Read The Bee endorsement for California’s 1st Assembly District | Opinion

One of the biggest divides at the state Capitol is balancing priorities between urban and rural areas. Because there are more urban legislators — and because rural Americans tend to lean conservative — the unique needs of rural Californians are not always effectively represented in the state’s Democrat-controlled legislature.

The individuals who represent California’s rural districts, like California’s 1st Assembly District, face an uphill battle: They need to be skilled, efficient leaders who can work across the aisle to get legislation passed and deliver results to their constituents. The 1st Assembly District, the geographically-largest assembly district in the state, encompasses a wide swath of diverse voters. It spans more than 26,000 square miles and includes all, or parts of, 11 California counties: Alpine, Amador, El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra and Siskiyou.

Freshman 1st District Assemblymember Heather Hadwick is a smart, hands-on, impressive representative who has gathered significant momentum during her first term in office. An elected official who puts her head down and focuses on delivering results for the county, Hadwick deserves to be reelected.

“The biggest challenge we face is trying to make sure everybody feels heard,” Hadwick said. “I drove 53,000 miles last year trying to do just that. I held town halls in every county — multiple, in some.”

Raised in Siskiyou County, Hadwick has spent her life observing the challenges that rural Californians face. Now living in Modoc County, she is a small business owner (Hadwick and her husband operate a family farm), as well as a former elementary and high school teacher and a former county employee. She previously worked at both the Modoc County Office of Education and as deputy director of the Office of Emergency Services for the Modoc County Sheriff’s Office.

Hadwick said her time in the Office of Emergency Services trained her to look at a problem with clear eyes, and to “leave the emotions out of it.” That skill has made her an effective legislator, and six out of the seven bills she introduced in her first year were signed into law by the governor.

Her opponents for the 1st Assembly District seat are Democrat Dianna James, a Mount Shasta resident who formerly worked as a foreign affairs officer in the U.S. Department of State; and Republican Darin Hale, a current Anderson City councilman who previously worked in construction. Of the three candidates, we believe Hadwick has the best grasp of the needs of her district and the solutions for meeting those needs.

In her second year as an elected official, it’s clear that Hadwick, a Republican in the legislature’s super-minority, has learned the ropes and figured out how to be productive as part of the state legislature’s superminority. She does so by working across the aisle — always striving to have a Democratic co-author on her bills to increase the chance of a bill getting enough votes to pass — and by educating her colleagues about the needs of rural California to deliver results.

“You have to choose whether you want to yell from the Capitol steps and get more TikTok followers and get more likes, or whether you want to get things done and bring them back to your district,” Hadwick said. “I want to bring things back to the district.”

She is also a watchdog for well-meaning legislation from urban representatives that could unintentionally — and perhaps disproportionately — harm her rural constituents. For example, cattle ranchers in the 1st Assembly District are struggling with California’s newly-returned gray wolf packs, though Hadwick feels like elected officials who do not have the same experience living in rural California that she has tend to protect wildlife more than residents.

Hadwick is vice chair of two assembly committees — Agriculture and Emergency Management — and a member of three other committees, including the Insurance Committee, which she characterizes as “by far my most frustrating committee.”

“I don’t feel like there’s a sense of urgency there,” she said. “We have to start talking about fuels management. We have to start getting people off the FAIR plan.”

In her next term, Hadwick plans to continue focusing on wildfire prevention as well as the cost of living, supporting small businesses, advocating for farmers and championing policies around water storage.

We look forward to seeing what else Hadwick will accomplish for her diverse — and dispersed — constituents in a second term as an assembly member.