Chico Enterprise-Record editorial: Denney the voice north state needs in Washington

“Our endorsement of Denney goes beyond LaMalfa just being a yes man for Trump,” according to an editorial in the Chico Enterprise-Record. “His lack of significant accomplishments in Congress also plays a role. He’s a reliable vote for whatever the party wants but he hasn’t written any monumental bills in his six years in Congress.

“This newspaper hasn’t endorsed a Democrat for Congress for decades, probably all the way back to conservative Democrat Bizz Johnson in the 1970s. We don’t take the endorsement lightly. Democrats have fielded a steady stream of unimpressive candidates for Congress who get little support from the party, knowing they have no chance in the conservative district.

“Denney has no experience either, and that’s a shame, but she’s still a solid, well-schooled candidate.

“Despite the time-tested political trick of trying to claim she has ‘San Francisco values,’ Denney is a Chico resident, 34 years old, who grew up on a family farm, received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agriculture from Chico State University, lived in Ghana and El Salvador working on ag projects, and taught agriculture at Chico State.

“She says she was a registered Republican for 10 years.

“She says she’s a gun owner who believes that some of California’s laws — like banning bump stocks and universal background checks — should be adopted nationwide.

“She talks about career technical education for young people rather than pushing college on everybody.

“She talks about student loan forgiveness for people who go into public service jobs, but not free college education.

“She approves of Sites Reservoir. She doesn’t approve of Jerry Brown’s twin tunnels under the delta or raising Shasta Dam.

“In other words, she sounds closer to a Chico moderate than a San Francisco Democrat, as the ads would have you believe.

“In LaMalfa’s three general elections for Congress, no Democratic challenger has come within 15 percentage points. The sprawling northeastern California district has a huge Republican registration advantage. Denney has been reaching out to the district’s many no-party-preference voters, as well as Republicans who don’t approve of LaMalfa’s brand of conservatism.

“It would be a monumental, stunning upset. But we don’t make endorsements based on who we think will win, just on who we think should win. That’s Audrey Denney.”

The editorial is here.

Author: jeffpelline

Jeff Pelline is a veteran editor and award-winning journalist - in print and online. He is publisher of Sierra FoodWineArt magazine and its website SierraCulture.com. Jeff covered business and technology for The San Francisco Chronicle for 12 years, and he was a founding editor and Editor of CNET News for eight years, among other positions. Jeff has a bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley and a master's from Northwestern University. His hobbies include sailing, swimming, and trout fishing in the Sierra. View all posts by jeffpelline