S1: Welcome in San Diego , it's Jade Hindman. On today's show , we start our series of interviews with candidates running for the 48th Congressional District. First up , Brandon Riker. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. So voters have a little less than a week to cast their ballots for the June primary. The race for California's 48th congressional district is one to watch. It's one of the five red seats Democrats are hoping to flip blue with the passage of prop 50. This week on Midday Edition , we're sitting down with some of the leading Democratic candidates. I'm here with one of them now , Brandon Riker. He's an economist and businessman. Brandon. Welcome back.
S2: Well , thank you , Jade.
S1: Welcome to the show. I should say.
S2: Thank you for having. Me.
S1: Me. So glad you were able to make it in. Lisbon , California's 48th district. It was one of five Republican held seats targeted by prop 50 , which voters passed.
S2: It starts up in the Coachella Valley , in Indian Wells , through Palm Springs , stretches all the way down the 21515 corridor through Riverside County and then the north and east County , San Diego. This is where I live. This is a campaign we've been building since last April , when I was originally running in the California 41st before redistricting. We've done 129 listening tours , 11 town halls , talking about the economy. As you mentioned , I'm a trained economist. I would be the only trained economist in Congress. So everything from the cost of living crisis we're facing to homeowners insurance , I'm running on a platform to solve those problems and make sure every Californians able to stay in their home or get a home.
S1:
S2: But the truth of the matter is , if we're going to raise wages , How do you force private businesses to do that ? In my plan , we would exempt FICA tax on the first $50,000. That puts 6.2% back in everyone's paycheck on the first 50 K. That's a huge middle class tax cut. It would be the largest in American history. On the flip side of that , seniors who are on fixed incomes through Social Security , we keep saying Social Security's going insolvent. We got to solve it. Right now , the FICA cap sits 184,000. If we eliminated that and had wealthier people paying all the way , we could make Social Security solvent and make sure that seniors can get a larger cost of living adjustment every year. That's a big piece. And we talk about cost. Let's talk about homeowners insurance. We see right now so many people are getting priced out of their homes because they can't afford the insurance anymore. I'm calling for a national plan that would make sure that the insurance companies help pay into the program , so it could reduce the subsidies at the same time , potentially get the polluters to pay it as well , because we're seeing wildfire risk across this district go up into Idlewild. People are paying eight , ten , $12,000 a year for fire insurance. Mhm.
S1: Mhm. Well , and I want to dig into that more in a bit. But , you know , San Diego is consistently among the most expensive housing markets nationwide , as we just kind of touched on. What would be your approach then to really deal with housing affordability that that hasn't already been done ? Yeah.
S2: So when you think about this district , when we talk about San Diego County , it's really North County , San Diego , it's Vista , San Marcos , Escondido and and one congressional or one city council seat , Oceanside. So part of it is we've got to bring jobs out of urban centers so that people don't accumulate. As far as we continue to build homes , we talk a lot about permitting reform and making housing more dense , and that works in cities like San Diego or Los Angeles. It gets a little harder when you get on the suburbs , so you already have fairly less dense housing. So what we got to do is put housing near transit to make sure people can get to work , but also bring those small businesses out of the cities and make sure small businesses can thrive. Right now , we're seeing just a push towards larger and larger conglomerates , because they're the only ones that can be competitive in this market. We have a tax system right now that rewards larger companies and penalizes small ones. We've got to reverse that. That's how you solve the housing crisis. It's unique. It's not about we obviously have to build more , but just building more. It's not going to solve the problem. If you look in places like Banning and Beaumont , we're building tons of housing there , but the commute times are now three hours , so gas prices are causing a huge increase in the cost of living. We've got to get smart about it. It's a double edged sword. You got to bring jobs out and create the infrastructure in order to have more homes.
S1:
S2: That's , as I mentioned , 6.2% back into people's paycheck. Whether you're paying for rent or utilities , it's a way that we can help alleviate some of that cost immediately. The second is making Social Security solvent. That's a problem for both parties. Both parties have seniors in it. Seniors vote. And it's an important bloc that we should pay attention to. And it's time we actually solve Social Security by making insolvencies of scaring seniors consistently. And the third is that homeowners insurance. That's a bipartisan issue as well. As much as we're struggling here with wildfires in California , southern states are dealing with it. With increased hurricane sea level rises , we need to have a national catastrophic homeowners insurance program. That's something we can pass away. Donald Trump is still president.
S1: Let's talk about immigration , too , because I want to know how you would address the president's continuing policy of mass deportations and the impact it has on county residents.
S2: Yeah , we obviously have to hold Ice accountable. You can't have warrantless searches going on. You can't have people being masked. You can't have only 47 days of training for Ice agents. This is a bigger problem. What I will say about immigration , and this is something that I wish Democrats talked about more. When you cut off programs like USAID and programs like PEPFAR and across the board , that's going to lead to more immigration in the future. And that's something that Democrats , I don't think have campaigned enough on , is that Trump is causing an immigration crisis generation from now or a couple of years from now because of what this administration has done. So we need to reinstate reinstate those programs as well. But we've got to rein in ice. And I've called for , you know , separating Customs and Border Patrol into two separate branches. It doesn't make sense to have customs on the Department of Homeland Security should be under Treasury Department , and then border enforcement should be under the Department of Justice , not under Homeland Security. And that's a way we can start to force that in Congress.
S1:
S2: Uh , part of it is we've got to get money out of politics. I'm , you know , one of the candidates in this race who's not taking corporate PAC money specifically. Oh , you mean immigration ? Yeah. Yeah. When it comes to immigration , you know , we obviously have to have some border security and have a strong border know who's coming into this country. And that was what was in the bipartisan bill that Donald Trump nuked when Joe Biden was president. We need to get back to that. On the flip side of that , we need to make sure we have asylum judges. So when people come into this country don't have to wait ten years to find out whether they're going to be able to stay or not. I mean , that's a big piece of this. And then when it comes back to programs like USAID , we should look at our foreign investments to make sure that people don't have to flee the countries that they're coming from. I work with refugees when I serve on the board of Safe Place International. I can tell you most refugees do not want to be refugees. They're refugees , either for economic reasons or for persecution. If the United States , if we can actually go in and do good work around the world Bank , investing in programs like USAID , then less people are going to have to flee their homes.
S1: And , you know , speaking of of the globe and the global situation here , the U.S. and Israel launched their major military campaign against Iran in late February without congressional approval.
S2: And we're seeing this again and again. This is going to be a critical point in American history where the Congress is going to have to step up and start pulling power back from the legislature , from the executive branch to the legislative branch. One of the things I spend a lot of time talking about is after Donald Trump is gone , we have the authoritarian proof , the executive branch. So this never happens again. And that includes making DC a state , expanding the House of Representatives , expanding the Supreme Court so we can actually get our democracy back in line , passing Voting Rights Act. So the John Lewis Voting Rights Act , so we don't see what just happened in the South , where seats have just been handed over to the Republicans. This has to stop. It's going to be very hard. Why Donald Trump is president I think one thing that every Democrat should ask when they vote for the president in 2028 , in the primary , is which one of the candidates is going to be willing to cede power back to the legislative branch so we can get three equal Co branches of government again ? Hmm.
S1: You know , your campaign is largely self-funded , and you've said that you don't take corporate PAC money.
S2: So that's kind of where we're at. But what I will tell you with Corbett , Pac man , is we need to know where the money is coming from. This can't be a situation anymore where you're seeing corporations be able to buy politicians and then they get their vote in Washington. I want everyone to know exactly where the money is coming from. I want people to know how I'm campaigning. It's why I've done 129 listening tour sessions , 11 town halls across this district , meeting with voters every step of the way. And campaigns are expensive , but I want to make sure everyone in this district has a chance to speak to me without having to be behind a paywall like so many politicians do , because there's just way too much money in politics.
S1: That being said , KPBS recently reported on the use of campaign website Red boxes , which appear to be ad buying instructions to outside groups. And you're not alone here.
S2: But I will say this not a single voter has asked me about the red box , and what they care about is how am I going to get there ? Price of , you know , gas down. How am I to make sure they can stay in their home ? And that's what I'm committed to and that's what I'm campaigning on. I've got opponents in this race whose outside PACs have spent millions of dollars. I don't know how much there has been support of me , but what we're out there saying is the same message. I'm coming with the campaign , which is , if you send me to Washington , I'll fight every day to make the first $50,000 tax free , make sure Social Security is solvent , and finally , actually make sure people can stay in their home by getting a national insurance program.
S1:
S2: I mean , I've not bought at all. There's been zero corporate PAC money to this race. You can tell I mean , I don't take. I've taken , I think , $2,000 total from PACs , one from able Democrats and one from the longshoremen's union. I'm very careful about the money that comes into my race.
S1: And again , I want to reiterate that this this reporting on red boxing can be found at KPBS.
S2: It's both. My dad's actually graduated San Diego State , where we're sitting in the studio today. My grandfather grew up in Lakeside. We had a family ranch since 1900s and San Diego County , so I know this district. But what's important is that this isn't a San Diego or a Riverside district. This is the California 48th district. I live in this district , one of the few candidates who can say that. And I've been all over. We've done town halls in Escondido and in Vista. I've done town halls in Temecula and in Hemet. I've done town halls in Palm Springs , in Idlewild. We campaigned everywhere because this district is about bringing people together. And if we're going to win this district and flip the House of Representatives , we have to campaign on the economy , because the one thing that brings us together throughout this very diverse district is people are struggling. People are commuting three hours in their car to get to work. People are struggling with the cost of a home. They're struggling with being able to stay in their home because of homeowner's insurance. There's a lot of seniors in this district. I have a plan to help because I've been out there speaking to the district.
S1: And President Trump has thrown his support behind Republican candidate Jim Desmond , the Republican frontrunner.
S2: I've said , you know , I. We don't screen who comes to our town halls. Republicans , Democrats , independents. We invite everyone. And if I get elected and fortunate enough to serve this district , I'm going to continue to do that. I've said , and I believe this fundamentally in my heart of hearts , that I am not going to Washington as the Democratic representative for the California 48th. I'm going as the representative for the 48th. And I will always vote my conscience and vote this district. And that's incredibly important to me. And when we disagree , I'm going to be willing to stand up and take the take the conversations at the town halls. And when they're ideas that come across from the other side of the aisle , I'm going to listen to them and we're going to have to work. As we started this conversation with President Trump for the next two years , we're going to have to make sure we get actual solutions to problems , because there's too many Americans and too many Californians that are struggling with just surviving daily needs. And that's why I'm running.
S1:
S2: I mean , we have to flip this seat. But I want to be clear. Endorsing doesn't mean that people get a free pass. I expect if I'm not the nominee , that whoever the nominee is moves to this district , that they end up actually campaigning in the district , that they do free town halls , that they do listening tours , and they get to know every part of this district. It's incredibly unique. It's a beautiful district. I mean , the Coachella Valley is gorgeous. We have our own set of problems. But you go up to Idlewild , it's an entirely different area. Can be snowing in Idlewild than 100 degrees on the valley floor in Palm Springs. You can have marine layer here in the San Diego area , and it can be 70 , 80 , 90 degrees in Temecula. You have to learn every part of this district. It's incredibly unique. And whoever the Democratic nominee is , I hope it's me. I think it will be me. But if it's not me , I fully expect them to put in the work to make sure that they represent this entire district.
S1: I've been speaking with Brandon Riker. He's one of the leading Democratic candidates running for California's 48th Congressional district. Thank you so much for being here.
S2: Thank you so much for having me.
S1: Now tomorrow we will hear from two other candidates for the 48th district seat , Manie van Wilbert and Amara camp manager , San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond and Kevin O'Neill. O'Neill did not respond to our request for interviews , but as always , you can check out the KPBS Voter Hub to read more about the candidates across all races , and you can find that at KPBS. That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
