Jared Huffman

Aside from a desire to represent California’s 2nd Congressional District in Congress, Jared Huffman and Robin Littau appear to have little in common.

Huffman, the seven-term incumbent from San Rafael, is a Democrat, an environmentalist, a former lawyer and an agnostic. He published a book this year titled, “No Prophets: The Fight to Save Democracy from Christian Nationalism.”

Littau, a Republican who lives in Redding, is a former Coast Guard mechanic, a single mother of four and a pious Christian. Littau is the editor of Joyful Living magazine, which originally was called the Christian Quarterly and focuses on stories about how faith and dedication “can be a life changer,” according to its website.

Their paths are intersecting this year as rivals in the Nov. 3 general election, which Littau reached by finishing second in the eight-candidate June primary. The differences between the candidates reflect the divide in the 2nd District, which has been rejiggered to include not just Marin and the North Coast counties but also Shasta, Siskiyou and Modoc counties.

Huffman says he is capable of representing the interests of the sprawling new district.

“I drive the long roads,” he said. “I love the complexity and the challenge of wading into difficult seemingly intractable issues. I try to be a productive and pragmatic member of Congress to get things done no matter how tough the politics.”

Littau is skeptical. She said she has received a lot of feedback from voters in the northern inland counties in the redrawn district.

“They don’t know if they would feel accurately represented by Mr. Huffman, that he really understands the needs of the north state, especially with our logging industry and our agricultural industry,” Littau said. “A lot of the environmental decisions that have been made have been in conflict with what the people are actually needing to survive.”

Also, she said, “There’s a large portion that value their Christianity and don’t want that to be degraded or mocked at a federal level.”

Huffman is a leader of the Congressional Freethought Caucus, which he founded in 2018 with Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and former representative Jerry McNerney of California. Its website says it stands for “true religious freedom, church-state separation, and for public policies based on facts, science, and reason.”

“The secular firewall between church and state is under attack right now, and you hear me talking about it more than most people in Congress because I’m sensitized to it,” Huffman said.

In his book, Huffman recounts how he decided to reject the faith in which he was raised, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, an offshoot of Mormonism, to become a humanist.

“There’s an important distinction between religious beliefs and using the coercive power of government to impose your religious beliefs on others,” Huffman said.

Littau objects to the idea that all Christians are Christian nationalists or extremists who pose a threat to the nation.

“I am a devout Christian. I love the Lord, but part of Christianity is honoring and respecting freedom. Jesus never forced anyone to follow him,” she said.

“I carry my values with me wherever I go,” she said. “But the core values that I have are to love and to serve. It’s to build up and not to destroy. It’s to create a better, beautiful America for my children’s children where they can exercise their freedom without threats of harm.”

The two candidates have some common ground. Both are critical of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the war with Iran, but even on these issues there are subtle differences.

“I do not support the current mass deportation system,” Huffman said. “It’s cruel and enormously costly. It is building up a paramilitary force that we have every reason to worry about being used for very anti-democratic means.”

Littau said the mass deportation issue was created by the Biden administration’s failure to seal the border.

“The pendulum is swinging from one side really far to the other side,” Littau said, “and not really doing it in a balanced way.”

She said illegal immigrants who have committed crimes should be swiftly deported, but there should be immigration reform for people who have come seeking sanctuary.

Huffman said the war with Iran is contributing to the nation’s affordability crisis.

“Congress has Article I responsibility for declaring war,” he said, “and this Congress has completely abdicated that responsibility.”

Littau said, “We have to be really delicate about when we are going to intervene and how much money that is going to cost the American people versus how much we need to focus on our own infrastructure.”

She added, “Another concern I have is all the waste, fraud and abuse. I don’t like the money of hardworking Americans being tossed to the wind or lining someone’s pocket unjustly.”

Huffman said it is actually President Trump who has been lining his pockets with taxpayer money.

“He is now cravenly and openly enriching himself and his families and his cronies unlike anything we’ve seen in the history of this nation,” he said.