The race for California's First Congressional District in November will be a rematch of the race of four years ago. Incumbent Republican Doug La Malfa will face Democrat Jim Reed again.
La Malfa came away with the most primary votes in the heavily rural, heavily Republican district. No candidate gained a majority in the seven-way primary. But La Malfa pulled in roughly 41 percent of the vote in early counts.
Reed, a lawyer with offices in three cities, followed La Malfa with roughly 29 percent. Republican Joe Montes pulled in third with less than 20 percent, but none of the other candidates cleared ten percent support. The primary featured four Republicans, two Democrats, and one independent.
Reed and La Malfa faced each other once before, in 2012, the election to replace retiring Republican Wally Herger. La Malfa won reelection in 2014 over Democrat Heidi Hall; Reed ran for State Assembly and lost.The First Congressional District sprawls from Siskiyou and Modoc Counties on the North to Placer County in the South, including Chico, Redding, Red Bluff, and Yreka.
