Three Local Dems Vying for CA District 2 Senate Seat in 2026
Santa Rosa Councilwoman Natalie Rogers, Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore, and CA Assemblyman Damon Connolly are running for California Senator Mike McGuire's seat next year.
California State Senate District 2 stretches along the beautiful North Coast from San Francisco Bay to the Oregon border. The district encompasses seven counties, including all of Del Norte, Trinity, Humboldt, Mendocino, Lake, and Marin counties, and the majority of Sonoma County.
Senate President Pro Tempore Senator Mike McGuire’s term will be coming to a close in 2026. Three local democrats have already announced their candidacy for McGuire’s seat.
Santa Rosa Councilwoman Natalie Rogers provided the following background on her campaign website:
When asked, Natalie will be the first person to tell you that her life experiences and her ability to overcome hardship has shaped her. With her personal experience growing up in public housing, coping with a loved one’s mental health challenges, and buying her own home as a single mother, Natalie can identify with many members of our community who have been struggling the past few years.
Natalie has also demonstrated, through grit and determination, how someone can overcome these obstacles to arrive at where she is today -- a woman of color with a graduate degree, a licensed marriage and family therapist with her own private practice, an employee at one of our largest hospitals, a wife and a mother. It is this persistence, this ability to look challenges head-on and solve them, that Natalie brings to the Santa Rosa City Council.
Natalie was raised by a maintenance worker mother and a unionized operating engineer step-father living in public housing in Marin County. When Natalie was 15 years old, her 13 year-old step-sister committed suicide. This event, as well as how her family dealt with the collective trauma, was a pivotal moment in Natalie’s life -- she dedicated her education and professional career to helping people find the beauty in life and the many reasons why life is worth living.
After graduating high school, Natalie decided to pursue a degree in psychology. She balanced her academics with full-time work as a bank teller. She also became politically active, serving as the Black Student Union Treasurer, Northern Chair for the California Black Caucus and the Student Trustee Elect. She graduated from Sonoma State University with a Bachelor’s in Psychology.
Natalie and her family temporarily relocated to Texas and she soon found work using her degree. She became a case manager for Meals on Wheels and a service coordinator for the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County. After three years, her family returned to California and settled in Santa Rosa. Natalie worked at Buckelew Housing in Marin and R House, a group home in Santa Rosa.
When her first marriage ended, Natalie put her head down, worked three jobs and eventually purchased her own home in Santa Rosa as a single mother. She also went back to school at Argosy University and earned her Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy in 2012.
Natalie is a licensed marriage and family therapist for Kaiser Permanente and runs a private practice. She is a member of her professional union, NUHW, and just finished her term as the Mayor of Santa Rosa, where she still serves on the City Council.
In her spare time, Natalie enjoys spending time with her family. She married Aundray, an Army veteran, in 2017. Between them, they share eight children, still paying for one more kid at home, two in college and helping with childcare for three young grandchildren.
Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore described his background on his campaign website as follows:
James’ relentless drive to improve the communities and resources he serves is only surpassed by his love for, and dedication to, his wife and children – Elizabeth, Opal and Jacob.
Supervisor Gore’s home district was devastated by the October 2017 Northern California Fire Siege, where Sonoma County lost more than 5,700 homes. His leadership in the response helped galvanize his community towards a hard-wrought, successful recovery. As the wildfires, floods, droughts, pandemic, and other disasters have continued, James has stepped forward as a statewide and national champion on resiliency in the face of extreme weather and natural disasters.
Peace Corps Volunteer
Family and service intertwined in the South American nation of Bolivia. James and his future wife, Elizabeth, met there while helping local communities build water management systems, improve agricultural practices, and develop a campaign that linked seven isolated communities medical & dental care and education.
Obama Administration Appointee
President Barack Obama appointed James as Assistant Chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). There James led: nationwide conservation efforts at the intersection of agriculture, business, and the environment; expansion of services in persistent poverty areas; and efforts on climate change mitigation and the protection of Pacific salmon habitats.
Sonoma County Supervisor
In 2013, James and Elizabeth returned home to Sonoma County to raise their young family. He was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2014 after running a relentless, positive campaign built on inclusiveness and a commitment to deliver progress for the residents of Sonoma County. He was re-elected in 2018 and 2022.
State & National Leader on Local Issues
James has consistently earned leadership positions from his peers. He was elected to the presidencies of both the California State Association of Counties, the voice of California counties for addressing state and regional issues, and the National Association of Counties, which advocates for federal policies that are responsive to local and regional communities. James has used these positions to advance climate resilience, fire protection & recovery, rural connectivity issues, and policies advancing tribal communities, among other pressing community needs.
Education & Family
James was born and raised in northern Sonoma County, attended Jefferson Elementary in Cloverdale and graduated from Montgomery High in Santa Rosa. He attended California Poly San Luis Obispo earning a Bachelor’s Degree, and has a Master’s Degree from George Washington University. He lives in Healdsburg with his wife, the Co-Founder of tech start-up Hello Alice, and their two young children.
Supervisor Gore omitted some key details of his life that constituents may find fascinating:
California Assemblyman Damon Connolly provided the following background on his campaign website:
Damon Connolly: A Local Voice Standing for Progressive Values
With over two decades in public service, Damon Connolly has been a capable and effective leader who is thoughtful, dedicated, and focused on achieving important policy victories that improve the lives of the people he represents.
Damon has been fighting for the North Bay for 25 years, as a State Assemblymember representing Marin and Sonoma counties, Marin County Supervisor, Vice-Mayor of San Rafael, School Board President, and California Deputy Attorney General.
Throughout it all, Damon has worked to make life better throughout the North Coast. In 2024, he championed Proposition 4, the California Climate and Wildfire Prevention Bond, and helped author the bond’s wildfire chapter, securing $1.5 billion for wildfire and forest resilience. This work will directly help Northern California and our communities mitigate risk and better prepare for wildfires. Damon is also fighting to address the state’s insurance crisis by championing system reforms and authoring legislation to expand discounts available to California residents who are hardening their homes.
Damon understands that our Northern California communities share common goals, issues, and values. We need effective and experienced local voices at the State Capitol to ensure that we are heard and that our needs are met.
As Supervisor, he protected open spaces while increasing the availability of affordable housing; led the charge for countywide adoption of 100% renewable energy while keeping the County’s fiscal house in order; and spearheaded responses to homelessness while expanding access to public transit and infrastructure for bicyclists and pedestrians.
Prior to serving on the Board of Supervisors, Damon served as the Vice Mayor of San Rafael, a two-term San Rafael City Councilmember, and former School Board President. He was a founding board member of Marin Clean Energy (MCE) and served as Chair of the Board of Directors from June 2011 to November 2014.
Before opening his own law practice in San Rafael, Damon was a Supervising Deputy California Attorney General, prosecuting the energy companies that gouged our state during the energy crisis of 2000-2001.
Damon previously served as the President of the Workforce Alliance of the North Bay, as a Member of the Marin County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, Marin County Housing Authority, Marin County Open Space District, and Marin County’s representative on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
Damon is a Northern California native, attending college and law school at UC Berkeley. He has lived in San Rafael for the past twenty-seven years with his wife, Dawn and their two daughters.
Constituents have begged me to run for the open seat, as they are growing tired of progressive leadership. However, my role in the community requires an unfiltered approach to holding our local leaders accountable that is not well received by some, and often leads to potential arrests.
Will a conservative candidate enter the race, or will progressives embrace the viewpoints of both liberal and conservative voters to ensure a moderate approach to governance?
