How are we supposed to feel about Christina Gagnier?
The CA-40 congressional candidate is young, smart, well-spoken, well-financed and social media savvy. But does she live in the district? (And does that even matter?)
I went to hear Christina Gagnier speak yesterday afternoon.
She materialized on the corner of La Paz and Marguerite in Mission Viejo, at the weekly gathering sponsored by the lovely folks at SouthOC4Democracy.
Gagnier, if you don’t know, is one of a handful of Democrats fighting to take on Republican Young Kim in next year’s CA-40 congressional race. She’s young (I still consider 43 to be young, dammit) and well-spoken and enthusiastic, and I thought her speech to 40 or so attendees was quite well received.
Here you go—it’s good stuff.
And I can certainly see a universe where Gagnier, a Chino Valley native who has served on school boards and worked as an attorney and started her own business, winds up in the head-to-head general against Kim. According to Ballotpedia, she’s got a big chunk of change at her disposal. She also has some electoral experience—back in 2014 she ran for the CA-35 congressional seat, but lost in the general to Norma Torres. She’s likable and sharp; kinda comes off as the cool lawyer who surfs and busts Childish Gambino lyrics on the side.
That being said …
There was a moment yesterday that concerned me.
Actually, a series of moments.
It began when someone affiliated with another CA-40 candidate corralled me to quietly suggest that Gagnier doesn’t (cough) actually live in the district. I didn’t love the approach, or even the providing of the information. It feels waaaaay too early to start sandbagging folks in the same party.
That said, I was standing here. And Gagnier was standing, oh, over here. So, I figured, go directly to the source.
Weirdly, as I approached Gagnier I overheard a woman asking her my exact question: Do you live in the district? And, if I’m being honest, the reply sorta sucked. Gagnier did that thing mid-level aspiring politicians do. She stammered and stuttered and deflected and sounded legitimately rattled and defensive. What was, quite simply, a Yes or No inquiry took a 15-second turn, punctuated by a “Yes.”
When that exchange wrapped, I introduced myself and said, “I know you’re gonna hate this question, but do you really live in the district?”
Gagnier clearly did not enjoy my follow up. She wasn’t a jerk about it. Just poison sumac-level irritated. “Why do people keep asking me that?” she said. Then—“I do.”
And, well, um, eh—if I’m being honest, I don’t actually think she does. According to the latest address searches (via the extraordinarily reliable whitepages.com platinum membership), Gagnier’s pad comes affixed to a 91710 zip code. Which, when you do a little digging, places her here …
I then did a search for her husband Abe, who had an additional address listed. And that address placed him, well, also here …
And, to be clear, Chino Hills is very close to the 40th Congressional District. In fact, when I asked a local Democratic Party big gun whether Gagnier resides within the boundaries, she replied: “I believe she might live slightly outside the district because of the new boundaries from the redistricting, kind of like how Young Kim got redistricted out. But Chino Hills is part of our district, and Christina has been part of that community for years.”
So … I dunno. On the one hand, a good candidate is a good candidate—and Gagnier has a lot of the hallmarks of a good candidate. On the other hand, if she doesn’t actually live within the boundaries of the district, well … how do we spin that? How, exactly, does that work? And is it even OK? Like, shouldn’t you live among the peeps you’re standing up for? Shouldn’t we want people within the district to represent the district?
Like it or not, beating Young Kim is an uphill battle. Betting odds would probably make the incumbent a 5-to-1 favorite. To pull it off, we need someone with as few warts as possible; someone affable, smart, savvy and blessed with a political touch. We also need someone who doesn’t provide the Republicans with easy openings to create mindless-yet-impactful SHE DOESN’T EVEN LIVE HERE! ads.
If Gagnier legitimately hangs her hat inside the 40th, hey—full speed ahead.
If she does not, however, I don’t see how it works.
How people buy it.
How we explain it.
And how our opponents don’t exploit it.
First, thank you so much for covering local politics. I've really enjoyed reading your articles and appreciate the hard work it takes to cover these people and politics. While it violates California law to live outside the district you represent, the Constitution allows it for Congress to prevent gerrymandering incumbents out of their seats. As Richard points out, many members live outside their districts so it's not a legal question. The spirit and intent behind districts obviously would be for people to live in their districts, and some do move eventually.
I'm not sure if Young Kim has always lived in the district. Michelle Steel lives in Palos Verdes, and I don't know if she ever had a residence in the 40th.
The bigger question is why it's been so difficult to find a great candidate from the 40th to challenge Young Kim. It would be nice to have someone with elected experience and community relationships.
The 2024 challenger, Joe Kerr (failed candidate in multiple races) lives in Coto de Caza and was less than an inspiring candidate. So, of course, he's running again.
The 2022 challenger, Asif Mahmood was from Los Angeles and had never been elected to anything.
Esther Kim Varet and Nina Linh both seem to be from Los Angeles with no OC connections and no elected experience.
More troubling from your article is not having a good answer to the question. The one candidate who's actually been elected to something and she's not prepared with an answer. Does not bode well.
With so many Democratic candidates banking on the expected Blue Wave to get them elected if they survive the primary, it's going to be a brutal bloodbath of attacks to emerge victoriously. Which will leave the eventual winner pretty bloody and damaged and give Young Kim a front row seat for which messages work with the voters to use against her challenger.
I agree with Michael Golden. Katie Porter could win this seat.
Better that we shore up Dave Min's seat and work at making Young Kim vote the moderate/centrist image she's cultivated. Watch the Reconciliation Bill and make sure she doesn't vote to trim or redirect SS/Medicare/Medicaid funding.
Too late to ask Katie to reconsider her run for the Governor's mansion? Katie retaking another House seat would be my ideal scenario.
Living outside the district is a deal breaker and renting a studio apartment smacks of disingenuous opportunism.