Rep. Ami Bera’s new GOP challenger knows how to raise money. Can she flip a blue district?
Republican Tamika Hamilton will take her stockpile of campaign cash to contest Democratic Rep. Ami Bera in the new 6th congressional district, her campaign announced Wednesday.
The Air Force veteran had previously announced her intent to challenge Rep. John Garamendi in the 2022 midterm election before California’s new congressional maps were released. She raised more money than Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, in the first half of the year — the first time a candidate has come close to him since former Assemblyman Dan Logue challenged Garamendi in 2014.
Hamilton has raised $500,000 this year and has $112,000 on hand, her campaign announced.
Bera also garnered $500,000 this calendar year and had $2.1 million on hand as of Sept. 30, according to the Federal Election Commission, which tracks campaign finance.
“Redistricting has drastically changed California’s political landscape and at the end of the day my goal has always been about ensuring people are properly represented,” Hamilton said in her announcement. “I’ve always felt incredibly connected to the Greater Sacramento community and know that its diverse residents deserve a robust economy, secure neighborhoods, and an effective government that puts people first.”
Members of Congress do not have to live in the districts that they represent, leaving room for shuffling.
Hamilton of Dixon challenged and lost to Garamendi in 2020 by nine percentage points. The closer-than-expected margin put Garamendi, who has represented parts of Northern California in the United States House of Representatives since 2009, on the National Republican Congressional Committee’s watch list for potential vulnerability.
But the district Hamilton is going to is solidly Democratic, according to The Cook Political Report, which tracks elections. New congressional maps drawn through redistricting, the once-a-decade reforming of legislative boundaries, benefited Democrats — including Bera — and put five GOP incumbents in jeopardy.
Bera, D-Elk Grove, goes from a district that voted for President Joe Biden with a margin of 14 percentage points in 2020 to one that went for the president by 18 percentage points, wrote Dave Wasserman, an editor for The Cook Political Report, “so he’ll never have to worry about another close race.”
Bera, a physician who has represented areas in Sacramento County since 2013, handily won his last two elections to the U.S. House after former President Donald Trump took office. But he won his prior elections by less than four percentage points apiece.
Bera won the 2016 election by less than three percentage points against Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, a Republican, after Bera’s father was sentenced to a year in prison for violating campaign finance laws. Bera said he was unaware of his father’s actions and returned illegal funds to the U.S. Treasury.
The Sacramento County Democrat beat incumbent Republican Dan Lungren in 2012 by fewer than four percentage points and Republican challenger Doug Ose in 2014 by less than one.
“Since entering Congress, I have been laser focused on improving the lives of my constituents here in Sacramento County, including through my efforts to build a stronger middle class, expand quality and affordable health care, and reduce everyday costs for American families,” Bera said in his announcement on running in the 6th district on Tuesday.
California’s new congressional maps led to a wave of candidacy announcements after the commissioners charged with making them approved them on Monday. Maps are all but final: They sit for public review for the next couple of days before going to California’s secretary of state for certification by Dec. 27.
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, said she will run in the 7th congressional district, which holds downtown Sacramento.
Garamendi announced will run in the new 8th district, which includes Solano and parts of Contra Costa counties.
This story was originally published December 22, 2021 at 12:02 PM.
