The battle for California’s 1st Congressional District heated up on Mother’s Day as the three leading candidates faced off in their only scheduled debate in Chico.
The Chico Enterprise-Record reports State Senator Mike McGuire, Assemblyman James Gallagher, and nonprofit leader Audrey Denney squared off over skyrocketing utility local rates, the national debt, and the ongoing war in Iran.
While McGuire and Gallagher frequently traded barbs over their respective records in the state legislature, Denney positioned herself as a political outsider focused on ending corporate monopolies and “Pentagon waste.” The candidates are competing in a high-stakes double election to decide both the next full term and a special successor for the late Representative Doug LaMalfa.
With the primary just around the corner, Sunday’s civil but sharp exchange gave North State voters a rare side-by-side look at the frontrunners vying for the seat.