House Speaker Mike Johnson will host a Wednesday evening fundraiser in Riverside for Congressional-hopeful Jim Desmond, as part of a bigger MAGA scramble ahead of the midterms.
Desmond aligned himself with MAGA Republicans after being tapped by Rep. Darrell Issa and endorsed by President Donald Trump to take over the 48th District seat.
“We’re proud to welcome Speaker Johnson to Southern California and look forward to Jim having the opportunity to talk with him about the issues on the minds of CA-48 voters, from the cost of living and healthcare to public safety and strengthening our economy,” Desmond’s campaign team wrote in a statement sent to Times of San Diego. “Jim is running to bring common sense to Washington, lower costs for working families, and deliver real results for Southern California.”
Trump’s approval has fallen to the lowest point of his second term, while voters favor Democrats over Republicans by 11 points on the question of which party should control the House, according to recent Quinnipiac University polls.
“You have to keep Republicans in charge,” Johnson said on CNBC’s Squawkbox, a day ahead of the campaign event for Desmond. “They just hate Donald Trump. And they will turn the entire mechanism of the legislative branch of government into an attack mode to go after him … You have to keep the grownups in charge.”
No Going Back PAC — a pro‑Trump super PAC aligned with MAGA Inc., another super PAC — has spent over $175,000 in attacks against Desmond’s opponent, Marni von Wilpert.
“Desmond told San Diegans paying more than six dollars a gallon that it was ‘no pain, no gain,’ and now Donald Trump is spending six figures to pick Desmond’s campaign up off the ground,” said Jacob Ostacher, Marni von Wilpert’s campaign manager, in a press release.
California is looked at as one of the key states that could determine which party controls the House for the remainder of Trump’s presidency.
Paula Whitsell, the chair of the Republican Party of San Diego County, said the group is “honored to welcome” Johnson and his support of Desmond, who sits on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
“Issa’s retirement makes this a critical open seat, and electing Jim will help preserve and strengthen the Republican majority in the House,” Whitsell said in a written statement sent to Times of San Diego. “Jim has been elected and reelected by wide margins — a testament to his common-sense leadership and reputation as a well-regarded public servant. Jim Desmond will fight for safer communities, a stronger economy, secure borders, and accountable government.”
Last November, California passed Proposition 50 to redraw Congressional district lines in response to the five Republican seats re-drawn by Texas.
The 48th District, which now stretches from San Diego’s North County through parts of Riverside County to Palm Springs, is one of the seats added to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s list of “2026 Districts In Play” in December.
Johnson is making his way to competitive Republican districts after putting the House on recess until after the midterms. The speaker will also campaign for David Valadao in CA-22 and Kevin Lincoln in CA-13.
“Jim Desmond, Kevin Lincoln, and David Valadao have no new ideas to help Californians – they’re just three candidates running to continue the Republican status quo of corruption and raising costs on working people. That’s why Mike Johnson is swooping in to try and save their fledgling campaigns,” said DCCC spokesperson Anna Elsasser, in a statement.
The National Republican Congressional Committee, on the other hand, has commended Desmond’s “common sense solutions.”
