VISTA — District 1 City Councilmember Corinna Contreras is kicking off a campaign to represent the redrawn 48th Congressional District seat, following voters’ recent approval of state redistricting measure Proposition 50.
Contreras was elected to the Vista City Council in 2018 and is recognized as the first Latina and first out LGBTQIA+ member on the council. She is in the midst of her second term.
Prop 50, also known as the Election Rigging Response Act, redrew the state’s congressional district lines to add five more Democratic seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in response to a Republican-led gerrymandering effort in Texas that added five more red seats to maintain control in Congress.
One of the affected districts was the 48th, currently represented by Darrell Issa (R-Bonsall). New areas in the 48th district include Vista, parts of Oceanside, and portions of Palm Springs in Riverside County, and the district no longer includes Poway, Ramona, Santee, and Lakeside.
Contreras said she decided to run after seeing that much of Vista would now be represented by Issa or another candidate running for the seat. The crowded race includes several other Democrats like San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert and Ammar Campa-Najjar, who previously ran against and lost to Issa in 2020.
“When I saw there wasn’t really gonna be a candidate that was gonna champion my community, that’s when I decided to step forward,” Contreras said. “I know my community really well. I’ve lived here my entire life, I do policy work here, I travel throughout the region talking to folks and looking at different neighborhood and community issues, and I’m trusted by the community.”
On the council, Contreras has been a champion for immigrant rights, local transit, youth programs, and affordable housing. She recently introduced a community due process and safety resolution recognizing immigrants’ rights, which was adopted by the council in a 3-2 vote.
In Congress, Contreras said she will focus on making everyday life easier for Americans by fighting to reduce the cost of living for working families.
This includes fighting for universal access to housing and healthcare, supporting programs like Social Security, investing in public infrastructure such as public transit, reforming immigration to provide a clear path to citizenship, supporting equal rights for women and LGBTQIA+ individuals, and addressing the climate crisis.
“I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and continue fighting and bring things to folks that they need every day,” she said.
Outside of the city council, Contreras is a policy advisor for the Climate Action Campaign and a board member for the North County LGBTQ Resource Center in Oceanside. She also serves on the North County District Board of Directors as a Vista representative.
Contreras will have to be one of the top two vote-getters in the primary election to move forward to the General Election next November. If she does, she will not be able to run for her council seat, opening the playing field for other District 1 candidates such as Frank Nunez.
“I love representing my community here in Vista, but I also know we have different issues that local government won’t be able to address on its own,” she said. “There’s a lot of work to do, and I really see Vista as a microcosm of how we can make the rest of the 48th better.”
Contreras is part of the current Democratic majority on the City Council, along with council members Katie Melendez and Dan O’Donnell. Vista Mayor John Franklin also has his sights set on a higher office in 2026, as he runs for the District 5 seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
While many new candidates are throwing their hats in the ring for California’s redrawn districts, their status is currently in legal limbo. California Republicans have since challenged the passage of Prop 50 in a federal lawsuit, asking for the new district lines to be temporarily blocked and for the old district lines to be maintained for the upcoming 2026 election, and the U.S. Department of Justice has also filed its own lawsuit.
