He owns a Fresno casino and rescues cats. Why is Kyle Kirkland running for Congress? | Opinion
The first time I met Kyle Kirkland, the owner of Club One Casino in Fresno and nascent candidate for elected office didn’t want to discuss gaming or politics.
Kirkland wanted to talk about cats. Specifically, Fresno’s burgeoning feline overpopulation problem and the efforts to control those numbers without euthanization. That day, I learned Kirkland’s foundation was a major funding source for local rescue organizations and has fostered thousands of cat adoptions.
“The thing is, it’s a solvable problem,” he said during a more recent conversation. “If you spay and neuter animals over time, the problem will correct itself.”
Kirkland views himself as a problem solver. Only now, during his 2024 election campaign to succeed former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California’s 20th District, the societal issues he’s being asked about — the cost of living, border security, crime, immigration and homelessness, to name a few — seem significantly larger and more intractable.
Though Kirkland doesn’t necessarily see it that way.
“In our lifetime there are so many things we’ve solved,” said Kirkland, listing numerous technological advances.
“What I think is our politicians aren’t getting outside the box. They’re so used to fighting the same battles instead of taking a step back and looking at things from a different angle and getting some outside views.”
Kirkland’s business experience is unique among the 11 candidates on the March primary ballot in CD 20, including seven fellow Republicans. (Registered GOP voters in the sprawling district outnumber Democrats by nearly 20%.) Before purchasing Club One in 2008 and moving to Fresno a couple years later, he started his own finance firm and was chairman of Steinway Musical Instruments (think grand pianos) for 18 years.
Club One, which relocated to Granite Park in September 2021 following the pandemic shutdown, employs 250 people and generates some $1 million in annual tax revenues for Fresno. Kirkland, since 2013, has served as president of the California Gaming Association, a cardroom advocacy group that wired him into the Sacramento political scene.
Until recently, the 61-year-old never saw an opening for himself. But when state Assemblyman Vince Fong “muffed the handoff” (Kirkland’s phrase) from his mentor, McCarthy, the Maine native decided to place his cards on the table.
Career politicians, lack of results
“What I see so much out there is these career politicians not getting any results,” Kirkland said. “At this point in my life, I feel like I’ve got enough experience and skills and interest to make a difference. The main thing is I’ve always been a problem solver.
“If you look at the candidates in the field, I’m the only one that signs the front of paychecks. I’m the only one that got shut down during COVID and had to fight through that. And I’m the only one in a regulated business. I understand the economy arguably better than most people in Congress, based on my educational background (Stanford Graduate School of Business) and my work background.”
What Kirkland lacks, at least compared to Fong and Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, is name recognition. More than half the district’s voters live in Kern County, where Fong holds elected office.
Even in Fresno County, which makes up roughly 28% of the electorate, Kirkland isn’t well-known outside of casinos, animal rescue efforts or Fresno Chaffee Zoo. Kirkland chairs the nonprofit that operates the zoo and last year made a $1 million donation, the largest in its history.
Kirkland plans to address that with a flood of TV and radio ads between now and the March 5 primary election, which he admits isn’t much runway.
“What I see, frankly, is no one knows who their congressman is until they see them on the ballot,” he said. “Then they kind of recognize the name. If any of the candidates walked in here right now, no one would know who they are.”
On issues, Kirkland sounds very much like a conservative Republican. Albeit one that doesn’t resort to extreme rhetoric.
Kirkland generally supports Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee: “I like a lot of his policies, but we have very different deliveries.”
Biden’s ‘free buffet sign’
One of those is tighter border security. Kirkland criticized President Joe Biden for “putting up a free buffet sign” that has resulted in unprecedented numbers trying to enter the country from Mexico illegally.
“I think lawful immigration is critical to the United States, critical for agriculture, critical for our growth,” Kirkland said. “But it has to be done fairly and managed in accordance with our resource constraints.”
Kirkland’s other big topics are cost of living, which he blames on government overregulation that becomes “suffocation,” and the spike in retail and property crime that he attributed to well-intended but flawed legislation.
“I think people are more worried about their car getting broken into, their laptop getting stolen than what’s going on with Hunter Biden’s. Right? I know I am,” Kirkland said. “That’s where we have to focus our attention. Instead of digging in and forming a political side, let’s solve a problem.”
CD 20 is California’s most Republican-leaning congressional district, so the primary won’t be so much about forming sides as separating GOP frontrunners from also-rans.
Before Kirkland can put his problem-solving skills to test in Washington, D.C., first he’ll have to figure out how to reach the November runoff. The top two finishers will move on.
“I’m kind of different from the typical candidate,” Kirkland said, “and people seem to like it.”
Especially cat people. Safe bet none of the other candidates spends $2,000 a week on kitty litter.
