Former Congressman Jerry McNerney Enters Contentious 5th District Senate Race

Former Congressman Jerry McNerney (D) entered the 5th District State Senate race during the weekend, largely upending a race that had been dominated by Assemblyman Carlos Villapudua (D-Stockton) to replace outgoing, term-limited Senator Susan Eggman (D-Stockton).

A graduate of the University of New Mexico, McNerney had largely stayed out of politics for decades and instead worked as an energy consultant and engineer from the 1970s to the 1990s, after which he became the CEO of a wind turbine company. In 2004, McNerney entered his first race for the 11th Congressional district, losing to incumbent Republican Congressman Richard Pombo. However, two years later, McNerney won both a shock primary and general election, winning what was considered a solid-red district against Pombo 53%-47%.

For the next 16 years, McNerney stayed in Congress, even moving from Pleasanton to Stockton in 2011 to stay within the boundaries of most of his old district following redistricting. During his tenure, McNerney focused heavily on Veterans Administration and energy related bills, and was known as a solid Democratic vote in Congress. In his last term of Congress, the January 2021-January 2023 117th Congress, McNerney voted with President Joe Biden’s stated position 100% of the time. Upon leaving Congress in January, many had considered his political career over and as virtually retired as he was now 72 years old.

At the state level in the Stockton/Northern Central Valley area, a fight amongst Democrats was brewing. With Senator Eggman leaving next year due to being term-limited out, a battle between progressives and moderates broke out. Rhodesia Ransom, a staffer for Congressman Josh Harder (D-CA) and former Tracy City Councilor, received the endorsement from the Democratic party over Edith Villapudua, Assemblyman Villapudua’s wife. Assemblyman Villapudua, running for reelection, also didn’t get the endorsement for his own race. What was supposed to make them the new moderate Democrat power-couple in Sacramento was now quickly working against them.

To combat this, both Villapuduas simply switched races. Edith went to the 13th Assembly district race to replace her husband to give her an easier path to victory, while Carlos took his wife’s spot in the 5th Senate district. Ransom switched to the Senate race as well, but because of the switch, failed to carry over her party’s endorsement. With Ransom out in the 5th, all Carlos would now have to worry about is Republican businessman Jim Shoemaker in a majority Democrat district.

With Edith now having a decent chance for the Assembly and Carlos now running as the heavy favorite in the Senate, CADEM struggled to get preferred candidates out there. Ransom was kept for the Assembly, but they still needed a more lefter-leaning candidate to go against Carlos. Needing a big name to derail Carlos Villapudua’s momentum. This led to Senator Eggman contacting McNerney, now retired, to run for her seat. During the weekend, he finally accepted.

McNerney enters contentious race

“This January, I decided to hang up my spurs and live the life of a civilian and was at peace with that,” said McNerney in his campaign announcement. “Then this last Monday, I got a call from Susan Eggman, who is the state senator from this district and she said ‘Jerry, we want you to run for this seat.’ I had to think about this, but the State Senate is a wonderful operation and you can actually get stuff done in the State Senate instead of being 435 people who just want to fight each other all the time. We are going to get stuff done. I am announcing my entry into the California State Senate race.”

He later added, “I feel really strongly about the climate, about gun violence, about women’s rights and so many other things, and I believe the California state Legislature is a place where you can really get stuff done.”

However, Villapudua’s campaign played down McNerney’s entrance into the race. In a statement, Villapudua campaign consultant Lee Neves said, “I look forward to a campaign where we compare McNerney’s record as a backbencher who collected a paycheck while getting nothing done in Congress to Assemblymember Villapudua’s laundry list of accomplishments in the state Assembly.”

Insiders in Sacramento told the Globe on Monday that Democratic in-fighting caused the blue Senate district and blue Assembly district to go from minimal campaigning needed districts, to some of the most contested.

“All Democratic candidates involved, this is going to be a huge drain of money,” said “Dana,” a Capitol Staffer in Sacramento. “Usually you just think of purple Republican-Democrat races as the contentious ones, but the Villapuduas, by trying to create a ‘dynasty’ like the Dahle’s did up North with a husband-wife Assembly-Senate tandem team, just made the party mad. They wanted to flip the script when CADEM decided not to give their endorsement. But Ransom simply followed Edith Villapudua to the Assembly race and Carlos Villapudua now has to contend with a former Congressman who won almost all his races there by 55% or more. McNerney is up there in age, but people know him quite well.”

“McNerney going into the race was the last thing Villapudua wanted. They were kind of expecting him, but it is still a bit stressing to see it actually happen. It was so blatant what the Villapudua’s were trying to do though. If they were smart, they would have waited until the deadline to enter the races, then switch at the last minute. But they played their hands too early and gave the party enough time to have Ransom switch and get McNerney in there. Honestly, GOP candidates would do well do highlight this craziness and maybe try to get in as a darkhorse.”

More on the 5th state Senate race field is due soon as campaigns solidify before the March primary.