The Abridged version:
- A crowded field competes for the newly drawn 6th Congressional District, covering parts of Sacramento, Yolo and Placer counties.
- Among the candidates are Rep. Kevin Kiley, who left the Republican Party and registered as an independent.
- Former state Sen. Richard Pan, Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho, West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero and Planned Parenthood executive Lauren Babb Tomlinson rounded out the field.
Rep. Kevin Kiley narrowly led the race for the newly-drawn 6th Congressional District in early returns released Tuesday.
Kiley earned 26.9% of the vote in early results released at about midnight. He was followed by Republican Michael Stansfield with 22.1% of the vote and Democrat Richard Pan, who had collected 21.2% of votes in the early going.
The 6th District is considered a congressional battleground, drawing a large field of well-funded candidates with both name recognition and political experience.
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The new district was drawn following the passage of Proposition 50 and now covers portions of Yolo, Sacramento and Placer counties.
Kiley, who represented the 3rd District as a Republican before the congressional maps were redrawn, switched his party affiliation to independent for this race. Kiley was seeking to leverage his experience both in Congress and as a state assemblymember to emerge from the packed field.
Kiley also had the advantage of being the most prominent candidate who is not a Democrat.
Pan, a former state senator who rose to political prominence by championing childhood vaccination legislation, is among the top contenders from his party. Pan collected several high-profile endorsements, including the backing of Service Employees International Union, the California Teachers Association and the California Labor Federation.
Another Democrat in the field is Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho, who had the endorsement of Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty and Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper. Ho also was endorsed by American Physicians for Change and the California Tribal Business Alliance. Ho was fourth in early returns.
West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero, also a Democrat, had the backing of three Yolo County supervisors and several labor unions, including the Communication Workers of America Local 9421, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245 and Ironworkers Local 118.
Democrat Lauren Babb Tomlinson is an executive with Planned Parenthood who received the backing of several progressive and pro-choice organizations, including the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, the Congressional Black Caucus PAC and EMILYs List.
The field was rounded out by Stansfield and Democrat Tyler Vandenberg.
Ryan Lillis is the Associate General Manager of News at PBS KVIE.