Primary Election 2020: 18th Congressional District

The census numbers have been tabulated and the redistricting of California’s congressional, state senate, state assembly and state board of equalization districts were official as of Dec. 27, 2021. San Benito County, which was part of the 20th Congressional District, is now in the redrawn and much expanded 18th Congressional District. Congressman Jimmy Panetta and Senator Ana Caballero will no longer represent the county after the November midterm elections.

Other than the northern and southern borders that abut up to the 19th and 14th districts, there are no straight lines to the 18th District. At the whim of population data, the boundaries run from the east along the hills that separate the Central Coast from the San Joaquin Valley, to the west, in a meandering, in-and-out fashion through Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, including Morgan Hill, Gilroy and Aromas. Then it dodges Moss Landing and Prunedale. After that, it juts back east to capture Salinas, and somehow misses Spreckels before it zigzags down the valley to include every city along Highway 101, with a jaunt west to take in Fort Hunter Liggett. The district ends somewhere between Bradley and San Miguel.

There is one tiny proviso about the new districts. The new boundaries won’t become operative until the 2022 primary and general elections, according to We draw the Lines, part of the 2022 California Citizens Redistricting Commission. “The new boundaries are used for those elections and the new districts don’t actually ‘exist’ until after the 2022 general election is completed,” according to We draw the Lines.

There are three candidates for the 18th Congressional District seat: Luis Acevedo-Arreguin, Peter Hernandez, and Zoe Lofgren. BenitoLink sent all three candidates questions and requested responses in their own words.

Luis Acevedo-Arreguin was born in Oaxaca, Mexico, raised in Queretaro, and currently lives in Castroville. He studied chemistry at the University of Queretaro and environmental engineering at the National University of Mexico. He obtained graduate degrees in education, applied mathematics, and statistics at the UC-Santa Cruz.

BenitoLink: San Benito County lacks affordable and adequate broadband service, how can you effectively advocate for funding for equitable internet access in this area?

Acevedo-Arreguin: When the pandemic started in 2020, giant corporations like Google offered to bring the internet to the rural zones of California. Another giant tech entrepreneur offered to develop a satellite-based system to bring the internet to any place in the world. The lack of internet service in rural areas made school instruction for children extremely difficult. It was also very difficult for children whose parents did not have internet at home, if they were not able to afford internet. As a lawmaker, I will advocate for families lacking fast-speed internet or living in rural areas to get access to this essential service at affordable prices. No student should have their instruction delayed or stopped by the lack of technological tools or services.

Gavilan College serves San Benito County and is in a financial crisis. What can you do to ensure there is access to higher education opportunities within the county?

I was a community college student at some point in my life and I currently hold an adjunct position at a community college where I teach mathematics. I understand how I will also be vigilant that our natural resources will be an important factor of the equation when new residential developments are under study. Water is a limiting resource for our communities’ survival and just establishing more rental units or building new huge apartment structures in our communities already struggling for better services would complicate our housing problem. We need more affordable housing for homeless, low-income and middle-income families in the right places without detriment of more and better services for our established neighborhoods. 

San Justo Reservoir is an important issue for residents. Other than advocating funding for the zebra mussel eradication plan (over $6 million), what else can you do to help reopen it?

Congressman Jimmy Panetta has worked hard to obtain funds to eradicate the invasive zebra mussel. However, people who used to go fishing at the reservoir feel that his work goes very slowly. It is important to know that many people go fishing not just for pleasure but to feed their families. I know from a fishing businessman that there are a lot of fishermen who often fish to help feed their families. 

It is important to focus on an experimental treatment for that water such as using potassium chloride. There have been previous experiences showing how this reactant has helped remove those mollusks from bodies of water in other states. Since the difference is just that San Justo Reservoir is an open system compared to the closed system where the potassium chloride treatment was effective, then we need to adapt the procedure for this variable. The experimentation would be a good opportunity to link a local project with our community college and other actors in the region. Through a community effort (which I would like to participate in), we can help solve the water quality problem of San Justo Reservoir.

According to the U.S. Census, 7.9% of San Benito County residents are in poverty and 9% under age 65 are without health insurance. What plan would you put forward to ensure all residents can afford health care coverage?

The economic impact that the pandemic left in our communities made our middle-class families more vulnerable to health care struggles. Long before the pandemic, many families were going bankrupt due to unexpected medical bills from emergencies. The pandemic only worsened our country’s health care inequalities. As COVID-19 spread rapidly, more and more families were finding themselves in debt from medical expenses. Certainly, some stimulus checks helped those families cope with the everyday basic expenses, but some medical bills were still too high.

Homelessness is a multi-level issue that affects health, environmental and housing sectors and the justice system. What is the best approach to tackle this problem? How can Congress best support local efforts?

Housing is a very complex problem almost everywhere in California. District 18 is not the exception. While people in our communities need more housing options, other people warn that our natural resources are diminishing due to sea water intrusion into coastal neighborhoods and because of overpopulation in our small towns. I believe that the housing problem should be approached on a local basis. The solutions cannot be generalized but should aim for an equilibrium between the forces driving the complexity of our housing problems.

The most recent events in our country have made the American Dream more unachievable than ever for the ordinary individual. Big corporations are taking over the housing market and displacing first-time buyers from their opportunity to achieve their dreams. Cash became king in the real estate market and that is what is jeopardizing any possibility for low-income and middle-class families to acquire a house. I will work to find ways for these families to obtain the help they need to compete against big corporations and more affluent families.

At the local level, it is also important to increase mental health services and substance abuse treatment in our district as well as increase veteran services that provide housing for our veterans. It is also important to think about how homelessness impacts people of color, who are disproportionately represented in the homeless community. These racial disparities that we see in our homeless population are connected to years of discrimination in housing, child welfare and education.

I will also be vigilant that our natural resources will be an important factor of the equation when new residential developments are under study. Water is a limiting resource for our communities’ survival and just establishing more rental units or building huge new apartment structures in our communities already struggling for better services would complicate our housing problem. We need more affordable housing for homeless, low-income, and middle families in the right places without detriment of more and better services for our established neighborhoods.

Peter Hernandez, 47, was born and raised in San Benito County. He lives in Hollister. He is a small business owner and San Benito County Supervisor. He graduated from San Benito High School.

BenitoLink: San Benito County lacks affordable and adequate broadband service, how can you effectively advocate for funding for equitable internet access in this area?

Hernandez: As a San Benito County Supervisor I serve on the Broadband Ad-Hoc. We have worked with our member organization, RCRC (Rural Counties Rural Cities) to extend support for “final mile” broadband projects where access to rural areas, as an example, are limited. In order to best advocate for equal access we must address the looming debt and inflation through putting forward cost-cutting regulations and increasing advocacy for our low-access regions. 

Gavilan College serves San Benito County and is in a financial crisis. What can you do to ensure there is access to higher education opportunities within the county?

Government’s greatest strength is facilitating success by opportunity, access and creation. Higher education would be best at responding to shifting market needs by ensuring education is consistent with those needs. I would help facilitate a process to support economic development and job creation with supporting institutions of higher learning and enticing them to my district with education that meets our district’s needs. 

San Justo Reservoir is an important issue for residents. Other than advocating funding for the zebra mussel eradication plan (over $6 million), what else can you do to help reopen it?

I have been lobbying the federal government for the last four years to get this problem addressed and resolved. The last contact was with Connie Conway, who was the state executive director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in hopes that she can help acquire the funding. This has officially been a politicized element at the federal level. We at the Board of Supervisors level have brought the Bureau of Land Management to the table many times with very generalized and weak responses. The mention of a $6 million zebra mussel eradication has been known to be the solution but there has not been any political will to get it done. One of the first things I would do is sit down with the BLM and ask for transparency, a timeline, and expectation for ongoing reporting (time) to report back to the community via town hall, and let them answer directly to the people. Light, like transparency, will clear a path to opening our San Justo Reservoir. Parallel to that, I will lobby my colleagues for the money to get it done.

According to the U.S. Census, 7.9% of San Benito County residents are in poverty and 9% under age 65 are without health insurance. What plan would you put forward to ensure all residents can afford health care coverage?

Improving the economic conditions of our state will help us return to the historically low unemployment we enjoyed before the COVID lockdowns. I will support efforts to make health insurance portable and expand use of health savings accounts to help people pay the copayments, prescriptions and premiums they are struggling with. 

Homelessness is a multi-level issue that affects health, environmental and housing sectors and the justice system. What is the best approach to tackle this problem? How can Congress best support local efforts?

As a county supervisor who has tackled homelessness at the local level, I have seen how state decriminalization laws, limits set on local control, and a revolving door justice system has made the problem worse. Local control through collaboration between counties and cities setting restrictions on neighboring cities and counties “transferring” their homeless populations is a must. Local government and local nonprofits are best suited to deliver services and take measures to solve this continuing problem. That requires support for nullifying (even if temporary) federal and state mandates that are arbitrary to the local authorities in solving their homeless problem.  

Zoe Lofgren, 74, was born, raised and still lives in San Jose. She attended public K-12 schools locally and was the first in her family to graduate from college, receiving a BA from Stanford University on a California State Scholarship, and a JD from Santa Clara University School of Law on another scholarship. Early in her career, she served as a member of staff for Rep. Don Edwards (her predecessor in Congress) for more than eight years in both his San Jose and Washington, D.C., offices. She spent a few years practicing immigration law at the firm Webber and Lofgren and taught immigration law at the University of Santa Clara School of Law. Her first elected position was as a member of the San Jose Evergreen Community College Board in 1979. That same year, she became the first executive director of the San Jose nonprofit Community Housing Developers. In 1980, she was elected to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors as part of the first ever female-majority board. She served as a supervisor for 14 years. She was first elected to Congress in 1994 as the only freshman Democrat from west of the Rocky Mountains. 

BenitoLink: San Benito County lacks affordable and adequate broadband service, how can you effectively advocate for funding for equitable internet access in this area.?  

Lofgren: Since the early days of the internet, I have prioritized the expansion of broadband service as it impacts local communities and plays an important role in maintaining and growing America’s competitiveness globally. I have consistently advocated and voted for increased federal funding for broadband in Congress. Additionally, I have supported targeted bills to expand high-speed broadband for specific populations, such as bills to ensure there’s plentiful access for first responders and bills to improve access in all public schools (including those in rural and harder-to-reach areas). Since the COVID pandemic, I have voted in favor of three major pieces of federal legislation that made significant investments in broadband expansion: 1) The CARES Act (which passed in March 2020 at the outset of the pandemic) included a $100 million federal infusion; 2) The American Rescue Plan included more than $350 million for broadband; and 3) The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill provided around $10 million for California alone for a new Affordable Connectivity Program to help low-income households afford broadband internet. As a senior member of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, I have always made my voice heard on expanding broadband, and plan to continue to do so for the 18th District in the future.  

Gavilan College serves San Benito County and is in a financial crisis. What can you do to ensure there is access to higher education opportunities within the county? 

Most decisions about allocating school funding, for both K-12 and higher education, are made at the state or local level. However, the federal government provides additional education funding through the annual appropriations process, and I have always been an advocate for increasing education funding during my tenure in Congress. I believe education is the most important investment we can make. My career and life have been shaped by access to affordable education opportunities and I never take that for granted. 

San Justo Reservoir is an important issue for residents. Other than advocating funding for the zebra mussel eradication plan (over $6 million), what else can you do to help reopen it? 

In addition to advocating for funding for the zebra mussel eradication plan, I plan to use my experience of bringing people together to advance movement on the reopening. Over the years, I have learned just how important it is to bring federal, state and local stakeholders together to collaborate. For example, for the past few years, I have been leading inter-agency, cross-government meetings on the Anderson Dam reservoir project. That reservoir is located between San Jose and Morgan Hill, and in 2019 I learned there were significant delays on a key improvement project for the dam. I brought every involved party together in the same room to address miscommunications and to ensure there was a cohesive path for moving forward. That first in-person meeting led to a series of meetings (the most recent one held on March 31) and the public safety project is now on track. We’re no longer encountering the types of delays we saw before we started the inter-agency meetings. It can be extremely valuable to come together at all levels of government to see progress, and that seems necessary for the San Justo Reservoir reopening project.  

According to the U.S. Census, 7.9% of residents are in poverty and 9% of San Benito County residents under age 65 are without health insurance. What plan would you put forward to ensure all residents can afford health care coverage? 

I have joined many of my Democratic colleagues in Congress in pushing for affordable health care for every American. As a founding member of the Medicare for All Caucus, I have long been an advocate for efforts to expand Medicare and make it more accessible and affordable for all Americans. This topic, however, can be particularly toxic in Congress, so I must add that I do not limit myself to Medicare for All as the one approach to increasing coverage. Lowering the Medicare age could be a positive interim step that helps San Benito residents, too, for example. Additionally, I continue to support legislative efforts to protect and expand upon the Affordable Care Act, which I voted for, and which has been providing health coverage for more than 20 million Americans.  

Homelessness is a multi-level issue that affects health, environmental and housing sectors and the justice system. What is the best approach to tackle this problem? How can Congress best support local efforts? 

You are correct in pointing out that homelessness is a multi-level issue. The crisis requires action from all levels of government—federal, state, and local—as well as the private sector, both nonprofit and for-profit. In 1979, I helped establish the San Jose nonprofit Community Housing Developers as its first executive director, and I have remained active in this space for decades. There is no single solution and, at the federal level, I have consistently supported measures to provide additional financing for affordable housing options in our communities. Most recently, the American Rescue Plan included tens of billions of dollars in rental and mortgage assistance for those struggling to pay their bills during the pandemic. I am also a co-sponsor of bills to make mental health treatment services more accessible for Americans, as we must address the intersection of homelessness and mental health in Congress. Additionally, as Community Project Funding requests—which were formerly called earmarks—have returned in Congress after more than a decade (with increased transparency measures), I have successfully secured millions of dollars for local mental health, youth training and anti-substance abuse programs for vulnerable populations locally. I plan to continue bringing home funding to help lift up our communities.