California’s 4th District race will be a November face-off between two Democrats
Eric Jones will advance in the race for California’s 4th Congressional District, setting the stage for a face-off between two Democrats come November.
Since election night Jones has been vying with Republican Ray Riehle for second place in the race, after the clear winner, Democratic incumbent Rep. Mike Thompson, easily advanced to the general.
On Friday, the Associated Press called the race for Jones, after a late afternoon vote drop showed him beating out Riehle.
It sets the stage for a competition between an establishment Democrat and a political outsider who promises change for Americans struggling with high costs of living, and says he will hold the government accountable when it favors corporations over people.
“Nearly two-thirds of voters cast their ballots for someone other than the incumbent,” said Jones, in a statement announcing his new lead in the race. “This campaign has always been about giving working families a voice in a political system that no longer works for them.”
Jones, 35, is a Yale University graduate who started his career in San Francisco as a venture capitalist. He lives in Napa with his wife and their two children. He is the founder of the American Dream Institute, a nonprofit that hopes to engage young people. His top priorities include affordability, childcare accessibility and taxing billionaires and corporations.
Thompson, 75, was first elected to Congress in 1998, and has won reelection since. He was in the state Senate before heading to Washington, where he serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means, Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee and the Health Subcommittee, according to his congressional website. He’s the founder and co-chair of House caucuses on wine, wild salmon and invasive species, his website says.
