Tenessa Audette vs. Heather Hardwick for CA Assembly: Candidates answer key questions
Constituents in one of California's largest Assembly districts are slated to elect another Republican woman after Assemblywoman Megan Dahle, R-Bieber, terms out next year.
Assembly District 1 encompasses parts of the state's northeastern counties of Alpine, Amador, El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, and Siskiyou. It has long been a Republican stronghold, and Redding Mayor Tenessa Audette will face off with fellow Republican Heather Hadwick, a small business owner and former Deputy Office of Emergency Services Director at the Modoc County Sheriff's Office.
Hadwick took the lead in the March primary, winning 35.6% of votes, while Audette received 29.2% — but both candidates have received major endorsements from members of the California Republican Party.
Tenessa Audette
Audette, who previously worked as a political consultant and district representative for state Senate District 1, decided to enter politics herself and won a seat on the Republican-leaning Redding City Council in Nov. 2022. Some constituents voiced concerns that Bethel Church , an evangelical megachurch with more than 11,000 members including Audette, had taken over the Council.
In Dec. 2023, Audette was selected by her fellow council members to replace the outgoing mayor. Audette has also never shied away from her Bethel ties; she completed a program at Bethel's School of Supernatural Ministry , and now teaches in the program on a volunteer basis. The ministry's goal is to "equip and deploy revivalists who passionately pursue worldwide transformation in their God-given spheres of influence."
Audette has earned endorsements from Republican Assemblyman and regular Capitol agitator Bill Essayli, R-Riverside, as well as Central Valley state Sen. Shannon Grove. Placer, El Dorado, and Nevada County Republican Parties endorsed her, too.
Her campaign priorities are public safety, wildfire mitigation, and road work allocations, she told The Bee.
Name: Tenessa Audette
Political Party: Republican Party
Age:
Birthplace: North Hollywood
Current Town of Residence:
Current Occupation: Mayor of Redding
Education:Sonoma State University: Bachelors of Arts-Political Science
Offices Held: Mayor of Redding 2024, Redding City Council 2022
Campaign Website Address: would your budget priorities be for the upcoming budget year?
Government's foremost duty is to protect people & property and provide infrastructure. I would prioritize: 1) Public Safety - ensuring adequate accommodations for those choosing to break the law & law enforcement staffing; 2) Wildfire Mitigation & forest fuel reduction; 3) Road Work Allocations - not tied to pet projects or rarely used transportation entitlements; 4) Reduction of red tape, regulations, fees, & taxes. Spending tax dollars does not fix problems, more government makes them worse. The State needs to prioritize its responsibilities & incentivize private business to handle the rest.
What do you think the Legislature should do to address the state's ongoing homelessness crisis?
Repeal Prop 47, 57 and AB 109 to start. We are experiencing an explosion of homelessness due to the effects of those changes to our laws, the open border free flow of fentanyl, and the one-party rule in Sacramento who's only solution has been to spend more tax dollars.
How should the Legislature respond to concerns about retail theft and fentanyl and drug overdoses?
Repeal the laws that created the mess. There is nothing stopping us from identifying bad ideas and changing course. The Attorney General deceptively labeled Proposition 47 the Safe Schools and Neighborhoods Act, it did neither. It made retail theft a ticket up to $950 and made personal use of drugs on the streets legal. Effectively making an entire new subculture of those who can live on the street, steal, do drugs and have no consequences. Vote Yes on 36 and let's start to have a new conversation about policies that promote positive change, including incarceration.
Heather Hadwick
Hadwick has deep agribusiness roots in Siskiyou and Modoc counties. She and her husband currently run a family farm, "growing hay, vegetables and pumpkins, raising highland cattle and running the County's only Pumpkin Patch each fall," according to her website.
For the last five years, she worked at the Modoc County Sheriff's Office as Deputy Office of Emergency Services Director, serving as their Public Information Officer as well as coordinating wildfire response and wildfire evacuations. Her campaign platform centers on the economy — specifically taxes, cost of living, and jobs — as well as wildfire prevention, the agriculture industry.
She is also opposed to California's pro-choice laws, and wants to "abolish soft-on-crime laws, hold criminals accountable for their actions, and discontinue Sanctuary City policies protecting criminal illegal immigrants," according to her candidate statement .
While she is not currently an elected official, she is not new to public life, having previously served as a school board president.
"California is failing our kids," she said . "I will fight to keep political social agendas out of schools. I believe in parent choice and letting local school boards govern their districts."
She has received endorsements from both Assemblywoman Megan Dahle, who she would be replacing, and state Sen. Brian Dahle, R-Bieber, who currently represents Senate District 1, but for which Megan, his wife, is running. She has also been endorsed by Assemblyman Heath Flora, R-Ripon, and two of Audette's colleagues on the Redding City Council.
Hadwick did not respond to requests to fill out The Bee's candidate questionnaire.
