When it comes to politics and elected leadership, one tends to think California Democrats control pretty much everything in the state. And for the most part, they tend to be correct in that assumption. According to the California Secretary of State, Democrats have just over double the amount of registered voters than Republicans. Almost 47 percent percent of Californians are registered Democrats compared to Republicans having 23.83 percent registration number. In the state Senate and Assembly, they both share a veto-proof supermajority. In the Senate, Democrats outnumber Republicans 32 to eight, and the Assembly has 62 Democrats to Republicans 18.
In the U.S. Congress, California has the same issue. Out of the 52 members of Congress from the state, only 12 of them are Republican. However, this number is trending up; during the mid-terms, House Republicans picked up a seven-seat majority, and out of those seven, five came from California. Out of those five, all of them were elected in solid blue congressional districts, especially after the California Redistricting Committee redrew the district lines to benefit the Dems. All of them had double-digit Democrat voter registration lead over Republicans. For example, Congressman Mike Garcia (CA-27) faced a D+12 voter registration disadvantage after redistricting. The numbers are starting to trend in the Republicans’ favor when it comes to Congress at least, and now California could send yet another one to the House; enter Craig DeLuz.
Craig DeLuz is no stranger to politics or the public eye; he’s been in both for almost 30 years. Politically, he served as the chief lobbyist and policy analyst for the Firearms Policy Coalition and as a legislative staffer to California Assemblymen Kevin Jeffries and Tim Leslie. As part of his work with FPC, DeLuz hosted the group’s “Morning Coffee With Craig” video series, which was very well-known among gun enthusiasts. DeLuz also has served on the Robla School District Board of Trustees, one of Sacramento’s highest-performing school districts, since 2005 and has been the board President for over 10 years. Now DeLuz is running for Congress in the 6th Congressional District, which incorporates the greater Sacramento County and City area. It’s worth noting that the Robla School District is not filled with Republican voters; having a Republican candidate with high and positive name recognition among Democrats in the district is a very good thing.
RedState had the opportunity to speak with DeLuz to get to know more about him and his candidacy to unseat the Democrat incumbent Ami Bera.
You could describe DeLuz as a constitutional conservative type of Republican, one who truly holds reverence for and deference to the Constitution whenever a piece of legislation or proposal comes before his eyes. DeLuz supports the platform of the Republican Party, however, with some different ways of going about it. For example, DeLuz said that a common complaint from conservatives is that bad laws never get repealed. Instead of passing new legislation to address bad laws, why not repeal the bad ones?
Instead of not passing any new laws and being happy with that, Congress needs to either replace them with effective laws, or preferably to repeal them in the first place.
Another hot topic issue with conservatives is government spending. DeLuz states that government spending is simply “unsustainable” in its current state. He believes we are on a path to ruin if Congress keeps operating the way they have for the last 20 to 30 years. Furthermore, it seems to DeLuz that some members of Congress are too concerned with making a name for themselves or being what De Luz coined “polebrities,” or politician celebrities. Members are too concentrated on getting their names and faces on the news or voices on the radio instead of doing their jobs.
Craig DeLuz is also known for being an outspoken and ardent advocate for the Second Amendment rights we all enjoy in this country. For decades, he has been on Capitol Hill in Sacramento, either as a policy and legislative analyst for former Republican Assemblymen Kevin Jeffries and Tim Leslie or as a subject matter expert for the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) when it came to legislation regarding firearms. He was so trusted that Democrat members of the California State Assembly and Senate would come to him with their anti-gun bills so DeLuz could tell them what they would not be able to get away with. It is known that DeLuz was able to stop some anti-gun bills before they were ever introduced. DeLuz, along with FPC, has made it possible for countless lawsuits against California and several other states challenging their anti-gun bills, which led to the overturning of several more. DeLuz repeatedly said that it is not about being right or left, but being right or wrong.
Currently, DeLuz stands as the only Republican challenger to incumbent Democrat Congressman Ami Bera; however, he did say that there were three more mulling a potential run. Asked about his opponent, DeLuz stated that Bera is a nice man, however, when it comes to voting on the issues, Bera is in lockstep with the left. However, as I mentioned earlier, the trends are showing more and more chances for Republicans leading into the 2024 election cycle. It is very possible, even likely, that Craig DeLuz can pull off another California Republican upset and strengthen the fragile Republican majority in Congress.
