While the 2024 election is far from the minds of many residents, one prominent local official is gearing up to contend with potential challengers in next year's primary election, and looking toward another four years in her seat representing the San Ramon Valley at the county level.

Contra Costa County District 2 Supervisor Candace Andersen's official campaign launch was hosted by Danville councilmembers at Mayor Robert Storer's home on June 2, marking the first local reminder about the upcoming primary election in March now being less than a year away.

Andersen noted that while she's heard a number of comments about how early her campaign launch is coming, the deadline to pull papers is in December and she wanted to announce the news by June 30 in order to provide ample time for campaign finance analysis.

While she said she hadn't expected to want to remain in the seat this long when she was first won her seat in 2012, Andersen said that the nature of the position and the satisfaction she garners from working to address the county's priorities and represent the San Ramon Valley have made it hard to think about retiring at this point.

"It's really been something that's been rewarding and worthwhile," said Andersen, who served for nearly 10 years on the Danville Town Council prior to joining the county's Board of Supervisors. "Especially at a time when there is so much contention and people mired in partisan politics, it's really refreshing to serve in a nonpartisan seat and look at the issues."

As the representative for unincorporated portions of the San Ramon Valley including Alamo, Blackhawk, Diablo and Tassajara Hills, Andersen said that a good portion of her job was akin to being on a city council, with the Board of Supervisors responsible for most of the matters that are addressed by city and town councils in incorporated areas.

"I always joke that a pothole is neither Republican or Democrat -- a pothole is just something that needs to be filled," Andersen said.

Among the priorities for both her campaign platform and her current performance in the seat are many that are seemingly ubiquitous throughout the San Ramon Valley -- recent legislation from the governor's desk aimed at addressing the state's affordable housing crisis, transportation, social services, public safety and mental health.

"My goal is really to keep our community safe, and it's a lofty goal, but it's one where you have the appropriately fund the county sheriff's department and make sure he has the deputies he needs to focus on public, but at the same time to focus on some of the alternatives -- that is, alternatives to the sheriff's office in a mental health crisis," Andersen said.

A major facet of alternatives to police responses to people experiencing mental health crises that Andersen pointed toward was the county's Anyone Anywhere Anytime, or "A3" program, aimed at providing mental health care to those in crisis throughout the county.

Andersen noted that providing alternative responses to the sheriff's office in the case of mental health crises was just one part of her larger vision of fulfilling the county's public safety and mental health needs.

"A whole other component is finding that balance of public safety -- and again, none of us will tolerate bigotry or racism or any of the horrific we saw going on at Antioch's Police Department -- how do we make sure we don't have that level, that discussion, that treatment of individuals, and that's something that's very important to us on the Board of Supervisors," Andersen said.

Another sometimes contentious topic that Andersen said she seeks to find balance with is the requirement for additional housing -- specifically affordable housing -- throughout the state in this year's Housing Element update process guided by Regional Housing Needs Allocation numbers.

As a representative for one of the wealthier corners of the state and the county, Andersen said that she was familiar with and sensitive to the concerns raised by residents in affluent communities such as Alamo and Blackhawk about the prospect of affordable housing projects, but also to the reality of who would be served by affordable housing options.

"People are resistant," Andersen said. "They have a lot of fears about what kind of people will move into those homes."

Despite the resistance and concerns though, Andersen said that as a parent with adult children in the San Ramon Valley, she had firsthand experience of who moves into affordable housing options such as accessory dwelling units (ADUs) -- one example being her son and his wife, who'd live in an ADU above a garage in early adulthood while he was at the start of his career.

"We want to house everyone who works in the doctor's office," Andersen said, adding that this includes people with a wide range of salaries -- from doctors, to nurses, to custodial staff.

"It's one of those things where we want to be a welcoming community," Andersen said.

While her campaign is officially in action and her website for the coming election is up and running, Andersen said that the next step before the campaign ramps up would be for a challenger to come forward -- which she expects to happen, despite having run unopposed in the past two elections.

"It's one of those things where you just are ready to move it forward once you have an opponent in place," Andersen said. "At this point I'm not sure who it will be and who will show up."

Despite saying that she wouldn't wish the nature of her last competitive campaign for her seat on anyone (Andersen won her seat outright in the 2012 primary election, but started her tenure early by governor's appointment after her predecessor died in office before their term ended), she hoped that a candidate who was passionate about the issues in the district would come forward for the sake of furthering conversation and civic engagement around local issues.

"Certainly I'm under no illusions that someone should not run against me," Andersen said. "I think anyone has the right to run for office if they're passionate about the issues in that seat."