Redding Record Searchlight - Reed enters North State Congressional race

News Article

By Jenny Espino

Democratic challenger Jim Reed on Tuesday entered the race for the 1st Congressional District seat, potentially setting up a repeat of the 2012 contest in which he faced Republican incumbent Doug LaMalfa.

Backed by three supporters, Reed spoke to two reporters at the Market Street Promenade about his vision for turning around the economy and the higher unemployment that dogs the North State. He planned candidacy announcements in Chico and Grass Valley also.

"The single most important thing we can do is a massive infusion of funds to construct, improve and repair our infrastructure. When I say infrastructure, I'm talking roads, bridges, airports and high-speed Internet," he said.

He said he would support shifting dollars from the defense budget to pay for such work and made it a point to note that the military at one time was self-sufficient. It had its own cooks and mechanics. But in the last 15 years, they have been replaced by independent contractors, whose work is more costly than that done by soldiers.

He said the move has short-changed veterans because when they come out of the military, they don't have those added skills.

Reed, an attorney from Red Bluff with ties to Fall River Mills, has previously run for Shasta County judge, twice for Congress and once for state Assembly.

In his eight-minute speech, he touched on populist themes from his past campaigns, including his support for financing Medicare, closing tax loopholes, getting a handle on the student loan debt problems and reforming campaign finance laws.

LaMalfa, a rice farmer from Richvale, is vying for his third two-year term in office. He also is facing opposition from Republican challengers Gregory Cheadle of Happy Valley, Joe Montes of Chico and Doug Wright of Millville, though their path out of California's June primary seems uncertain with the entry of a Democratic challenger.

Asked why he waited until March to jump in the race, Reed said he had not planned to make a Congressional run. But he got excited by what is happening at the national level and no Democrat stepped up locally, he said.

"I should have been working on this three months ago, and I started thinking about what I was going to do three months ago. But I didn't really go into it until about two weeks ago when I realized there was a real possibility here," he said.

The mostly rural district is made up of eight counties and parts of three counties in the northeastern corner of California. Butte and Shasta are the most voter-rich counties in the district.

Reed received 125,386 votes in 2012. LaMalfa bested him with 168,827 votes.

Reed, who has yet to win Shasta County over in his past Congressional bids, plans to visit it two or three times a week for the next eight months. He was upbeat the level of support he saw in 2012 would be enough to pull a surprise in 2016.

"I realize that can change any time, but looking at the present national situation, I believe 125,000 votes in this election will be enough to win," he said.

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