James Gallagher removes Donald Trump's endorsement on campaign website
In a race to win California’s 1st Congressional District on Nov. 3, current Rep. James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) appears to have removed references to the Republican president’s endorsement on his campaign website.
Gallagher’s staff says the change was part of a new format designed to emphasize local support and issues, while state Sen. Mike McGuire says it doesn’t hide the fact that Gallagher has consistently endorsed Trump’s agenda.
In a race to win California’s 1st Congressional District on Nov. 3, current Rep. James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) appears to have removed references to the Republican president’s endorsement on his campaign website.
Trump endorsed Gallagher Feb. 4 during the district special election to fill the late Doug LaMalfa’s seat, and his name has been removed near the top of the “endorsements” at electjamesgallagher.com.
A blog post on the website about the endorsement is still active, however, Rachel Lederer, a campaign manager for Gallagher, said Friday that the endorsement page was reformatted to “better highlight the overwhelming support Congressman Gallagher has across the district.”
“We encourage people to go check it out. It’s growing larger each day. The sheriff of Mendocino County just endorsed the congressman for instance.” Lederer said. “It is well known that the president has endorsed the congressman.”
Gallagher’s opponent in the upcoming election, McGuire (D-Healdsburg), published top Democratic leaders’ endorsements including one by Gov. Gavin Newsom on his website, votemikemcguire.com.
McGuire’s office said in a statement Friday that “Gallagher can scrub his website, but he can’t scrub his extreme MAGA record. … He votes with Trump 100% of the time when it comes to cutting our healthcare and reproductive rights, raising our costs, stripping voting rights and enabling Trump’s corruption.
“Voters in the North State see right through it and candidly, folks are sick and tired of it,” the statement said.
In response, Gallagher’s office said “The real question is: when will Mike McGuire agree to debates across this large district so that the people can hear directly from them both? Especially in a city like Chico where McGuire is not well known. People care more about the candidates’ ideas than their endorsements.”
McGuire’s office told this newspaper that the two candidates are actively planning voter forums, including in Butte County.
The two candidates have gone toe-to-toe aiming at their political affiliations in a competitive race for District 1, and previously met on Mother’s Day in a debate for the special election.