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Ahead of the midterms, President Donald Trump called on Texas last June to redraw its congressional maps to secure a Republican majority in the House of Representatives. California voters clapped back in November with new maps of their own, favoring Democrats. These redistricting efforts will affect California’s congressional races, including San Mateo County’s District 15.
The ballot will feature five candidates: incumbent Rep. Kevin Mullin, Anthony Dang, Mantosh Kumar, Charles Hoelter and Jim Garrity — all of whom are Democrats, except Hoelter, a Republican, and Garrity, an independent.
Rep. Kevin Mullin (D)
Mullin was born in San Mateo County and won the seat in 2022 with over 73% of the vote against Republican challenger Anna Cheng Kramer. Before his tenure in Congress, he represented San Mateo County in the California State Assembly from 2012 to 2022, serving as the Speaker Pro Tem from 2014 until his departure.
Mullin signed over 60 bills into law, many of which focused on elections and democracy reform, like All-Vote-By-Mail. He said he’s committed to bipartisan cooperation and also passionate about climate resiliency, calling himself among the architects of the $3.7 billion sustainability project that helped fund Caltrain’s electrification and the creation of San Mateo County’s OneShoreline sea level rise program.
Anthony Dang (D)
Dang is a disabled veteran who served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2004 to 2008 and earned a master’s at Harvard University in Public Administration. He grew up in Foster City, is the son of a Vietnam War refugee and lost his brother in the Iraq War — he himself survived a gunshot and two bomb blasts in the second Battle of Ramadi.
In office, Dang said he would focus on “accountability for the rich and powerful,” as he’s seen corruption “from the inside” while working at the Pentagon. Dang went on to work in the defense industry, where he said he witnessed “waste and fraud on programs funded by taxpayer dollars,” and was fired when he reported it.
“The wealthy and well-connected operate by a different set of standards, and the people who speak up pay the price,” Dang said. “In Congress, I will fight for transparency in government spending, stronger whistleblower protections, and real consequences for those who abuse public trust.”
Dang, who is raising a son with special needs, said he is committed to expanding disability services, strengthening protections under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and defending immigrant families from federal overreach “to protect the people this system was built to overlook.”
Mantosh Kumar (D)
Kumar is most concerned with what he calls an affordability crisis that is outpacing wages for essential workers. He blames “PAC-funded, self-serving politics” and said he would fight for Medicare for All, repeal Trump’s inflationary tariffs and hold insurance companies and county boards accountable for raising premiums and property taxes.
Kumar is explicitly interested in protecting workers from job losses related to artificial intelligence, working alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders to enact guard rails on businesses so they can’t fire workers in the name of AI productivity. He intends to impose an AI displacement tax, transparency and use mandates, and environmental hard-caps on AI infrastructure — while also championing AI training programs at schools for students and teachers, tech firms for AI apprenticeships and community AI labs for hands-on learning.
“Inspired by Lincoln, FDR and JFK,” Kumar said, “I will fight for you — affordable housing, healthcare, and a thriving economy — while battling the forces eroding our republic.”
Charles Hoelter (R)
Hoelter, the sole Republican candidate, is a retired UPS supervisor who has lived in San Mateo County for over three decades. His top three objectives are to keep “men out of women[‘s] sports,” impose term limits on politicians, require voter ID at elections and “clean-up” voter rolls for all states.
Hoelter has been married 31 years, has three children and would like to create apprenticeship programs in high schools in all states. His campaign did not provide any additional information about him in time for publication.
Jim Garrity (No party preference)
Garrity has served as a police officer for over 30 years and has spent the same amount of time living in San Carlos. Most concerned with the rising cost of living, Garrity is committed to fighting “reckless” federal spending and building more affordable housing by cutting permitting delays, protecting local zoning control and expanding public-private partnerships.
The candidate is also focused on funding law enforcement, addressing the fentanyl crisis and opposing policies that allow repeat offenders back on the streets. As for immigration, he believes that undocumented criminals should be deported — “no debate.” However, those who are trying to “better” themselves and their families should be “left alone.”
Finally, Garrity promises to never vote to cut Social Security and Medicare, which he said are earned benefits. Committed to working across the aisle to secure long-term funding for these programs is important to Garrity, as he believes that “no one should go broke because they got sick or have to choose between care and bills.”
While California’s redrawn maps might impact representation at the margins, especially around county borders near Santa Clara or San Francisco counties, the county is still expected to remain strongly Democratic.
In the last two presidential elections, D-15’s results were 26 percentage points more Democratic than the national average, according to the Cook Partisan Voter Index, landing California’s 15th district as the 26th most Democratic nationally.
The primary will occur on June 2, and the general election on Nov. 3.
