In a highly watched race, Democratic candidate Jessica Morse challenges Republican incumbent Kevin Kiley in California’s battleground region of District 3. 

In 2023, former State Assemblyman Kiley was elected to represent California’s third district, newly remapped to encompass Roseville, Folsom, Orangevale, Rocklin, Auburn, Lincoln and other parts of the Sierra Nevada and Northeast Sacramento area. Kiley now finds himself up against Morse for his 2nd term. 

The Gazette reached out to Jessica Morse for an inside look at what her candidacy is really about. In correspondence with the Kiley campaign, the Congressman was not available for comment until after the election. 

“I’m a public servant at my core. I spent my career in public service. My family has all been in service,” Morse said. 

Spending 10 years in national security, Morse served the US Defense Department, USA ID and the US State Department in Baghdad, Myanmar, New Delhi and Iraq. Morse eventually returned back to Placer and began a career in wildfire prevention after volunteering at the 2018 Paradise fire.   

Morse hones in on two issues for her campaign: wildfire prevention and women’s reproductive rights. As part of the U.S. Wildfire Mitigation and Management Committee, a large part of Morse’s public service career concerned wildfire prevention. 

In recent polls, District 3 appears far from going left; 538 reports Kiley having an almost 10% lead on Morse and a 90% chance of winning. However, the polls may be misleading, especially regarding how red District 3 really is. 

“90% of my contributions are from people in Northern California pitching in less than 100 bucks, and we’ve raised almost $3 million with people leaning in without taking a single cent of corporate dollars,” Morse said. “Only 17% of [Kiley’s] contributions are in- District, in the community.”

Out-of-community contributions to the Kiley campaign include that from Walmart, Amazon, Pfizer, Delta Air Lines and others. 

One of Morse’s main focuses, fire safety, was a major point of contention during the debate on KCRA last week. 

In the 2018 Paradise fire, according to a former chief of staff in Homeland Security, former President Donald Trump tried to refuse to fund fire aid to California because the state politically opposed him. Trump endorsed Kiley during the 2022 district election. 

According to KCRA, Kiley was a part of a House Republican Caucus that voted to cut wildfire suppression funds.

“Only because he was interested in playing partisan games with our fire safety rather than actually stepping up,” Morse said, during the debate. 

A Republican until her 30s, Morse cited the social shift and the emergence of Trump as her reason for switching parties. 

“A wildfire isn’t asking if you’re a Republican or a Democrat,” Morse said. “So the issues that we’re facing are real, and they deserve policy solutions.”

Morse’s other focus is women’s reproductive rights. The Kiley campaign has been quick to snap back on this issue, pointing out that Morse’s attack advertisements about abortion were misleading and fact checked as false by KCRA.

In her advertisements, she made a claim that Kevin Kiley would vote for a national abortion ban, a statement that he has never made.  

However, Kiley did vote against a state constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights in California. 

Pertaining to students, Morse considers herself a champion for students’ rights. 

“I see what’s contorted into culture wars being put under the frame of parental rights,” Morse said. “I think the job of elected leaders all the way down to the school boards, is to make sure that we’re uplifting youth, rather than isolating, alienating or shaming.”

Whatever the results of the District 3 election be, Morse’s goals are outlined in an interview with the Gazette: 

“I define winning as our community being safer, as these solutions being addressed, as our constitution being secure, as our rights being shored up, and as our planet being safe. So we need to be able to tackle these issues together.”