One exciting side-effect of Proposition 50, which gerrymandered California’s Congressional districts in order to boost the number of Democrats we send to Congress, is that candidates have to try again, at least a little bit. Maximizing the number of Democrat safe seats means divvying up former Republican safe seats, and burying those constituents here and there in districts belonging to their competitors.

Which means that the Second Congressional District, to which Humboldt belongs, is actually going to be just a bit more Republican than it used to be. To our south and east, the First Congressional District, formerly represented by the late Doug LaMalfa, will essentially be dismantled and given to Santa Rosa, making it also a safe D but with a pretty good population of Rs.

So candidates want to reach out to these new constituencies, even if those constituencies aren’t going to vote for them. And it turns out that this means the return of an old form of campaigning that Humboldters have probably mostly forgotten about — the slick, highly produced, 30-second TV ad.

Let’s check out what’s on offer!

Second Congressional District

JARED HUFFMAN

Population-wise, the new Second Congressional District is essentially Marin County, Humboldt County and Shasta County, with a long thin tendril of the North Coast connecting them. 

So how do you, as incumbent Jared Huffman, make a pitch that will resonate with all three polities? Put yourself in a kayak and paddle around! Go fly fishing!

Also, while we’re at it, let’s cut back a little bit — though not entirely — on our usage of the word “environment,” and instead foreground concepts like “scenery” and “natural heritage.”

OTHERS

As best we can tell, no one else in the race has produced a slick, highly produced 30-second TV ad. That includes Redding prog-Dem Rose Penelope Yee, independent Nicolette Hahn Niman and several Republicans.

First Congressional District

The sprawling new First Congressional District is a bit outside the Outpost wheelhouse, though it does include Willits and Ukiah and other areas of northeastern Mendocino County. But it’s of interest because one of the candidates is Mike McGuire, who has served Humboldt in the state Legislature for the last 12 years, so let’s check it out.

Note: This is kind of three races in one. There’ll be a special election on June 2 to fill out the last few months of LaMalfa’s term, which will run concurrently with the regular primary election for the term after that. The former takes place in the old First District and the latter in the new First District. The main candidates are the same. It’s complicated!

MIKE MCGUIRE

McGuire comes across as more assertively blue than Huffman does in his ad, but he seems to stick to topics that he thinks will be more universally popular than not: fighting for rural hospitals, sticking up for Planned Parenthood, funding wildfire response.

He even vows to stand up to Trump! It’ll be curious to see how this plays out in the special election, when the electorate will still be majority red.

JAMES GALLAGHER

This Sutter County Republican — a current member of the state Assembly — isn’t afraid to go full oppo.

Gallagher says: Oh, you like Mike, do you? Well, watch this:

How about now, huh? Still like Mike?

But like both Huffman and McGuire, above, Gallagher is also making the positive case for himself, and he’s doing so in a way that offers at least a token hand-across-the-aisle to the formerly foreign, across-the-hill voters he seeks to persuade.

We’re talking about farming? Show a picture of grape vines. Cutting gas taxes? Sticking it to PG&E? We can all get behind that, right?

AUDREY DENNEY

Has Mike McGuire stopped Trump? 

He has not. Trump is still there, despite Mike.

That’s one reason why First Districters might want to take a look at this Chico Democrat, who must somehow penetrate the consciousness of voters far, far away in Sonoma County — McGuire country, the district’s main population base.