Back in 2012, former astronaut Jose Hernandez lost to Republican Rep. Jeff Denham 53-47 in California's swingy 10th Congressional District. Hernandez, a Democrat, expressed interest in another bid against Denham last year, but on Wednesday, after a Twitter user encouraged him to run again for the 10th, he sent a very surprising response. Hernandez tweeted back, "Thanks! But I'm actually considering #CA09. This is where I was born, grew up, have my offices and farm grapes." The neighboring 9th District, which includes Stockton and a slice of the Bay Area's Contra Costa County, is considerably bluer than the 10th, but it's held by Democratic Rep. Jerry McNerney, who has shown no sign of retiring. It's not clear if Hernandez thinks the six-term incumbent will call it quits soon, or if he's interested in challenging McNerney.
If Hernandez does decide to run against McNerney, it's not at all clear what argument he'll use against the congressman. At the end of June, McNerney had just $328,000 in the bank, a pretty meh sum. However, McNerney, who faced an expensive general election as recently as 2012, should be able to raise a lot more if he needs to. Hernandez brought in about $1.5 million during what was a top-tier contest against Denham, but most of his donors would be a lot less keen on helping him oust a Democrat.
This seat backed Clinton 57-38 and it should stay blue, though McNerney had a shockingly close 52-48 win during the 2014 GOP wave. But because of California's top two primary rules, it's very possible that if Hernandez decides to challenge McNerney, both Democrats will make it to the general election, and things could get chaotic from there.