Congressman John Garamendi is representing more of the northern Sacramento Valley than ever before. The new Third Congressional district follows the Sacramento River from Benicia to Hamilton City near Chico, "Does it make sense? It's a large district. When I'm out in the district, I rarely drive less than 250 miles a day. "
Part of the district was included in his old tenth Congressional District. Some of the interests he represents have changed, while many have not, "I have virtually the entire rice industry and all the duck hunters that go with that. It's exciting and the environmental issues in this district are extraordinary. What are we going to do about water in California? That's not new. That was the old district as well as the new district. I just go further up the Sacramento River."
The Third Congressional District extends from Antioch north to the Mendocino National Forest and northeast to the Plumas National Forest.