Sacramento Bee Endorses Garamendi for Congress

Press Release

Today, the Sacramento Bee, the newspaper with the largest distribution in the 3rd Congressional District, endorsed Congressman John Garamendi (D-Fairfield, CA) for reelection in the 3rd Congressional District. The Bee cited Congressman Garamendi's ability to work across the aisle and focus on water, national defense, and conservation.

Congressman Garamendi "has earned another term in Congress, given his experience, expertise in water and interest in national defense," the paper wrote.

"The Bee is a trusted and important voice in our region, and I'm honored to earn their endorsement," Congressman Garamendi said. "In this divided Congress, I've done what I can to build bipartisan consensus while remaining true to my values, and it's an honor to see my leadership on water and national defense noticed."

Garamendi added, "I'm glad the Bee highlighted a critical difference in this campaign: I accept the overwhelming scientific consensus that humans contribute to the climate crisis, and my opponent is the leading climate change denier in California. The 3rd District is home to a major research university and the 2nd most flood prone region in the nation. Our vast farmlands are consistently at the mercy of mother nature. My constituents need a federal representative who can accept scientific reality and work on solutions."

The Bee continued:

"In Congress, he has challenged President Barack Obama's authority to wage war without specific congressional authorization, an important point that too easily is overlooked.

"He is a lifelong Democrat, but he has formed alliances with his neighboring congressman, Rep. Doug LaMalfa, to introduce legislation supporting construction of Sites Reservoir.

"Whether the reservoir ever will get built is a question. Whether it should get built is open to debate. But Garamendi and LaMalfa are to be commended for bipartisanship in the hopelessly partisan Congress. Garamendi and LaMalfa also worked to secure funding for levee repairs in the Glenn County town of Hamilton City on the Sacramento River."

The Bee also highlighted an important policy difference between Garamendi and his opponent, Dan Logue. Logue is a climate change denier, while Congressman Garamendi agrees with the 97 percent of climate scientists who believe humans are exacerbating the climate crisis.

The Bee notes that Logue "led the charge in favor of Proposition 23, the 2010 initiative funded by oil and coal interests that sought to unravel California's landmark legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

Garamendi opposed Prop 23, and 61.5 percent of Californians voted against it. Logue's oil-funded proposition was so extreme that the sitting governor at the time, Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, joined both gubernatorial candidates, Democrat Jerry Brown and Republican Meg Whitman, in opposition.

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