The open-seat race in the California 19th Congressional District, a Republican-leaning seat where incumbent GOP Rep. George Radanovich is retiring, has produced a very interesting scenario: Several candidates are running in the Republican primary to represent the district’s voters — but hardly any of them actually live there.
Three candidates are currently in the race: State Sen. Jeff Denham, who was recruited into the race by Radanovich; former Rep. Richard Pombo, who lost re-election in the neighboring 11th District in 2006; and former Fresno Mayor Jim Patterson. Another possible entrant is Fresno councilman Larry Westerlund, who is considering a campaign. Pombo, Denham and Westerlund don’t live in the district — only Patterson does. Denham’s state Senate district overlaps with part of the Congressional district, as does Westerlund’s council seat, but they do not live in the Congressional district itself.
The U.S. Constitution does not actually require that a Representative live in their district — instead, it gives a very permissive standard that they must only be a resident of the state at the time of their election. There are in fact members of Congress from both parties who were not district residents at the time of their elections — recent examples from California alone include Republican Tom McClintock and Democrat John Garamendi.
When he launched his campaign, Pombo citied his extensive work representing the overall region. “I spent 14 years representing the Valley. I would stack my conservative credentials up against anybody,” Pombo said. “Look at my record. I have a record of actually doing things.”
In an interview with TPMDC, Westerlund explained that he lived in the 19th District until early 2008, when he married and moved to a different area of Fresno. He and his wife still own her former home that is located in the district, and currently rent it out. If he were to run and then win the race, Westerlund said, he and his wife plan to move back to her old house: “There are a number of things between here and there, so we haven’t addressed all those issues, but we would eventually move back into that home.” He also added, though, that a large portion of his current constituents on the city council do in fact live in the 19th District, numbering about 35,000 people.
Patterson, the only candidate who lives in the 19th District, actually ran for Congress in 2002 in the nearby 21st district, narrowly losing the Republican primary to now-Rep. Devin Nunes. “I probably was, I’m guessing, three-tenths of a mile outside the district, it might have been a mile,” Patterson said in an interview with TPMDC. He added, with some laughter: “I’m not one to criticize.”
During that campaign, Patterson said he was attacked for his non-residency: “The opposition at the time made TV commercials that pointed out — they actually showed a map, and they showed where I lived, and they showed the district line, and they said he’s not even in the district. And my response was, you don’t elect a ZIP code. But as they say, that was then, this is now.”
“I wish I had lived in the district for a couple of reasons,” said Patterson. “For one, it would simply eliminate a criticism I don’t think anyone wants to have. But I think people think it is important that at least you live there for a period of time and you know the folks. and I’ve said what matters is, I’ve lived at my home for 30 years, right where I’ve lived whether it was a stone’s throw away from the 21st or whether it was incorporated in the 19th.”
“I’m here, I’ve been here for a long time, but I’m not going to attack,” said Patterson. “I don’t think that’s what voters want.”
