city that is similar.”

The district will still include “a vast amount of territory that is agriculturally based,” he said.

In a Facebook post, LaMalfa called the ballot measure and its results “blatantly corrupt and unconstitutional.”

“Should these results stick, the imbalance in California between rural and urban voices will get that much worse, essentially silencing our portion of the state,” LaMalfa said.

PBS reports that California Republicans have already filed a federal lawsuit to block the new map.

(Listen to NSPR’s reporting on the proposition’s passage below.)

Prop. 50 was the only item on the ballot statewide in Tuesday’s special election – though some cities held other special elections.

Prop. 50 came as a response from Gov. Gavin Newsom to redrawn maps in the state of Texas that would add five Republican seats in Congress. California could potentially gain five Democratic seats with its redrawn maps. It would allow the Legislature to bypass California’s independent Citizens Redistricting Commission for four years.

Election turnout was a major concern in California, particularly for historically marginalized minority voters who may live in longtime Republican and rural areas like District 1. California Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber told American Community Media that every eligible voter in the state had received a mail-in ballot.

This story was corrected Nov. 8 to state that Denney is former chair of the Democratic Action Club of Chico.

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