As election races slowing kick into gear in Shasta County, the battle for California's 1st congressional district is also taking shape.

Doug LaMalfa (R) is running for his sixth term as congressman, having first been elected in 2013. In the past two election cycles (2018, 2020), LaMalfa, a Richville resident, easily defeated his Democratic challenger Audrey Denney.

Now, it's 36-year-old Army veteran Max Steiner that will look to defeat the Republican incumbent this November. Steiner identifies as a "centrist democrat" and is running his campaign around two core American values: patriotism and constitutional democracy. Steiner, who fought in Iraq, hopes that voters will agree that it's time for a change in the Northstate; that it's time to elect someone younger, with a fresh perspective.

KRCR sat down with Steiner on Thursday morning, in his brother's backyard in west Redding. Why that location? Because his brother's house burnt down in the Carr Fire, and Steiner believes the state (and our region in particular) is still not doing enough to limit fire risk.

"I want to be the rep. that goes to Congress and says 'I'm going to bring back billions of dollars to solve fire.'"

"I'm going to hire more firefighters, I want to put them on full-time, and I want (the) forest service to start, actively, having the resources and cultural desire to fight fires. And I want to do better forest management."

Specifically, Steiner said he wants to focus more attention on thinning forests. "We need to have subsidies to do thinning and to do prescribed fire on public land."

Steiner wants to work with the forest service and logging companies to make sure fire-prone areas are maintained, and that logging companies in particular can receive funds from the government to ensure they trim down land to a certain, safe standard.

In regards to holding public utility companies accountable if they spark fires, Steiner didn't hold back. "Unlike my opponent, who gets campaign donations from PG&E, I think PG&E needs to get slammed. I think they should not exist as a private company anymore."

Steiner and KRCR covered numerous other topics, including California's drought/water situation, public safety, mental health, and how Steiner can defeat a (nearly) 10-year incumbent.

PART ONE:

PART TWO:

To watch the full interview with Max Steiner, head to our KRCR YouTube page.

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