photo credit: Eric Jones for Congress/Ray Riehle/Representative Mike Thompson
(From left) CA 4th Congressional District Democratic challenger Eric Jones, 
incumbent Representative Mike Thompson, and Republican challenger Ray Riehle.

As part of our ongoing coverage for the June second primary election, we’re bringing you interviews with the candidates on your local ballot.

That includes the race for California’s 4th Congressional District.

Redrawn thanks to 2025's Proposition 50, the new district stretches from Rohnert Park, Cotati, and parts of Petaluma in the west, across to Napa, Yolo, and Colusa counties, through the north Sacramento suburbs, and east to Yuba City and into the Sierra Foothills.

The race is being dominated by a contest between two Democrats - Mike Thompson and Eric Jones.

4th District Representative Mike Thompson has been a fixture of Northern California politics for decades.

"You know the people in the current district that I represent know me and and I know them well," Thompson said. "I've been working on their behalf for some time now."

Thompson has represented Napa Valley and much of the newly drawn 4th District through periodic redistricting since he first won election to Congress in the 1998 midterm.

"The areas where I have represented before, it's been like old homecoming," Thompson said.

Thompson said he's ready and able to address concerns for agricultural communities, which he's long represented in Napa Valley, and in new areas of the district to the east.

There was a bankruptcy for Del Monte Foods and they closed their cannery and that cannery really hurt specifically Sutter, but a lot of Yuba County, which are two new counties and they came to me for help and I was able to help them," Thompson said. "I was able to work with the Department of Agriculture in Washington; got a very important...tree pull program funded for them...it was $9 million in help."

Thompson said with so much uncertainty in Washington, he's experienced and well positioned to keep representing the 4th.

"Affordability right now is a huge issue and something than I've been working on," Thompson said. "I've got major legislation in Congress right now to address the high cost of housing, health care, utilities, and child care, and food costs. And that's an important issue for the American people. We need to make sure that we address those issues and people can afford to live in not only our district but across our country."

Thompson said he's also focused on stopping what he sees as overreach by the current Trump administration, targeting things like the proposed 1.7 billion dollar anti-weaponization fund.

But Thompson, who's won at least 60% of the vote in each of his 14 runs for the House, might be facing some of his stiffest competition yet.

"I know who my opponent is here," Thompson said.

That Democratic challenger's name is Eric Jones.

"What I've witnessed is really my entire adult life, a complete co-option of our political system by corporate and special interest," Jones said. "I knew it was real looking from the outside, but now that I'm jumping in it's amazing to see just how true that reality is."

Jones is a 35-year-old investor who started living in Napa with his wife and two young children in 2021. With deep pockets - Jones has reported his wealth between 18 and 86 million dollars according to reporting in the Press Democrat - he's run an insurgent progressive campaign, to left of incumbent Mike Thompson.

"Our platform is custom-built to address the issues that people face today, that families face today, and not just young people, but seniors too," Jones said. "So it starts with senior care and giving every senior in America access to nursing care in their homes starting at age 65. It's Medicare expansion to cover vision care, dental care, and hearing aids, and free prescription generic drugs."

Jones' campaign planks also call for universal childcare, a $10,000 middle class tax refund, and building two million homes a year annually across the U.S.

The tight race between the well-established Thompson, and upstart Jones has made for heavy spending.

Jones has poured in over 5 million of his own dollars, and Thompson, who's raised over $3 million during the primary cycle, has harshly criticized Jones as an outsider venture capitalist with closer ties to Silicon Valley and East Coast wealth than to Napa Valley and the new 4th district.

Jones, in retort, argued, "we all know that our government isn't working for us. So we got to fight for something different. We have to change the system. And now is the time to do it."

"Once we do that, we need a lot of healing in this country and let's build a real vision for the future," Jones said. "Yes, there's corruption on the left and on the right. Yeah, most of our politicians are a bit past their due date and we need change. But once we have it, let's come back together and have something that feels American again, have something that invests in our country and in our future."

While the slug-fest between Jones and Thompson has captured most of the headlines in the race for the District 4 seat, six Republicans and one independent candidate are also in the primary race.

Of those other 7, only Ray Riehle, a Republican candidate from Citrus Heights, spoke with KRCB News.

"I've run my own business and been active in the chamber and Rotary and local organizations," Riehle said. "About 10 years ago, I was appointed to the Citrus Heights Water District Board of Directors...and that's where I've really learned about governance."

Riehle said building and repairing infrastructure - roads, bridges, dams - is one of his major priorities.

"I don't know that governance at the federal level often talks about this," Riehle said. "I think people probably think about it, but I would like to really promote a vision of 50 and 100 years out for our infrastructure structure, because you know what the roads look like, they start to break down."

Riehle's focus also extends to energy infrastructure.

"The energy infrastructure needs to be robust," Riehle said. We're not doing a good job of that. In California, we've closed a couple of refineries, and we're facing the consequences of high gas prices. Even before this Iran issue came up, California energy prices were significantly higher than anywhere else in the country."

Riehle - a committed conservative - said he'd like to see more resources for local law enforcement, strict border enforcement, and countering diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in education.

"I think it's important to maintain the freedoms that I had for the next generation," Riehle said. "So the economic opportunities to find good work, to do the things that you want to do and to have plentiful energy, plentiful plentiful water, the plentiful food, all of the stuff that we have in such abundance that it makes life wonderful to live and I want to be sure that that moves forward."