Kevin Kiley will host second tele-town hall. Democrats say it’s not enough
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KEVIN KILEY TELE-TOWN HALL REDUX
Congressman Kevin Kiley, R-Roseville, will host another tele-town hall Thursday evening after his previous one drew more than 20,000 constituents — and both criticism and praise.
Many Democratic constituents are still pushing Kiley for an in-person town hall, while Kiley’s office maintains that a tele-town hall creates greater access in the enormous 3rd Congressional District, which spans from Plumas and Sierra counties all the way down to Inyo County. It encompasses several of the state’s national parks and forests, including Death Valley National Park and Tahoe National Forest as well as major Sacramento suburbs such as Rocklin and Roseville.
“This is a slap in the face to constituents,” said Daniel Medina, a Democratic organizer in Placer County and California Democratic Party delegate.
“Clearly, Kiley is hoping for a redo, because we all know how his first tele-town hall went.” Medina characterized last week’s town hall as “scripted talking points, half-truths, zero back-and-forth dialogue and lots and lots of constituent questions demanding answers.”
“Why is Kiley afraid to have an open and honest conversation with his constituents? That’s all we’re asking for.”
Similarly, Placer County Democratic Party chair Nick Bennett said that because most of the requests for town halls are coming from Placer County, Kiley should honor that.
“While tele-town halls are convenient from Representative Kiley’s perspective, given the large number of requests and the fact that a sizable portion of Kiley’s constituents live in South Placer County, holding an in-person town hall that could include a virtual option is still a more appropriate course of action,” Bennett said in a statement to The Bee.
“There were a lot of questions at the previous town hall regarding constituents’ concerns about how the Trump administration is upending people’s lives and creating discord throughout the nation. While we hope that Rep. Kiley takes up those voices and addresses these concerns with action, Kiley’s responses were not reassuring. Instead of committing to accountability and oversight of the Trump administration, Kiley often pivoted to his own accomplishments during the Biden administration or criticizing California Democrats.”
The town hall will start at 6:30 p.m. Thursday evening, and attendees must RSVP via the form Kiley’s office sent out. They will receive an automated phone call just before the starting time to be let in.
In a statement to his constituents, Kiley said he takes pride in being “open and accessible.”
“I will always remain committed to having one of the most open and accessible congressional offices in the country,” he wrote. “If you have a question to ask, an idea to share, or a concern to convey, I hope you can join us this Thursday.”
FEMALE LEGISLATORS STRIVE TO ‘CLOSE THE GAP’
Via Kate Wolffe...
Assemblymember Mia Bonta, D-Oakland, said Close the Gap California called her “about 32 times” before she agreed to run for office.
“On the 32nd time I said, ‘OK, I guess you’re seeing something that I’m not seeing in myself,’” she said during a Capitol news conference Wednesday morning highlighting Close the Gap’s recent gains.
The organization was founded in 2013 by political strategist Mary Hughes, and identifies winnable legislative seats early, recruits local female leaders and trains them to run for office.
In the past 12 years, the organization has recruited and trained 82 progressive women, of whom 27 have won seats in the Legislature, including 20 women of color, according to Executive Director Susannah Delano. Twenty-five current female legislators are associated with the group, including Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Davis, Melissa Hurtado, D-Bakersfield, and Aisha Wahab, D-Fremont.
“We need local and state elected leaders who will act as bulwarks against a federal agenda that seeks to strip away reproductive rights, dismantle public education and exploit working people,” said Delano.
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Salinas, said when he arrived at the state Capitol in 2018, the number of women legislators was less than half its current number.
“That isn’t just progress, that’s a revolution,” he said. “There’s something happening here in California.”
The Legislature is close to reaching parity, with 58 of the 120 Assembly and Senate seats filled by women.
Delano said Close the Gap has already recruited nine women who’ve launched campaigns for 2026 seats.
Aguiar-Curry, who chairs the Legislative Women’s Caucus, said the caucus has passed bills having to do with funding childcare, securing access to reproductive care and menstrual products, and increasing resources for unhoused students and survivors of domestic abuse.
“If you’re thinking about running, do it,” she said. “Don’t be frightened. We need your voice. If you know a strong leader, strong woman leader, encourage her to run.”
BONTA JOINS DEM AGS IN OPEN LETTER TO LEGAL COMMUNITY TO PUSH BACK AGAINST TRUMP
Attorney General Rob Bonta joined 20 other Democratic attorneys general in calling on the legal community to come together against President Donald Trump’s attacks “on the legal profession and the federal judiciary.”
In the open letter, Bonta and the other attorneys general pointed to Trump’s recent executive orders against individual law firms, accusing him and his administration of “seeking retribution over ideological differences, punishing firms for the actions of individual attorneys representing clients adverse to the President or his supporters.”
Trump has targeted five separate law firms through different executive orders, limiting their security clearances and access to government buildings. Law firms Trump has targeted include those who have represented Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, and those who have investigated his finances.
“We condemn those broad-based and completely unjustified attacks on the integrity and reputations of our colleagues,” the letter states.
In a separate statement, Bonta said that Trump’s “attacks to undermine due process” are “either unlawful, inconsistent with the foundational principles of our American legal system, or both.”
“President Trump’s demands for the co-equal judiciary to capitulate to the executive branch are not normal,” Bonta said. Trump’s decree threatening sanctions and retaliation against attorneys and law firms he dislikes is not normal. These actions threaten the very foundations of our democracy, legal system, and the rule of law. “
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Neither of our U.S. senators are women right now, and our state has never had a female governor, and it’s only had one superintendent of public instruction that’s been a woman. There’s still work to do.”
- Assemblymember Mia Bonta, D-Oakland
Best of The Bee:
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- Capitol lobbyist sued for wrongful firing, accused of ‘unethical practices,’ via Lia Russell
Dangerous roads in Sacramento could see fast safety improvements after unanimous council vote, via Ariane Lange
The 2026 political campaign is on. Here’s who Republicans and Democrats are targeting, via David Lightman
