Congressman Jim Costa is at ‘the top of his game.’ Voters should give him a new term

Democrats hold a nearly 20-percentage point advantage over Republicans in party registration in California’s 16th Congressional District. It has been solidly under Jim Costa’s control since it was formed in 2012.

This year, two other Democrats and a Republican are running in the March primary in challenge to him.

Like two years ago, The Bee’s Editorial Board is recommending voters back Costa. Fellow Democrat Esmeralda Soria, a member of the Fresno City Council, is mounting a strong challenge, but has not made the case that Costa should be replaced.

The third Democrat in the race, Kim Williams, is the most progressive of the candidates, aligning herself with many of the positions taken by Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist now running for president. She admits she is a long shot.

Republican Kevin Cookingham of Fresno holds far-right views that are out of step with the demographics and needs of the 16th.

The district covers the urban parts of Merced and Madera counties and the western half of Fresno County.

Longtime incumbent

Costa earned The Bee’s recommendation in 2018 as someone with the experience and a willingness to bridge the bipartisan divide that was hampering Congress from getting things done. Then the House took up the impeachment of President Trump, and the divide has become even bigger. Costa joined nearly all of his Democratic colleagues in voting to impeach the president.

When it comes to authoring legislation, Costa has continued his practice of doing little original lawmaking. He offered six bills in 2019, eighth fewest of House Democrats. But he cosponsored 272 bills or resolutions introduced by other members.

Costa’s strong suit is in the committee work and behind-the-scene negotiations where he believes he is most effective. For example, he has found money over the years to fund new medical clinics in rural towns like Livingston in Merced County that suffered from lack of health care.

Twenty-four percent of the district’s residents receive food assistance, one of the highest percentages in the nation. In this current session, Costa pushed to maintain Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to low-income residents when Republicans proposed tightening qualification standards.

One major new piece of legislation Costa is sponsoring is a measure devoting $32 billion to high-speed rail corridors, such as the one under construction in the Valley. The bill would support the project’s original goal of connecting Southern California and the Bay Area through the central San Joaquin Valley. The high-speed-rail project has generated thousands of jobs for construction workers in the Valley.

Another of his goals is to open a medical school in the Valley to train doctors who would then stay and work here. The region suffers from a physician shortage.

Costa has gained seniority, as he was first elected to the House in 2005 to what was then the 20th District. That longevity today offers him the chance to be a ranking member on certain committees, such as natural resources, agriculture and foreign affairs. He is also part of 45 caucuses, coalitions and task forces. Among them are the Congressional Water Caucus and Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, important to Fresno’s influential Armenian community.

Costa, who says he is running on “experience and expertise,” has raised more than $1 million for his re-election effort. Notable among his supporters is the backing of Adam Gray, Merced County’s Assembly member.

Supporter turned challenger

Soria had been a longtime Costa supporter, but last July, she decided to enter the race. Originally from Lindsay, Soria is the daughter of farm-worker parents, and brands herself as someone who better understands the challenges facing the district’s largely Latino population.

Like other millennials, the 37-year-old Soria carries a lot of college-loan debt — about $150,000. She wants to find a way to make college more accessible and affordable.

Her father had to retire at age 61 to give 24-hour care to her mother, who had developed early-onset dementia that led to Alzheimer’s. The experience fueled Soria’s beliefs that the health care system need overhauling to better help those in a crisis.

She also wants to be a champion for working-class families, undocumented young people known as Dreamers and low-income residents of rural towns with contaminated drinking water.

Soria is serving her final term on the Fresno City Council. While there, she has focused on job growth and neighborhood problems such as paving roads, building parks, advocating for affordable housing and holding more than 40 community meetings.

She hopes to have raised $500,000 by March for her campaign.

A lawyer who also teaches a class at Fresno City College, Soria is smart, articulate and energetic, and her life story personifies what many district residents have experienced themselves. She can most likely fulfill her congressional aspirations in the future, but for now, has not made a compelling enough case to turn out Costa.

Williams and Cookingham

Cookingham grew up on a farm outside Fresno and graduated from Clovis High School. He went on to work 25 years for Clovis Unified, ultimately becoming the head of its online school and adult education programs before he retired. A former director at Hume Lake Christian Camps in the Sierra, Cookingham is pro-life. He supports government assistance programs, but for only a finite length, saying those who are on public support should be weaned off to enter the work force. He does not support the “Medicare for All” approach of some Democrats. On climate change, he does not think human activity is the main cause of the Earth heating up.

Williams, by contrast, supports the Green New Deal, Medicare for All and debt-free college. Now the human resources director for Mariposa County, she lives in Merced with her adopted 11-year-old daughter who was born in Ethiopia. Williams worked for eight years in the State Department as a foreign service officer, serving in Ghana and Russia.

Recommendation

A winner will not emerge until the fall election, but The Bee’s Editorial Board is recommending voters support Costa in the primary. One thing is for sure: Soria is clearly pushing Costa to compete hard for his seat. That has not always been the case with his re-election efforts; in 2014, he narrowly eked out a win over his relatively unknown GOP opponent.

He told the Editorial Board he is at the top of his game, and he will need to be, given the challenges of partisanship that await in the nation’s capital.