By Ken Magri
Kyle Wilson is a 33-year-old Democrat from Santa Rosa running in the June 2 primary to advance toward November’s general election for the next two-year term as the US Representative from District 1.
Wilson’s family has deep roots in Sonoma County where he was born and raised. He earned a bachelor’s degree from ULCA and a law degree from Columbia Law School in New York. Since then, he returned to Santa Rosa where he works as an employment attorney. Wilson fights wage theft by taking powerful corporations to court and recovering stolen wages for workers.
After his father lost his job during the 2008 financial crisis, Kyle’s family lost their home. Watching banks receive bailouts while working families struggled shaped his commitment to public service.
On the issue of affordable housing, Wilson wants to craft new policies based on the “Vienna model,” where 60% of residents in that Austrian city live in publicly supported housing and 77% of private rentals are subject to rent-control.
Wilson does not take money from corporate Political Action Committees. He says his campaign focuses more on direct contact with voters, showing up at public meetings and engaging in positive dialogue. He calls it a “people driven campaign, not built around party insiders, donor networks or delegate politics.”
Wilson’s main goal is to make life more affordable “by empowering individuals and communities to build their own futures.”
Wilson is not a candidate in the special August 4 election to fill the last several months of the late Doug LaMalfa’s term. He is running for the next congressional term in the newly drawn District 1 that begins in 2027.
As part of a series, CN&R has been asking District 1 candidates to discuss various policies that affect both District One voters and the entire nation.
The Interview
CN&R: So much is happening in the news these days. Before we start, are there any breaking stories you wish to comment on?
Wilson: Yes, ICE and the violations of our constitutional rights occurring across the country and especially in Minneapolis.
The fact that the government is intruding on First Amendment rights, Second Amendment rights, depriving people of due process and using executive authority to crack down on dissent, this is the type of behavior that we have a constitution to protect against.
CN&R: California just passed a law requiring ICE agents to take off their masks. Although the law is being challenged in court, do you support it?
Wilson: I would support it. At the same time, we need to be doing more than that. This is a problem that goes so much deeper. It requires us, as the people, to push back on ICE as an organization.
CN&R: Do you think ICE should be reformed or renamed?
Wilson: At this point yes, I absolutely do. The way it’s operating, ICE is essentially a civilian patrol and an extra-judicial para-military force against American citizens. It needs to be broken up and those who are responsible for authorizing this use of force need to be held criminally accountable.
CN&R: Farming is a large part of the new District One. Whether it is a grape farmer in Lake County, or an orchard farmer in Butte County, why should people working in agriculture vote for you?
Wilson: That’s a great question. My grandfather was an apple farmer. My grandparents came to Sebastopol from Oklahoma. I am surrounded by farmers and really think they are the backbone of our communities.
Corporate consolidation and corporate capture of the industry is making it so much harder for small, local independently owned farms to compete. We need to put small local organizations first and foremost. That means making regulations easier.
Busting up some of the monopolies at the food distribution level, which keep farmers’ selling prices down while simultaneously jacking up prices on the consumer end…Investing in local distribution resources, local farmers markets and developing technologies to get food directly to households from small farmers would be a huge step towards removing this corporate middle man that is draining both our farmers and consumers.
CN&R: Fire mitigation is a concern of both farmers and residents across the district. Do you have any strategies for mitigating fires in the urban/wildland interface?
Wilson: My brother is a CalFire firefighter, so I am well aware of the impact. We need to invest directly in hardening homes, residences, small farms, creating defensible spaces and giving money at the individual level to create protection from fires.
Thinning the forest is part of that plan, but a bigger part of it should be creating individual and community level support to create defensible spaces and investing in that infrastructure.
CN&R: Is there anything that can be done about the affordable housing crisis in the whole country?
Wilson: At the federal level, one of my proposals is to eliminate or phase out the depreciation deduction for investment properties. Right now, our tax system gives an enormous benefit to people who purchase real estate as an investment by being able to depreciate the value of the property. That deduction creates a special bubble and makes housing an investment rather than a place to live. We need to remove that tax incentive.
CN&R: People in the LGBTQ+ community are tired of being used as a political wedge issue which divides otherwise agreeable Democrats. They also feel abandoned by the Republican Party on health care, marriage and privacy issues. Why should the LGBTQ+ community support your candidacy?
Wilson: I completely agree with that assessment. So many of the social issues are being used as a wedge to divide people rather than bring them together.
I know the struggles of the LGBTQ community. Trans people have the highest rate of homelessness. The HIV crisis is largely contained, but there needs to be continued support for HIV prep and medicines.
The more we’re able to connect with our neighbors on an individual level, and really focus on what brings us together, that will have the effect of soothing a lot of these tensions.
CN&R: You have mentioned individuals and local groups several times as a possible solution to our problems. Can you expand on that?
Wilson: The role of the government should be to empower individuals. I think the reason our political system has been adrift is because we lost that community level power. We have delegated it out to the hierarchy and the party leadership. We need a return to people-based politics to get people excited, invested and snap them out of the cynicism that has taken over.
CN&R: We are asking all candidates that are Democrats about a recent poll showing a record low 18% approval rating for Democrats in Congress. Yet another poll shows voters want Democrats to take the majority away from Republicans in the US House of Representatives by a 47%-42% margin. How would you square these different statistics?
Wilson: I think the Democratic Party is at a turning point. Voters are seeing an alignment with the Democratic vision for the country in terms of having an economy that works for the working people, getting rid of corporate control of our political legal system and bringing back a government that is accountable and transparent.
At the same time, I think there is a lot of blame to place on our current Democratic leadership for failing to live up to those values. But, there are these new fresh faces coming in, Democrats that are being loud and vocal about the vision they have. It is really getting people excited.
CN&R: What is the last thought you want to leave voters with?
Wilson: I want to fight for the working people. I’m not afraid to stand up to big corporations, I do that every day. I’m not afraid to stand up to party leadership, regardless of who that is. I’m not afraid to state unpopular opinions if I believe them to be right.
I want to be a voice of truth, and I want to give people faith that the government can work again.
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