Rusty Hicks is bringing statewide firepower to the race to be the North Coast’s Assembly member. What that means depends on who you ask

The governor of the nation’s most populous state does not often wade into Democratic primary elections for statehouse seats, making it even more remarkable that Gov. Gavin Newsom chose to do so in one of the state’s most sparsely populated Assembly districts.

Remarkable, that is, until you consider that the candidate Newsom endorsed is Rusty Hicks, chair of the California Democratic Party.

As head of the party since 2019 and leader of a major state labor organization before that, Hicks has connections to California’s political power players. He moved to Arcata in 2021, and he’s calling his chips in now in spades as he makes a bid for the Assembly District 2 seat currently held by Speaker Pro Tem Jim Wood.

Hicks has raised a formidable war chest and racked up endorsements from local politicians, high-ranking Democrats and the state’s powerful labor organizations. Alongside Newsom’s endorsement, he lists Attorney General Rob Bonta, Treasurer Fiona Ma and U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler.

“I think it notes what I bring to this race,” Hicks told The Press Democrat, “raising the profile of both the North Coast and rural communities.”

His backers, which include Wood, agree, saying Hicks’ deep network of support shows he brings the relationships advantageous to a legislator.

But his dual roles as candidate and party chairman have also drawn criticism from opponents as well as from within the party, where a small group of delegates is trying to force Hicks to step down.

The party itself has not made an endorsement or spent any money in the race. But to his critics, Hicks is still wielding the power of the party to propel himself into the statehouse, muscling out candidates who have put in years of public service in the district. And, according to the delegates trying to force his resignation, he’s drawing attention and money away from the party during an election that many Democrats are casting as an almost existential struggle against an extremist Republican Party.

Hicks denies any conflict of interest and says he won’t step down. He has suspended his salary and benefits as party chairman and says the party is well prepared for the year ahead. The majority of the campaigning for federal seats will happen after the primary, he and several political experts interviewed by The Press Democrat said.

“We have great candidates,” Hicks said. “We have great grassroots activists and leaders. We have great staff … and so I have full faith and confidence in this party to be able to win some important House seats in 2024 … And I don't believe my role as a candidate takes away from that in any way shape or form.”

But his detractors see his campaign as a dereliction of duty. “Taking on a second more-than-full-time job and possibly leaving his position during an election with the highest imaginable stakes is misconduct,” a letter signed by 100 party delegates, out of more than 3,000, reads.

The Cook Political Report, which tracks competitive races around the country, lists four Republican-held House seats in California as a “toss-up,” meaning Democrats have a chance to flip them. A fifth seat is designated “lean Republican,” the next most competitive designation. Republicans today hold a five-seat majority in the House.

“To me it’s all hands on deck,” said Helene Rouvier, a party delegate from Eureka and one of the leaders of the effort to force Hicks’ resignation.

In January, Hicks told The Press Democrat he would resign if he was sworn into the Legislature, which would happen in December 2024. So, if he did not make it out of the primary, or if he emerged as the Democratic candidate against Republican Michael Greer, Hicks could return to work and draw his salary.

Because of the demographics of the Assembly district, which includes Republican-leaning Del Norte and Trinity counties, Greer is expected to emerge as one of two candidates from the primary. The general election heavily favors the Democrat, however, in a district where almost 75% of voters came out for President Joe Biden in 2020.

Four other Democrat candidates — Healdsburg Council member Ariel Kelley, Santa Rosa Council member Chris Rogers and Yurok Tribe Vice Chairman Franklin Myers and Mendocino County Supervisor Ted Williams — are running. Last week, a sixth candidate, Cynthia Click of Willits, suspended her campaign and endorsed Myers during a debate.

The push for Hicks’ resignation comes from members of the party’s progressive caucus. That wing of the party has clashed with Hicks over a number of years, Democratic consultant Steve Maviglio said.

“It’s the usual suspects who never wanted him to be party chair in the first place,” Maviglio said. Hicks beat out a progressive candidate when he won the chairmanship with about 57% of the vote in June 2019.

Progressives have since clashed with Hicks over environmental values, among other things. Some climate-focused delegates believe a 2022 decision by party leadership to stop taking money from oil and gas production companies did not go far enough, for example, because the party continued to take money from Sempra, a holding company for utilities including Southern California Gas Company.

Most of Hicks’ donors are statewide labor organizations, which have also poured money into a political action committee to back him independently. Hicks has a long history with labor — as chair of the Democratic Party, he was head of the powerful Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.

Other donations come from political consultants, strategists and lobbyists, many clustered in Los Angeles and Sacramento.

This month, Hicks reported raising around $590,000 for his campaign. A political action committee supporting him, however, has reported almost $400,000, with six-figure donations coming from the California Dental Association and the California Apartment Association, which represents rental property owners and operators. Three statewide labor unions also gave considerably to the PAC.

He’s outstripping all of his opponents except Kelley, who reported more than $466,000. Of that, $150,000 is her own, according to the California Secretary of State. A political action committee supporting her has reported $135,000, with $100,000 donated by Kelley’s sister. Myers has $114,000, and Rogers $222,000.

Hicks’ labor connections have aided him in other ways as well. In early December, around two-thirds of the North Bay Labor Council, a group of labor unions from Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake counties, voted to endorse Rogers, the former Santa Rosa mayor. But at the statewide body, the California Labor Federation, the local recommendation was overruled and the group endorsed Hicks, infuriating both Rogers and some local labor leaders.

Overruling local unions at the state level does happen, political experts told The Press Democrat. But Rogers described the endorsement as a blow from a “political machine” in a fundraising message shortly after that vote.

“The outside delegates who voted to endorse my well-connected opponent weren't there to help when we had to rebuild our community after the Tubbs Fire,” Rogers wrote in the email to his supporters obtained by The Press Democrat.

“We’re up against a political goliath: a statewide political machine that isn’t afraid to try to push our community around,” he wrote.

Hicks’ position brings downsides on the campaign trail as well, as candidates trek between Sonoma County and Crescent City for forums, debates and door knocking.

Other candidates will try to label Hicks’ statewide connections, and his recent move to the district, as a negative, Sonoma State University political science professor David McCuan said. McCuan is staying neutral in the race, he said.

He described the strategy toward Hicks as “make him the skunk of every garden party.”

During a Jan. 30 online forum hosted by the news site MendoFever and local radio stations, Mendocino Supervisor Williams made a point of tying Hicks to the political establishment. When Hicks said that California utility companies were too powerful and were overcharging ratepayers, Williams brought up the donations to the party from Sempra.

“Which side are you on?” Williams said.

Williams is among those who believe Hicks has overstepped by fundraising and securing endorsements for his campaign while still sitting as chair of the party, he told The Press Democrat. “It’s worse than blurred lines,” he said. And raising off his statewide network will cut both ways if Hicks gains the statehouse, Williams said.

“When those tough decisions come is he representing the people who contributed or the people who live in the district?“ he said.

The competitive race, the heavy spending, the conflict among party delegates are all flashes of what California voters can expect to see in primary races over the next few election cycles as a wave of state lawmakers hit their term limits. “You’re going to see a lot more of this kind of Dem-on-Dem violence,” McCuan quipped.

With no public polling on the race so far, it’s too early to tell if Hicks’ message, or the attacks on him, will register with voters. It’s not like Hicks’ day job carries a lot of star power. “If you ask 100 Californians to name the chair of the Democratic Party, I’m not sure you get one that could,” said Thad Kousser, a political science professor at University of California at San Diego.

Instead, as voters on both sides of the aisle are restless, and disgust with party politics is rising, “any political position — from ‘career politician’ to ‘staff insider’ to ‘party hack’ — comes with downsides for voters in an anti-incumbent mood,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Andrew Graham at 707-526-8667 or andrew.graham@pressdemocrat.com. Follow him on X (Twitter) @AndrewGraham88