SACRAMENTO, Calif. — U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley fired back at former state Sen. Richard Pan on Monday afternoon, criticizing the Democrat’s record and challenging him to five debates in the months leading up to the November election.

Kiley’s response came days after Pan hosted a news conference portraying his 6th District opponent as a staunch Republican still loyal to President Donald Trump. Earlier this year, Kiley announced he would leave the Republican Party and register as an independent.

At his own news conference Monday, Kiley highlighted what he described as his bipartisan efforts in Congress and sought to draw a contrast with Pan, whom he called a “termed-out Sacramento politician” seeking another government job and beholden to Democratic Party leaders. Pan spent 12 years in the Legislature before unsuccessfully running for Sacramento mayor in 2024.

“The voters of our district want an independent-minded, common sense representative who answers to them, not an extreme partisan ideology like Richard Pan, who answers only to party bosses,” Kiley said at his campaign headquarters in Roseville.

Kiley ended his comments by challenging Pan to a minimum of five debates before the start of voting for the November general election. He said they should be held at major communities of the newly created district.

“This will assure that this election is a contest of ideas, a contest of ideas that is truly decided by the voters,” Kiley said.

Campaign spokesperson Daisy Stein said Pan looks forward to “debating ‘MAGA champion’ Kevin Kiley and holding him accountable for voting with Donald Trump 98% of the time,” in a written statement Monday afternoon.

The two longtime politicians are locked into a matchup for the 6th Congressional District, which includes West Sacramento, Roseville, Rocklin and communities north and east of Sacramento.

They emerged from a crowded field of Democratic candidates in the primary election earlier this month. Pan is regarded as the favorite in the Democratic-leaning seat, though Kiley secured the most votes in the primary.

On Monday, Kiley called those results historical and a sign that voters in the district are rejecting partisanship. If elected in November, he would be one of only a few independents voted into the House since the establishment of the modern two-party system.

Even before changing parties in March, Kiley had broken with GOP leadership on several key votes. He was also one of a few Republicans who showed up in Washington, D.C., during last fall’s government shutdown.

Pan is hoping to remind voters of Kiley’s history with the Republican Party, which includes earning an endorsement from Trump in 2022. Kiley, who graduated from Yale Law School, also largely voted with the Republican Party in Congress and earned a reputation for opposing Gov. Gavin Newsom during his time in the Legislature.

“Kevin Kiley clearly is trying to obfuscate who he is, what he stands for with the voters, and we’ll be sure to remind people to look through that obfuscation,” said Pan last week while outside the California Democratic Party headquarters in Sacramento.

Kiley launched his own critiques Monday by saying Pan’s policies have contributed to California’s high cost of living and led to extended school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pan, a pediatrician, made national headlines during his time in Legislature for leading the state’s efforts to toughen school vaccine requirements.

“If Richard Pan thinks that I have in any way mischaracterized his record, then I would give him an opportunity to defend himself,” Kiley said.

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