Two Challengers. One Has Bills.
Both Rose Penelope Yee and Gregory Burgess want to challenge Jared Huffman. Only one wrote the laws to back it up. Here's a side-by-side look at what each candidate actually brings.
In CA-2's top-two primary, every candidate goes on the same ballot. The top two move to November. Rose Yee and Gregory Burgess are both challengers — but their approaches are very different.
One offers national slogans. The other offers actual legislation you can read today.
Who Are They?
Rose Penelope Yee
DEMOCRAT · SHASTA COUNTYEducation: B.S. Civil Engineering (University of San Agustín), MBA (Asian Institute of Management)
Career: CEO/Co-founder, Green Retirement Inc. — a socially responsible 401(k) advisory firm helping people plan for retirement. Manages elder financial planning from a boardroom.
Political: Chair, Shasta County Democratic Central Committee. Ran for CA-1 in 2024 as the California Democratic Party endorsed candidate. Lost to Republican Doug LaMalfa. Switched to CA-2 after Prop 50 redistricting.
Lives in: Shasta County (1 of 9 CA-2 counties)
Gregory Burgess
NO PARTY PREFERENCE · MARIN COUNTYEducation: Master of Public Health (University of Minnesota) — environmental health, food security, climate change
Career: CDC Quarantine Officer, Special Education Teacher, Clinical Engineer (Stryker Corp), US Postal Carrier, Teamster, union grievance rep, behavioral health counselor — 30 years of service. Current occupation: Elder Caregiver.
Roots: Third-generation Californian. Raised in Mill Valley. Grew up on Strauss dairy milk, explored Point Reyes with naturalist Mrs. Terwilliger, birded with uncle Stuart Keith (world record holder).
Lives in: Marin County — born and raised in CA-2
Healthcare
"Medicare for All"
Yee's healthcare platform is a single national talking point: expand Medicare to cover everyone, cut prescription drug costs, invest in rural hospitals. These are good goals — shared by many Democrats nationwide.
- No bill drafted
- No specifics on how CA-2's rural provider shortage gets fixed
- No mention of the 90-minute gap between specialists in Eureka and Redding
- No plan for behavioral health or substance use in rural counties
North Coast Redwood Country Comprehensive Healthcare Act
Written by someone who spent 30 years in healthcare and behavioral health — and who today works as an elder caregiver, helping seniors live with dignity at home. This isn't a slogan — it's a bill that names the actual towns, the actual gaps, and the actual solutions for CA-2.
- Rural provider recruitment with loan forgiveness tied to CA-2's underserved counties
- Telehealth infrastructure for areas with no broadband
- Senior independence programs so elderly residents can age at home
- Behavioral health integration and substance use treatment
- Community health centers for Del Norte, Trinity, Humboldt, Mendocino
A Slogan vs. a Solution
"Medicare for All" is a national debate. But there is no cardiologist between Eureka and Redding right now. That's a CA-2 problem. Burgess wrote a CA-2 bill. Yee offers a bumper sticker. When your nearest specialist is 90 minutes away, you need a plan — not a hashtag.
Housing & Cost of Living
"Affordable Homes"
Yee lists affordable housing as a priority. Her website calls for investment in housing and critiques billionaire corruption for driving costs up. These are true statements shared by nearly every Democratic candidate in America.
- No bill drafted
- No specifics on Marin or Sonoma housing costs
- No plan for rural housing in Siskiyou, Trinity, or Modoc
- No mention of farmworker housing
CA-2 CAFE Community Health Act
An omnibus bill for CA-2 covering affordability, fair housing, education, workforce development, community health, food security, and water security. This addresses the whole problem — not just the headline.
- Affordable housing provisions for all 9 counties of CA-2
- Fair housing enforcement targeting discriminatory practices
- Education investment tied to local workforce needs
- Water security provisions for rural and agricultural areas
- Biomass and resilience pilots combining wildfire prevention with local jobs
A Headline vs. a Framework
Affordable housing means something different in San Rafael ($1.2 million median home price) than in Alturas ($180,000). Burgess wrote a bill that covers both. Yee mentions housing as one of many national priorities. CA-2 needs a local plan, not a national slogan.
Environment & Climate
"Climate-Resilient Policies"
Yee ran her 2024 campaign on climate justice and calls for climate-resilient policy. As CEO of Green Retirement, she brings ESG investment experience. She supports repealing Citizens United and ending fossil fuel subsidies.
- No bill drafted for CA-2's wildfire crisis
- No insurance market stabilization plan
- No position on Point Reyes rancher displacement
- No regenerative agriculture framework
- No timber economy transition plan
Environmental Realism: 6+ Bills
Burgess calls his approach Environmental Realism — regenerative stewardship that honors working landscapes, sustains rural livelihoods, and rejects policies that sacrifice human communities for ideology.
- Wildfire Defense Act — Home hardening, WUI defense, smoke monitoring
- Wildfire Insurance Stabilization Act — Federal backstop so carriers don't abandon rural homeowners
- Forest Resilience & Timber Economy Act — Sawmill modernization grants, biomass-to-energy
- Point Reyes accountability — 5 formal challenges filed, DOI IG complaints, FOIA requests
- Pacific Coast Fisheries Resilience Act — Kelp restoration, urchin removal, salmon recovery
Climate Justice vs. Environmental Realism
Yee believes in climate justice — a good principle. But when your home insurance gets cancelled because no company will cover wildfire risk, you don't need a principle. You need a federal insurance backstop. Burgess wrote one. When eleven ranching families lose their leases to a private deal with no public hearing, you don't need a climate speech. You need someone who filed the complaints. Burgess did.
Ranching & Agriculture
No Agricultural Platform Identified
Yee's campaign website and public appearances focus on healthcare, housing, corporate corruption, and peace. Agriculture — the backbone of Modoc, Siskiyou, Sonoma, and Marin economies — does not appear as a priority.
- No mention of the $52 million grasshopper crisis in Modoc County
- No position on the Point Reyes rancher displacement
- No bill for rancher support, pest management, or food security
- No plan for regional meat processing
From Seashore to Stockyard: CA-2 Food Security & Economic Resilience Act
The bill title says it all — from the coastal fisheries to the inland ranches. Five interconnected agricultural bills covering the entire food chain across all nine counties.
- Pest Management Act — Targets Modoc's $52M grasshopper crisis with rapid-response programs
- Federal Lands Stewardship Acts — Protects grazing leases on federal land from private buyouts
- Small Farm Opportunity Act — 12 titles covering farm succession, Indigenous agriculture, beginning farmers
- Regenerative Livestock Act — Wolf-livestock coexistence with compensation, regional processing grants
- 500+ news outlets contacted about Point Reyes precedent threat to all public land ranchers
Silence vs. Five Bills
If agriculture isn't on a candidate's website, it won't be on their agenda. CA-2 stretches from dairy country to cattle country. Burgess grew up drinking Strauss milk from Point Reyes dairies. He wrote five bills for the families who produce our food. Yee's silence on agriculture speaks louder than any campaign promise.
Workers & The Economy
"Living-Wage Union Jobs"
Yee supports living-wage union jobs and ending billionaire corruption. She calls for "stronger worker power" and criticizes oligarchy. These are standard progressive labor positions.
- No bill drafted for worker protections
- No specific labor experience identified in public record
- Career background: CEO of elder retirement financial advisory firm
- No union membership identified
Worker Asset Recognition Act + PREAMBLE Tax Reform Act
Written by a Teamster, postal union member, and union grievance representative who has actually walked a picket line and filed grievances for coworkers. Today he works as an elder caregiver — hands-on, hourly, essential work.
- Worker Asset Recognition Act — Requires companies to value workers as assets, not expenses. Creates Worker Capital Dividends as Just Wage
- PREAMBLE Tax Reform Act — Eliminates personal income tax. Replaces with 20% business VAT — puts more money in every worker's pocket
- Thomas Paine Debt Reduction Act — Closes the Buy-Borrow-Die loophole billionaires use to avoid taxes
- Union member (Teamsters, NALC, teachers union) — not just a supporter, a member
Talking About Workers vs. Being One
Yee founded a retirement investment firm. Burgess carried your mail, drove your school bus, taught your kids, filed grievances when management mistreated his coworkers — and today he cares for elderly neighbors so they can age at home with dignity. Yee advises on elder portfolios. Burgess does elder care. When he says "Worker Asset Recognition," he's not talking about someone else's life. He's talking about his own.
Local Roots
Found This District After Redistricting
Rose Yee ran in CA-1 in 2024 against Doug LaMalfa. When Prop 50 redistricted Shasta County from CA-1 into CA-2, Yee switched districts. She told the Zero Hour Report in January 2026 that the redistricting moved her home county into this new district.
- Ran in a different district one year ago
- Based in Shasta County — one of nine CA-2 counties
- No known connections to Marin, Sonoma, Humboldt, Mendocino, Del Norte, Trinity, Siskiyou, or Modoc
- Platform does not name any specific CA-2 community or issue
Third-Generation Californian Born in CA-2
Gregory Burgess didn't find this district on a map. He was raised here. His mother still lives here. His childhood is woven into the land — Point Reyes, Strauss dairy, Mrs. Terwilliger's nature walks, Uncle Stuart Keith's birding adventures.
- Raised in Mill Valley (Marin County) — third-generation Californian
- Mother Wanda Lee Ballentine, age 87, lifelong environmental steward in Marin
- Explored Point Reyes on school excursions — knows the ranching families
- Visited all nine counties of CA-2 during the campaign
- Bills name specific CA-2 communities, crises, and solutions
Redistricted In vs. Rooted Here
There's nothing wrong with Yee moving to a new district after redistricting. Lots of candidates do it. But when you're asking 590,000 people to trust you with their voice in Washington, it matters whether you grew up drinking milk from their dairies or just discovered them on a map last year.
Show Your Work Scorecard
Bills drafted. Specifics provided. Work shown.
Bars reflect the depth and specificity of actual policy work on each topic. Yee's Green Retirement ESG experience is acknowledged in the environment score. All Burgess bills are available at vote-roar.com.
Slogans Are Easy.
Bills Are Work.
Rose Yee cares about the right things. Medicare for All is a worthy goal. Living wages matter. Climate justice matters. Nobody is questioning her values.
But values without legislation are just words on a website. CA-2 has real problems — cancelled home insurance, closed sawmills, displaced ranching families, rural hospitals with no specialists, $52 million in grasshopper damage — that need real bills, not national talking points.
Gregory Burgess wrote 30+ federal bills. Three are for this district by name. He accepts zero PAC money. He belongs to no party. He grew up in these communities. And today, he works as an elder caregiver — because serving people isn't his campaign slogan, it's his actual job.
Democrat, Republican, independent —
this district belongs to all of us.
Other candidates tell you what they believe.
This one shows you what he's written.