Dahle announces state senate run
District 1 Assemblyman Brian Dahle recently announced he will be a candidate in State Senate District 1, when incumbent Senator Ted Gaines vacates his senate seat to serve on the Board of Equalization seat he won in the November election.
Dahle said he expects a special election for the state senate seat will be held in March or April.
Kathy Williams, the Plumas County Clerk-Recorder, said the 1st Senate District is made up of 11 counties in Northern California and has close to 1 million residents. The district covers most of the Sierra Nevada mountain range from the Oregon border in Modoc County and travels south along the Nevada border into El Dorado and Alpine counties. It is made up of all or parts of Lassen, Alpine, El Dorado, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Shasta, Siskiyou and Sierra counties.
“So, this is a huge area for a series of elections to take place again in just a few months,” Williams said. “Much will depend on the date the new governor calls for an election, but, he has to do it by Jan. 15.”
Williams said she researched the matter and “after digging a little deeper into the upcoming vacancy that will be created by Ted Gaines (when he assumes a new position on the state Board of Equalization), pursuant to the election code, up until the year 2020, the election may be conducted as an all-mail ballot election for all the counties within the entire district. If, by chance, Dahle gets elected to the senate, it will then create a vacancy in the assembly and force another countywide election in the same year. If there isn’t an outright winner with 50 percent plus one vote in the first elections, they would both go to a runoff election, meaning four countywide elections in 2019 plus a special and a Uniform District Election in November.”
Dahle said he plans to continue his efforts to educate state legislators about the issues facing the north state. So far, he has brought 110 members of the legislature to his district. He said most of them have never been farther north than the airport in Sacramento. He said his efforts to educate these members of the legislature has led to the passage of significant legislation that benefits his district.
He said the members of the legislature were “blown away” by the distances in the district and the lack of public transportation, for example.
He told them when the legislature was contemplating a per-mile gas tax, “This is going to kill the rural parts of the state. It’s proven very effective, so I’m going to continue to do those things and at the same time I’ve been fighting against regulation and taxes.”
Dahle said he’s battling to bring some of the tax dollars his constituents pay back home.
He also said he played a role in getting the federal government to set aside the repayment of $20 million to benefit long-term health care facilities.
“Those are the things I’m campaigning on,” Dahle said.
In announcing his candidacy, Dahle said, “My heart goes out to the victims of the Camp Fire and recent Carr Fire. I promise to continue efforts to both help the victims and prevent future catastrophic wildfires from ever taking so many lives, homes and businesses.”
A statewide leader in legislation to prevent wildfires, Dahle secured funding for vegetation management, forest fuel reduction and improved response times when fires occur, and held utilities accountable when their mistakes led to wildfires.
“I’ve been talking about fire ever since the Quincy Library Group days,” Dahle said, “and I’ve talked about those same things in Sacramento, and now it’s coming true, unfortunately.”
Dahle promised, “I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure all fire victims get back on their feet and are compensated for their losses.”
In addition to his leadership efforts to prevent wildfires, Dahle has earned a 100 percent rating from the California Police Chiefs Association as well as a 100 percent rating from the California Taxpayers Association.
A farmer and small business owner, Dahle served as a Lassen County supervisor before being elected to the Assembly and becoming Assembly Republican Leader.
Dahle currently represents the sprawling 1st Assembly District, which makes up 45 percent of Senate District 1.
He begins the campaign with a long list of influential endorsements from regional leaders in a majority of the counties in the Senate District, including six county sheriffs.
Brian and Megan Dahle have been married for 19 years. They have three children, Chase, Reagan and Roslyn.
Dahle takes deep pride in his family’s farming business and hopes to pass along the business to his children.
Dahle said his constituents may call him at 251-3888.
