', { container : $('#page-wrap')[0], position : 'bottomright', skin : 'light', size : 'large', maxWidth : 200, radius : false, hideOthers: true, voila : false, zIndex : 9 }); }); }); } }); Christopher Cabaldon, a progressive Democrat from West Sacramento, is poised to replace termed-out state Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, in District 3. With about 41% of the total potential vote tallied, Cabaldon led Republican Thom Bogue, 61.5% to 38.5%. “My Republican opponent is very much out of step with the values and priorities of the district, and that shows in the results tonight,” said Cabaldon after early returns came in. “We ran a 20-month campaign, in every nook and cranny of the district, and the results are reflected in that outcome.” This sprawling district of just over 1 million people stretches from Rohnert Park across the heart of Wine Country — Sonoma Valley and Napa County — all the way to the Sacramento River. It includes the I-80-corridor cities of Vallejo, Fairfield, Vacaville, Dixon, Davis, and also dips like a comma down to Antioch and Brentwood. Cabaldon, a professor of public policy at Sacramento State University, decided to run for mayor of West Sacramento in 1998, expecting to “serve two years, fix some things and then move on,” he told an interviewer in 2019. Instead, he spent the next two decades as mayor and is credited with transforming West Sacramento from a stagnant industrial municipality to a magnet for entrepreneurs now recognized as one of America’s most “livable” small cities. Yes, Cabaldon allowed, his move from mayor to Assembly member will be something of a leap, although he’s not exactly a stranger to state government, having spent 8 years in the Assembly in key staff roles. He hopes to “make it less of a leap,” by bringing to his new office the same “pragmatic, practical” approaches, and “bridge-building” he brought to bear in “turning a city around,” he said. “We need more of that in state politics. It can’t always just be partisan yelling and screaming.” In a late-night acknowledgment of Republican victories elsewhere in the nation, he mentioned the need to “protect” Californians’ civil rights, and reproductive freedom, as well as the state’s environment and “an array of issues that are important to Californians if the federal election doesn’t hold up.” Asked which committees he’s most interested in joining, Cabaldon first mentioned the Senate’s budget committee, and those “that really deal with fiscal priorities and fiscal health,” he said, “but also committees that deal with education, fire, water and other natural resources. Committees where I can be an advocate and supporter for the wine industry and other key economic sectors in the district.” His opponent, Bogue, had one of the more remarkable backstories of any candidate in the country. As a teenager he lived in Jonestown, Guyana, the Peoples Temple’s settlement founded by cult leader Jim Jones. Bogue was shot during the 1978 rescue mission spearheaded by Rep. Leo Ryan, whom he listed, while filling out a Ballotpedia questionnaire, as someone whose example he would like to follow. You can reach Staff Writer Austin Murphy at austin.murphy@pressdemocrat.com or on Twitter @ausmurph88.