Jimmy Panetta and Zoe Lofgren sail to reelection in redrawn congressional districts.

There’s no respite in the schedule of a sitting member of Congress. The day after celebrating his reelection for a fourth term on Tuesday, Nov. 8, Rep. Jimmy Panetta had a full schedule of events taking him all over Monterey County and beyond—starting with a Veterans Transition Center rally, a Monterey County Hospitality Association luncheon, a Western Flyer Foundation event and, finally, a scheduled speech at a Democratic group in San Jose. 

Early election results show Panetta holding a commanding 67.3 percent of the vote in his race against Republican Jeff Gorman (32.7 percent) in the new 19th congressional district. Rep. Zoe Lofgren also cruised to victory in the 18th congressional district, with 65.2 percent of the vote compared to opponent Peter Hernandez’s 34.8 percent. This coming term will be Lofgren’s 14th in Congress.

“I’m actually pretty pleased with the initial results,” Panetta says by phone on Nov. 9, crediting the win to his performance in the job as well as the work he put into getting to know the ins and outs of his new district.

Neither of these lawmakers will be representing precisely the same landmass or constituency that they have to this point. Redistricting means that Panetta will cede the interior part of his former district—San Benito County and parts of the Salinas Valley—to Lofgren. His district, meanwhile, now stretches from San Jose in the north to San Luis Obispo in the south—a geography that will mean “a lot more driving on Highway 101,” he says with a laugh. Still, Panetta feels confident that he understands what is important to his new district. 

“I do believe the issues are very similar,” he says. “We have a lot of beauty, and therefore the environment and environmental protections and our reduction of carbon emissions has continued to be a priority. We have a lot of bounty, and so agriculture and my work on the ag committee will continue to be important…we have our bases, in that basically we have a lot of military installations and ensuring that they are supported through my work on the armed services committee…and then, of course, we have a lot of bedrooms—and ensuring that people have the opportunities to be housed and have a bedroom. Our homeless issue and our affordable housing issue is really something that ties the 19th congressional district together.”

Lofgren, meanwhile, will be representing a more agricultural district than she has in the past. Panetta says he and Lofgren, based in San Jose, have had good conversations about the part of his former district that she will now be representing, and he looks forward to a continued partnership. Lofgren also has a potentially interesting specialization to bring to the table—as the chair of the immigration subcommittee in the House Judiciary Committee, she may be able to work on issues related to the agricultural labor force.

As for what kind of work environment lawmakers will be walking into in the new term when it comes to House leadership, Panetta says he was heartened to see the predicted “red wave” become more of a “red ripple.” Still, “I think it’s going to take a while before the dust settles,” he says.