Kermit Jones advances to November. Could the Placer congressional seat go blue?

For almost a decade, increasingly frustrated yet hopeful Placer County Democrats have tried and failed to break the Republican Party’s iron grip on the area’s congressional district. Democrat Dr. Kermit Jones’ success in Tuesday’s primary election signals that Placer County’s political landscape is undergoing real change.

Jones, a Navy veteran and physician running to represent California’s Third Congressional District, now faces an uphill battle to the November general election. His challenger is Republican Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, a Trump-backed conservative who increasingly panders to a fringe group of vocal extremists in Placer County.

Jones received 42% of the votes while Kiley walked away with 33%, according to initial returns. Final results will be reported in the coming days, and more Republican votes are expected once Election Day counts are factored in.

For years, voters in areas encompassed by the new Third Congressional District endured the do-nothing politics of Republican Congressman Tom McClintock. Even while consistently failing to advocate for his constituents in any meaningful capacity, McClintock was re-elected election after election.

Promising Democratic hopefuls cropped up before each election cycle, but they never stood a chance. That’s why — despite Jones’ stellar record and almost-too-good-to-be-true resume — his campaign against McClintock seemed pre-destined for failure. A redistricting breakthrough, however, finally freed Placer residents from McClintock’s tired act.

While Jones and Kiley will likely advance as the top-two vote getters, the Republican vote in the primary was split between Kiley and Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones. That means Kermit Jones must convince Scott Jones’ supporters, who might be even further right than Kiley, to back him instead — a formidable challenge.

Kiley, who is from Placer County and attended Granite Bay High School before earning his bachelor’s and law degree from Harvard and Yale, made a name for himself by helping spearhead the failed recall attempt of Gov. Gavin Newsom last year. A vocal critic of all things Democratic politics, Kiley earned the endorsement of former President Donald Trump in advance of the primary election.

In a recent town hall hosted by KCRA 3 and CapRadio, the Rocklin assemblyman refused to say whether President Joe Biden was legitimately elected. He also claimed that The Bee’s Editorial Board “said the election system was tarnished in 2020,” even though we said no such thing.

By election night, once Jones knew he would advance to the November election, his campaign started ratcheting up the pressure on Kiley.

“While I was serving patients across our community, Kevin Kiley was rallying with rightwing militia groups calling for civil war in America,” Jones said in a prepared statement. “Career-politicians like Kevin Kiley are more focused on serving their extremist ideology rather than serving the people.”

It’s about time Jones began communicating honestly with voters about Kiley. This promises to be a brutal, ugly congressional race. That’s good. It’s past time for the Democratic Party to take Placer County seriously as a place where they can win.

Placer County is changing. With an influx of Bay Area expats in Roseville, the city has turned from red to purple. And it’s not just Democrats who are sick of our congressional representation — or lack thereof. Plenty of Republicans in the area have been turned off to Trump’s brand of undemocratic bigotry. McClintock, a diehard Trump supporter, would rather carry the former president’s water than advocate for his constituents.

For years, the House seat representing conservative-leaning Placer County has been dismissed by the Democratic Party as a losing cause. Jones’ success in the primary election might finally convince party leaders on both sides of the aisle to take this congressional race seriously.

This story was originally published June 8, 2022 at 5:30 AM.