Rep. Ami Bera deserves reelection to Congress in Sacramento region’s 6th District
Sacramento area Rep. Ami Bera clawed through bitter campaigns, a fund-raising scandal and a series of close elections to secure his seat in Congress. This year, thanks to a solid record in office, a favorable new district and less convincing opposition, Bera appears to face more danger from the wildlife of Capitol Hill, where he was recently attacked by a rabid fox, than he does from his opponents.
An Elk Grove Democrat, Bera is running to represent Sacramento County’s new 6th Congressional District, which does not include his hometown but does encompass Rancho Cordova and other parts of the old 7th District, which he currently represents. The new district, which also includes Citrus Heights and part of the city of Sacramento, decisively favored Joe Biden in the last election.
The fifth-term congressman is facing another district-hopping hopeful in Tamika Hamilton, a Republican Air Force veteran from Dixon, in Solano County. Hamilton had success raising funds and mounting an unexpectedly vigorous challenge to another local Democratic congressman in a relatively safe district, Rep. John Garamendi, whom she was expected to challenge again before district lines were redrawn. Chris Bish, a Republican Sacramento real estate agent who unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Doris Matsui in 2020, is also running.
A physician and former chief medical officer for Sacramento County, Bera has articulated a middle ground on the polarizing subject of pandemic management, focusing on the potential of vaccination and other precautions to speed the recovery of the economy and public education. He’s introduced legislation to encourage development of vaccines, improve tracking and sequencing of viruses and ease health care access on several fronts.
On the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where Bera chairs the subcommittee on Asia, the congressman has drawn needed attention to threats to democracy and human rights in the region. He has sponsored legislation to counter the Chinese government’s economically coercive tactics and strengthen U.S. and international support for Taiwan, which was incorporated into a broader bill to shore up supply chains.
In an interview with The Bee’s Editorial Board, Bera, who has cultivated a centrist profile within his caucus, showed impressive energy and thoughtfulness on finding paths to progress on gun violence, climate change and other issues that Republicans have been particularly loath to address. On the subject of immigration reform, for example, Bera said, “I have been talking to Republicans about it because they recognize that we need the food and ag workers. We need the construction workers as well. And I do think you could get an immigration bill done that addressed that necessary workforce and gave some of those folks a pathway to become legal residents and then go on to citizenship.”
Hamilton, a Republican making her second run in a Democratic-leaning district, also takes care to strike a moderate tone, but she tends to resort to vague platitudes rather than specific proposals. As for Bish, her promotion of dangerous misinformation about COVID vaccination and “critical race theory” should be disqualifying.
Bera bears the scars of a series of hard-fought contests for Congress, but he deserves to win this one easily.
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This story was originally published May 2, 2022 at 5:00 AM.