On the heels of passage of the redistricting-focused Proposition 50, former Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln has announced a switch in his next attempt to win a seat in Congress.
Instead of a rematch with U.S. Rep. Josh Harder, D-Tracy, in California’s 9th District, he said Thursday he will be running in the 13th District against U.S. Rep. Adam Gray, D-Turlock. Both districts were redrawn as part of the congressional map shakeup mandated by Proposition 50, which passed handily in Tuesday’s election.
“As a Marine and a former mayor, I’ve always dedicated my life to serving others, and today, I am proud to announce that I will be running for U.S. Congress in California’s 13th District,” Lincoln, a Republican, said in a statement on social media.
He missed no time in zeroing in on Gray and made it clear he will paint himself as a conservative leader in a more rural, agricultural-oriented district than the one he sought before.
“While families across the valley are working harder than ever to make ends meet, Washington politicians like Adam Gray have fallen in line with a failed liberal agenda that’s made life less affordable and less safe,” his social media post said.
Gray’s campaign released a statement to ABC10, saying “Kevin Lincoln can run for Congress wherever he wants, but he can’t run from his record of skyrocketing housing and utility costs, rampant crime, and taxpayer-funded perks for himself.”
Gray’s district 13 has included the southern end of San Joaquin County while Harder’s district 9 includes most of the county, including Stockton.
Harder beat Lincoln in last November’s general election by a 51.8% to 48.2% margin. Gray had an even tougher time winning his seat. He squeaked by Republican John Duarte by a mere 187 votes out of more than 210,000 cast. But the proposed redraw of the 13th District to include more of Stockton — and more Democratic voters — will likely make it easier for the Gray to hold the seat, CalMatters reports.
Proposition 50, pushed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, was designed to allow Democrats to more easily pick up five congressional seats now held by Republicans. Newsom’s pitch was that California needed to offset five congressional seats that were redistricted in by the legislature in Texas at the behest of President Donald Trump.
Trump put out the call for redistricting in states with heavy GOP support in an attempt to hold on to his party’s control of the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections. At present, Republicans hold only a narrow majority. Redistricting generally is only conducted once every 10 years after the U.S. Census survey.