Rep. Kevin Kiley remains undecided on his looming congressional reelection campaign, but he has ruled out a return to the California Legislature.

Kiley offered the latest update to his reelection campaign at a live event Tuesday night hosted by The Sacramento Bee. The event, held at the Historic Loomis Train Depot Plaza, allowed residents to ask questions and covered a range of topics including federal immigration enforcement, Kiley’s recent votes opposing President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda and his considerations in choosing to run again for Congress.

Kiley’s current district was divided into six different pieces after California’s Proposition 50 redrew the state’s congressional map. He has spent the last few weeks publicly ruling out several potential districts and said Tuesday night that though he has not yet determined in which district he’ll run, he plans to seek reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Kiley, who was raised in Granite Bay, attended Harvard and Yale Law School. He previously served in the California Legislature and raised his state profile by leading the failed attempt to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Here are some takeaways from the event:

No district decision yet

Kiley’s search for a new congressional district will continue. Despite repeated attempts to get an answer, Kiley said he was still undecided on where he will run as of Tuesday.

“It’s getting close, and I’m confident that whichever way we go, I’ll have a good opportunity to continue representing California,” Kiley said.

He had previously narrowed his choices to the 5th and 6th congressional districts. Choosing the 5th Congressional District would likely mean a race against longtime Republican Rep. Tom McClintock, while there is a growing field of contenders in the now Democratic-friendly 6th Congressional District.

Kiley did rule out a return to the California Legislature, where he served from 2016 to 2022. Some political experts and consultants had theorized that Kiley might consider a return to state politics. He has until March 6 to file nominating papers.

“I’ve been able to have a good impact on the House, and it’s important to be there,” Kiley said. “There’s more we can do.”

‘Turn the temperature down’ on immigration enforcement

Kiley fielded multiple questions about surging federal immigration enforcement across the country and said that “we need to find a way to turn the temperature down.”

“We cannot continue to have scenes like this in this country,” Kiley said of Minneapolis where two U.S. protesters were fatally shot by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents.

“Even the president said that he thinks there could be a softer touch,” Kiley added.

He said that “one of the problems” with the ongoing enforcement is that local authorities are not cooperating with immigration agents. He added that political leaders should tone down their rhetoric and protesters must stop trying to actively disrupt operations.

“On the other side, I think that when we have these tragic incidents that occur, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions, and we need full and independent and transparent investigations so that we can get to the facts,” Kiley said.

There is an ongoing partial government shutdown stemming from Congress not reaching an agreement over immigration enforcement reforms. Democrats have called for increased accountability, unmasking of ICE agents and independent reviews of agents’ performance. Republicans have mostly balked at the proposed changes, and some have called for concessions like cracking down on sanctuary cities.

Kiley defies Trump on tariff vote

Some of Tuesday’s night conversation centered on recent votes by Kiley in which he has opposed Trump and Republican congressional leaders.

Last week, Kiley was one of the few House Republicans that defied Trump by voting against a procedural motion that would have suppressed votes on Trump’s emergency tariffs. Trump had publicly announced that Republicans who vote against him would “suffer the consequences” during the upcoming election

“Obviously there are some people who wanted that vote to come out differently,” Kiley said.

He explained his vote by saying that it was a constitutional question and an oversight issue, not a pro‑ or anti‑tariff stance. Kiley noted that he issued a similar opposing vote in November.

“It takes away the role of Congress that’s set up in this statute, in our system of checks and balances,” Kiley said.

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