Water infrastructure, health coverage and U.S. policy toward Iran were among the issues Mike McGuire and James Gallagher debated during the final hour of a nearly four-hour candidates forum on Tuesday in the Ukiah council chambers. The event came as the two compete for a full term in California's redrawn 1st Congressional District, after Gallagher narrowly won their primary.
The Mendocino Women's Political Coalition, the American Association of University Women and the League of Women Voters of Mendocino County organized the forum, according to MendoVoice. The outlet reported that moderator Michelle Hutchins gave McGuire two additional 30-second rebuttals, saying the penalty followed what she characterized as personal attacks by Gallagher.
A Rematch Rooted in a Razor-Thin Primary
Gallagher, a Republican U.S. representative from Yuba City, won a June special election to finish the term of the late Doug LaMalfa, telling the Ukiah audience he had won that race to serve out LaMalfa's remaining months in office, per MendoVoice's account of the forum. In that same June contest, Gallagher narrowly edged McGuire 42.1% to 41.8% in the primary for the full term, according to The Sacramento Bee.
Gallagher opened the Ukiah forum by pointing to his rival's tenure in Sacramento, saying, “You've had one guy for 12 years,” per the MendoVoice report. McGuire, a Democratic state senator from Healdsburg, has served 12 years in the Legislature, while Gallagher had spent 12 years in the California State Assembly before moving to Congress.
Dueling Water Plans for the Eel River Region
The candidates offered contrasting approaches to water infrastructure. Gallagher said, “I wanna build new water storage, not tear dams down,” according to MendoVoice's account. He has separately told CapRadio that a House water resources bill he supported would direct $155 million into Sacramento Valley water reliability projects.
McGuire called for raising Coyote Valley Dam and described a four-basin approach involving Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt and Sonoma counties, MendoVoice reported. The candidates' proposals come amid debate over how to maintain water supplies as parts of the region's existing infrastructure face possible changes.
Regional Water Projects and Their Status
PG&E says its proposed New Eel-Russian Facility would divert Eel River water to the Russian River watershed after Cape Horn and Scott dams are removed. Sonoma Water describes the regional proposal as pairing improved fish migration at Cape Horn Dam with a new Eel River diversion facility to replace the Van Arsdale facility, according to Sonoma Water and PG&E. The Coyote Valley Dam proposal also faces a study delay: the Russian River Flood Control & Water Conservation Improvement District's April 2026 update says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers paused its study on October 20, 2025, while awaiting additional funding.
Health Coverage and Medicaid Take Center Stage
Health coverage was another point of contrast. McGuire said 43% of the district's population relies on Medicaid and warned that three million Californians would lose coverage next year because of Republicans in Congress, according to MendoVoice. Gallagher has told CapRadio he supports restoring some Medi-Cal cuts while targeting what he calls waste, fraud and abuse, and backs continuing subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans.
Iran Strikes Draw a Sharp Divide
On the U.S. strikes against Iran, Gallagher argued they had set back Iran's nuclear program by decades, calling them a major accomplishment, MendoVoice reported. McGuire ended the forum by telling the audience, “There's more that unites us than divides us at the local level,” according to the outlet.
A District Reshaped by Prop 50
This race is playing out in a congressional map redrawn after California voters approved Proposition 50 in a November 2025 special statewide election, adopting new district lines effective from the 2026 primary through 2030, according to MendoVoice's earlier coverage of the race. The reshaped 1st District now includes Sonoma County, Santa Rosa, Clearlake and Ukiah while continuing to cover Susanville, Red Bluff, Chico and Paradise, per The Sacramento Bee's voter guide to the race. It is projected to register 41% Democratic, 31% Republican and 27% no party preference, according to The Press Democrat, a composition that outside analysts including the Cook Political Report have viewed as more favorable to McGuire.
Fundraising reports from the two campaigns have varied by reporting period and should not be read as a direct comparison. McGuire's campaign reported raising roughly $1.83 million between November 2025 and the end of June with about $152,000 cash on hand, while Gallagher's campaign reported $1.24 million in donations over the first six months of 2026 with roughly $333,000 on hand, according to the Sacramento Bee's reporting on campaign finance filings.
In the June special election, Gallagher took 62.5% of the vote, while McGuire and fellow candidate Audrey Denney each drew 17.6%, per the Press Democrat's earlier coverage of that contest. The full-term race is scheduled for November 2026. Tuesday's forum gave voters a look at the candidates' differing positions on water, health care and foreign policy.
