In case you hadn’t heard, northern Sonoma County’s rep in the California State Assembly, Jim Wood, is giving up his seat this fall so he can go take care of his aging mom. This unexpected announcement late last year riled up quite the squad of seven NorCal go-getters with big political ambitions — so now we get to choose, in the March primaries and again in the November election, which of these overachievers we want to speak for us in Sacramento. The district they’re vying for, Assembly District 2, blankets the entire North Coast — stretching all the way from the Oregon border down to Santa Rosa. Wood’s pick to rule the region is Rusty Hicks, official chair of the Democratic Party here in California. (Side note: Could the name “Rusty Hicks” be any more backwoods North Coast chic? It’s like he was born for this.) Hicks has reportedly taken some heat recently for holding onto his Democratic Party job while running for office — raising “questions about the suitability of a candidate being in a position to hand out party support, and questions about one person’s ability to have two demanding party roles,” the Bohemian reports. Another major contender in the race is Chris Rogers, former Santa Rosa mayor and longtime staffer at Sen. Mike McGuire’s office; for that, he gets McGuire’s endorsement. Ariel Kelley, the recent mayor of Healdsburg, is also giving it a go — along with a handful of more rural candidates from further north. Should be a good and rowdy race. (Source: North Bay Bohemian & Healdsburg Tribune)
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