Christina Gagnier gave her all
A contender drops out. Wisely.
Over the past bunch o’ months, one of my political regrets has been somewhat overlooking the CA-40 campaign of Christina Gagnier, a feisty aspiring office holder who worked her butt off to linger somewhere near the top of an overly crowded field.
Alas, her campaign website now reads thusly …
And here’s her official I’M NO LONGER PURSUING THIS announcement, via IG …
Gagnier was a solid candidate—passionate, pointed, purposeful. In a way, she fell victim to a numbers game. Before Prop 40 passed, there were a lot of Democrats trying to win the 40th, many of whom either had more coin or more name recognition. Ultimately, when Californians voted for redistricting, she came to the (wise, selfless) determination that it was a race impossible to win. So instead of wasting her time and our time, and instead of allowing ego nonsense to keep her lurching ahead, Christina Gagnier did the keen move, and stepped aside.
I salute her.
And I suspect we’ll see her again down the road.
Which is a great thing.
No Republican should be allowed to run unopposed by Democrats, anywhere. Especially not for a seat like the US House of Representatives.
I am hoping we have one Democratic candidate that we can all get behind, who can get to the top two in the Primary, and then press whoever is left. Maybe CA-40 is lost to us, but why make it easy for them?
We worked hard for Joe Kerr last year, despite zero support from the party as a whole, and that forced Young Kim to run ads, print signs, and otherwise campaign.
If her money had gone to other district fights, would we have won those nail-biters like getting Derek Tran into office?
With the 2026 race heating up, it’s time for Democrats in CA-40 to get focused and united. I want to thank Christina Gagniera for having the wisdom and perspective to step back, recognizing that splitting the vote only strengthens the incumbent. That’s real leadership — putting the party and the mission above ego.
Now the rest of us need to follow that example. We can’t afford to divide resources or confuse voters. If we want to defeat Young Kim, we must rally behind the most viable Democrat and speak with one strong, clear voice.
Let’s do what’s best for the party — and for the people who deserve real representation in this district.