The Bee endorses a familiar face for California’s 3rd Congressional District | Opinion

By approving Proposition 50 in November, voters placed California’s 3rd Congressional District on a geographic diet, shrinking it from a vast eastern swath of the state to a modest slice of the Sierra and a new chunk of Sacramento suburbia.

A rural district is now largely suburban. A suburban incumbent, Democrat Ami Bera, is the best fit for this district.

Though our endorsement of Bera isn’t without some reservations.

Changing the boundaries of the 3rd District has disadvantaged Democrat Heidi Hall, a Nevada County Supervisor, who understands the insurance crisis plaguing rural California communities that are also struggling with California’s affordability crisis.

Hall entered this race long before Californians decided to temporarily engage in congressional gerrymandering to counter similar efforts pushed by President Donald Trump in Texas and other red states.

Hall had been expecting to face the incumbent, Republican Kevin Kiley, in a 3rd District showdown which would have been a humdinger. Given the growing unpopularity of Trump and Kiley’s devotion to the president, Hall may have won.

Yet the passage of Prop. 50 set off a political game of musical chairs.

Bera, who had been representing the 6th Congressional District north of Sacramento, decided to move to the 3rd District. Kiley then moved to the 6th. Bera, based on his congressional seat prior to the independent redistricting that took effect in 2022, previously has represented more than half of what is now the 3rd District.

Republicans running in this race include Christine Bish and Nevada County Supervisor Robb Tucker. The other Democrats, along with Bera and Hall, are Chris Bennett and Lyndon “Pacey” Cervantes.

The suburban/rural nature of this district creates many diverging needs and requires the candidates to manage a sizable set of varying priorities. Bera, an occupant of the flatlands of Sacramento suburbia, sees growth along Highway 50 and homelessness as key issues. Hall, by contrast, sees wildfire risk and housing affordability as top concerns.

Bera won his first race 14 years ago in a very different era, running on a moderate platform to knock off the Republican incumbent, Dan Lungren, in a tight race. He has remained a centrist — sometimes differing from peers in his party, such as in 2025 when he voted to honor the late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, a polarizing figure in American politics, only to later state he regretted the decision.

Bera’s roots remain in Elk Grove, and he frequently returns to Sacramento. He has clearly taken pride in directly helping an estimated 36,000 constituents who have sought help from his office over the years. He is a consistent vote for Democrats on major policy matters, such as sticking with the Democratic majority in budget shutdowns to protect healthcare and to fight the Trump administration’s policies regarding immigrants.

A senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Bera didn’t attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 2024 address to Congress because he felt Netanyahu was standing in the way of a ceasefire. But Bera has stopped short of calling Israel’s attacks on Gaza a genocide.

Bera has also said he opposes “Trump’s war,” referring to President Donald Trump’s military attacks on Iran.

If elected, Bera would face a new challenge in representing Sierra communities like Colfax and Truckee and South Lake Tahoe for the first time. And if Democrats take back the House of Representatives and perhaps the Senate, Bera can more easily be measured on what he achieves. This is a defining term for Bera.

It’s easy to see Hall on a greater political stage than Nevada County in the years ahead. She exhibited a mastery of the issues facing rural California and a passion to address economic injustices here at home and humanitarian tragedies in Gaza, where she describes the Israeli action as a genocide. She and Tucker, as fellow Nevada County supervisors, showed great respect for one another during an endorsement interview while offering different perspectives.

The boundaries of this district feel very temporary and are likely to change dramatically in 2032, when Prop. 50 expires and newly drawn maps by an independent commission change the political territory throughout California. Bera has this moment to evolve and shape the future. He has earned this opportunity, but must make the most of it.

This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 11:00 AM.