19th Congressional District Candidates forum, April 2026

About this episode

The episode features a forum with four candidates running for Congress in California's 19th District.

There are seven candidates running to be our next representative in Congress from California’s 19th District, which runs from south San Jose out to the coast, then down the coast all the way to northern San Luis Obispo County, including the cities of Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz, Capitola, Seaside, Monterey, Carmel, Paso Robles, and Atascadero. All seven candidates were invited to participate in the forum – four responded and were present for the forum on April 22, 2026, moderated by Len Beyea. They are Thomas Coxe (I), Ana Luz Acevedo-Cabrera, Tuka Gufari (R), and Sean Dougherty (D). The incumbent, Jimmy Panetta (D), did not respond to the invitation, nor did candidates Peter Verbica (R) or Lars Mapstead (L). Introductions provided by the candidates: Thomas Coxe (I) seeks to address the root cause of our national issues, corruption. As envisioned by our first President, the country stands divided between just two political parties, leaving politics a zero-sum game for sale to the highest bidder. Thomas, a lifelong independent, owns and runs a small contracting company in Santa Cruz County. He has three children with his lovely wife, and they enjoy getting out into the…

People in this episode

Host: Len Beyea

Guests: Thomas Coxe, Ana Luz Acevedo-Cabrera, Tuka Gufari, Sean Dougherty

Topics covered

• politics
• elections
• candidates
• California
• Congress

Keywords

• Congress
• 19th District
• candidates
• forum
• California

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Hartnell College

Places: California, Santa Cruz County, Monterey County

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