Republican Brian Dahle becomes first gubernatorial general election candidate from north of Sacramento in 132 years – The Mercury News

For the first time since 1890, a California gubernatorial candidate in the general election will hail from Northern California. State Senator Brian Dahle (R-Bieber) finished in second place Tuesday night to Gov. Gavin Newsom. Because of the top-two primary system in California, it was good enough to advance to November.

Newsom, fresh off last years recall victory, garnered more than 1.9 million votes or 56.3% of all votes. Dahle, endorsed by the state Republican Party, finished second with 572,505 votes, or 16.8%.

Now Newsom will face a Republican challenger that hails from north of Sacramento, an area that hasnt had a candidate for governor in 132 years.

The senator, who once represented Magalia and Stirling City as part of the state Assembly, now represents 11 Northern California counties, including all or parts of Alpine, El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Shasta, Siskiyou and Sierra counties in the state Senate. His wife Megan Dahle represents his former assembly district that still includes parts of Butte County.

He started his career in politics on the Lassen County Board of Supervisors in 1997. From there, hes gone on to become the Republican Assembly leader and is now the first general election candidate for a governor from this part of the state in 132 years.

Ive never really thought about that. Its not something Im concerned about. Im trying to achieve something good for California. Get that balance, he said on Thursday. So, I never really hadnt thought about it I didnt really know that statistic.

He said his focus is on allowing his children and his neighbors to achieve the California dream.

I got involved in politics, was because, you know, I want to make my community a better place. Twenty-five years of one-party control in California has made it very difficult for my business, my families and the families I represent, he said. And the people in California are struggling right now.

He said the goal is to gain the top seat in California and do so by talking about the things impacting his constituents.

Hopefully, get some balance, thats the goal here, and win and actually govern in a different direction. he said.

While he said that he hadnt thought a lot about where hes from, he does recognize that it does present a challenge as he attempts to claim the governors seat since the three previous Northern California candidates for the highest office in the state failed to do.

I know that I dont come from a real populated area and have a lot of great name ID, and its a struggle for people to know who I am, he said. But I believe once they know I am, they would choose me over Gavin Newsom.

To do that he points out that he has to overcome a juggernaut that is the Newsom campaign that Dahle said has a $40 million war chest thats funded by public unions like the California Teachers Association.

The Republican nominee asserted that its that financial support that allows the governor to control the airwaves.

That takes a lot of money, which is something very hard to gather as well, he said. So, Ive came up with a way to raise money. And its a little bit of a lot of people come up with, I call it the dollar a day program, $1 a day for a year.

He said those who are interested in taking part can find it on his campaign website. And he encourages people to do more than vote arguing that people also need to support their candidates financially.

He also points out that the fact that he has is a farmer and comes from an area that has been impacted by wildfire gives him a unique perspective that even the current governor does not have.

There is a difference between the two of us actually, I am a true environmentalist who actually wants to actually stop fires and build more storage for water, Dahle said, arguing that as a farmer he is a steward of the land.

While he has been in government since 1997, including 16 years on the Lassen County Board of Supervisors, he has also run a business.

Thats the difference between me and Gavin, he calls himself a business owner, but he really doesnt run his business every day, he said. Everything he has done has been handed to him and he hasnt really governed in a way where he hasnt had to work with other people.

And he says thats where his style will be completely different than the current governor in that he will work with people, but right now the current state have affairs in government doesnt require that.

When you have, you have total control, you have a lot of abuse of power, he said. And thats whats happening in California.

Dahle argues the only way to correct that is to start from the top down and remove the current governor.

You want four more years of Gavin Newsom? Vote for him, he said. But if you want balance, change and common sense. You have a choice. Vote for me.

Its a message that he said hes been able to share since Tuesday with more people who are trying to find out who he is and what his experiences are.

A lot of people have been trying to find where the heck Im from, he said.

The last general election candidate or governor who lived north of Sacramento was John Bidwell in 1890. The founder of Chico ran as a member of the Prohibition Party and earned just 4% of the vote. He lost to Republican Henry Markham.

Bidwell also ran for governor in 1875 as a member of the anti-monopoly party according to joincalifornia.combut was listed as an independent. Democrat William Irwin won the seat that year with 50% of the vote.

The first Northern Californian to run for governor in a general election setting was Pierson B. Reading from Shasta County in 1851 for the Whig Party. He lost to Democrat John Bigler by just less than four percentage points.

The city of Redding was named after him as Reading, but in 1880 he renamed the city Redding after Benjamin Redding, who at one point had been the mayor of Sacramento.

The fourth Northern California resident to run for governor in the general election was Hugh Glenn in 1879 as a Democrat. He was one of four candidates that year, of which the winner was George C. Perkins, a Republican. Perkins would win the seat with just 42.4% of the vote while Glenn would finish second with 29.7% of the vote. He would die in 1883 in what is now known as the city of Colusa.

Glenn County was named after Glenn.

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Republican Brian Dahle becomes first gubernatorial general election candidate from north of Sacramento in 132 years - The Mercury News