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California’s delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives is hiring a new team of fierce debaters, policymakers and adept fundraisers for the 88th time running.
Qualifications:
- Strong interest in crafting legislation is a plus — though strictly speaking it is not a requirement
- Sufficiently persuasive to make the specific concerns of your 760,066 constituents a priority for most of your 434 other colleagues
- As a two-year position with the opportunity for renewal, applicant must be willing to be in constant campaign mode
- Unlike your counterparts in state government, applicants are not required to reside within their district — but it does look a little weird if you don’t
Actual duties and responsibilities will vary depending on each applicant’s political party and whether Democrats or Republicans control the House in January. Now, Democrats have a majority of a mere 9 seats, and California’s delegation includes 42 Democrats and 11 Republicans.
About the hiring process:
Though the California delegation hired 53 members two years ago, new H.R. policy from the 2020 Census will limit this year’s team to 52. These positions are available in slightly modified (or in some cases, dramatically different) locations, as a result of the state’s recent redistricting process. Applicants are encouraged to consult our new maps.
Despite the slight reduction in the hiring pool, there are an unusual number of promising openings. Six incumbents have either opted not to seek their current position or — in the case of former Rep. Devin Nunes who is now CEO of former President Trump’s nascent social media company — left early.
To comply with another H.R. policy (the Voting Rights Act) — and to reflect California’s ethnic diversity — 28 of the positions are available in districts where a majority of eligible voters are not white. In 16 of those, a majority are Latino, compared to 13 in the prior congressional map.
Looking toward November, California is looming as an increasingly important battleground for which party will control the U.S. House next year. While Republicans hope to flip several seats now held by Democrats, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on July 18 added five California districts to those where it will invest resources to put in its column.
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