Congressional candidate from Geyserville introduces himself to North Valley voters in the newly drawn District One
By Ken Magri
California State Senator Mike McGuire is the third in News & Review’s series of interviews with District One congressional candidates. Since 2014 he has represented California’s North Coast, “from Oregon to the Golden Gate Bridge” as he likes to say.
Starting in politics as a Healdsburg schoolboard member elected at the age of 19, McGuire went on to be the youngest mayor ever elected in that Sonoma County city. He became the California State Senate’s Democratic Majority Leader in 2022 and served as Senate President pro Tempore from 2024-2025.
McGuire was raised in a family of grape and prune growers. He understands farmers’ worries about rising costs, saying “their operating margin is disappearing in real time.” He is also concerned about a reliable agricultural labor force now being threatened with deportation, saying “I think we need comprehensive immigration reform,” as one part of his overall policy on agriculture.
On wildfire mitigation, McGuire wants to expand firefighting programs at community colleges like Butte, Lassen and Santa Rosa. But whatever the topic, the high cost of living works its way into every response. As a fighter against Trump’s tariffs, McGuire says they have been disastrous. “Stand up for the working class and repeal the tax cuts for billionaires and make them pay their fair share,” is his reply on federal tax policy.
McGuire listed several things he helped to do in the California legislature to create more California homes but acknowledged that affordable housing is a complicated and endless challenge.
As with our previous interviews with Audrey Denney and Kyle Wilson, we began by asking Senator McGuire to comment on a news event.
CN&R: Is there a news event happening right now that you would like to comment on?
McGuire: First and foremost, the war with Iran. Like every American, I want our service members home safe and I want this war to end without spiraling into something bigger. The war with Iran is an illegal war. I want to be honest about what this war is doing to our pocketbooks. The biggest driver for gas prices is the war.
There was a Republican husband and wife who had never come to a Democrat [town hall] function. Their son is going to be deployed to the Middle East and they’re scared. Let’s not forget that Donald Trump made a promise not to get into forever wars.
Today is May 1st, 60 days for the War Powers Act. The Democrats need to grow a damn spine and reign this president in, flex their constitutional muscle and end this needless war.
CN&R: District One farm crops are as diverse as vineyards in the west and almonds, walnuts and orchard crops in the North Valley. Why should a farmer in this congressional district support you?
McGuire: Let’s look at what Trump’s agenda has done to the agricultural community in this state. Fertilizer is up $100 a ton. Farm machinery is up 16%. The work force that plants and harvests the number one agricultural [state] in America is being threatened with mass deportation. Fifty percent of the farmworkers in the Central Valley are undocumented.
I spent my career in the California Senate representing farmers and ranchers, and I’ve never voted on anything that touched a farmer’s land, or water or work force without sitting down with them first. Are we going to agree on every issue? No. Do they know that they have a fighter representing them? Absolutely 100% yes. The agricultural industry is the largest employer in Butte County. We need a member of Congress who is going to fight for them each and every day.
CN&R: Wildfire mitigation is a big concern in District One and across California, what can be done to deal with wildfires?
McGuire: Wildfire is personal and it’s real here throughout the North State. And it has been one of the defining moments of my time in the state senate. We lost 10,000 homes in the senate district I represent.
In the state senate I’ve run bill after bill. We doubled the number of CalFire firefighters over the last nine years. We nearly doubled the number of fire engines on the road, more planes in the sky. California now has the largest firefighting air attack fleet in the world. We deployed thousands of fire detection cameras throughout the state…We launched satellites into space, and now CalFire [detects] about 30% of all new fire starts before a 911 call comes in, because of those satellites.
We have to look at upstream investment. Here in California, we secured $4 billion that’s currently being spent on wildfire mitigation, dead and dying tree removal, fire breaks around communities, making evacuation routes safer by doing vegetation management and putting more prescribed fire (controlled burns) on the ground now than we had over the last 25 years.
CN&R: Is affordable housing even achievable anymore? If so, what can a congressmember do?
McGuire: If we look at Chico undergrounding all utility lines, one of the few communities in the state which has secured the funds to do that, it’s critical. But, yes, we have to stop pretending the problem is the same in every part of the country.
Tariffs on lumber and steel have pushed material costs up by 15%. We have to repeal the tariffs. We’ve got to expand the low-income housing tax credit that’s been cut by Donald Trump and support first-time home buyers. Also, you can’t talk housing without talking about the insurance crisis. That’s been a real passion of mine.
CN&R: The LGBTQ+ community is sick of being picked on by Trump and used as a wedge issue in every election. Why should an LGBTQ+ member or supporter vote for you?
McGuire: Because I’m not going to treat their rights like a bargaining chip. Because I’m not going to go quiet when it’s politically inconvenient. LGBTQ+ Americans and especially trans Americans are being scapegoated right now by people who don’t have answers for the cost of groceries, why the cost of housing has gone up, why they cut health care for millions in this state. That’s what fascists do. Donald Trump goes and picks on vulnerable neighbors instead.
I have been a consistent voice for this community and that will not change in Congress. I will stand up to the growing attacks on LGBTQ+ kids and families, full stop. That’s why Equality California is supporting our campaign.
CN&R: Democrats’ approval rating in the House of Representatives is in the low 30 percentile, almost as low as Republicans, yet polls continue to show voters want a Democratic majority. What do you make of these numbers?
McGuire: Voters are frustrated; they’re pissed. They want to see Democratic leaders fight, fight for their family. They’re tired of strongly worded letters while families are getting steamrolled by Donald Trump and his fascist agenda. Democrats have forgotten about rural America. They need to advance a plan that will strengthen working Americans.
But the same voters look at what the Republicans have done. They gutted healthcare, they’re giving Elon Musk the biggest tax break in the history of America. None of these tax breaks reach the people of Oroville, Orland, Susanville or Red Bluff.
CN&R: What is the last thing you want voters to know about you?
McGuire: The time for accountability is here. Democrats need to hold this fascist president and those who have supported this destructive agenda accountable. Then we need to drive down the cost of living, save healthcare, pass Medicare for all, stand up for the American working class and repeal the tax cuts for billionaires.
Geyserville is not the epicenter of California politics. I grew up in a no-signal town. The world around us is based on trust and relationships. I show up. I listen. I deliver and I’ll fight for you. That’s my bottom line.
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