On Wednesday, September 11, 2024, Capitol Weekly hosted the California Ballot Forum: 2024 Election Preview. Today's episode presents The Keynote for this event: A look at California’s congressional and legislative races, with California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks and Assemblymember James Gallagher, moderated by Rich Ehisen of Capitol Weekly. James Gallagher James Gallagher has represented California’s Third Assembly District since 2014. Before joining the Assembly, he served on the Sutter County Board of Supervisors for six years. James earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at UC Berkeley before completing an Assembly Fellowship in Sacramento and a law degree at UC Davis, where he graduated at the top of his class. He advocates for small businesses and farmers in his law practice and is a partner in his family’s farming operation. Gallagher is married to his high school sweetheart, Janna; the two live in Sutter County where they are raising their five young children. Rusty Hicks In 2019 Rusty Hicks was elected as Chair of the California Democratic Party – the nation’s largest state party comprised of more than 10 million California Democrats. Prior to his election as Chair, Hicks served as both President and Political Director of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor - representing 300 local unions and 800,000 hardworking women and men. Hicks has played a leading role in a number of important political and policy efforts: in 2008, he served as the California Political Director for Obama for America. Hicks is a Veteran of the United States Navy and deployed to Afghanistan in 2012-2013. He lives on California’s North Coast with his wife, Sandra Sanchez, and their constant sidekick, a chocolate lab, Charlie. The moderator was Rich Ehisen of Capitol Weekly Rich Ehisen has been a reporter and editor for almost 30 years and is currently the editor in chief at Capitol Weekly, which covers the California State Capitol in Sacramento. For two decades previous he was the managing editor of the State Net Capitol Journal, a LexisNexis publication that covers state public policy issues and trends nationwide. In that role he was also the producer and host of the SNCJ Deep Dive podcast and the SNCJ Hot Issues webinar series. He is also the producer and moderator of The Open Mic: Writers in Their Own Words, a podcast and YouTube show that features his discussions on writing with authors, reporters and writers from across the artistic spectrum. Capitol Weekly is a 501c3 nonprofit created to inform, enlighten and educate Californians about public policy and state governance, and to provide a nonpartisan platform for engagement with public officials, advocates and political interests. Thanks to our underwriters for this event: BICKER, CASTILLO, FAIRBANKS & SPITZ PUBLIC AFFAIRS, THE TRIBAL ALLIANCE OF SOVEREIGN INDIAN NATIONS, WESTERN STATES PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION, PHYSICIAN ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA; LUCAS PUBLIC AFFAIRS, KP PUBLIC AFFAIRS, PERRY COMMUNICATIONS, CAPITOL ADVOCACY, THE WEIDEMAN GROUP, CALIFORNIA PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS, THE NO ON 33 CAMPAIGN, and THE YES ON 34 CAMPAIGN