Lincoln running as pro-growth, pro-housing  public servant

 

He once played basketball at Camp David. 

He was attached there with the US Marines, serving and protecting the president of the United States.

At one time, he managed a top-tier security firm in Silicon Valley. With an average $55 million budget, he was responsible for more than 1,300 operational employees.

He once pastored a church. 

Then he was elected mayor and became responsible for leading the effort to resurrect the fortunes of a great California city.

Meet Kevin Lincoln.

The 45-year-old Republican candidate for California’s newly drawn 13th Congressional District visited Merced on Tuesday, Jan. 13, as a guest during a meeting of the Merced County Realtors Association. 

While introducing Lincoln, County Supervisor Daron McDaniel noted that “We had good relations with the City of Stockton when Kevin was the mayor.”

Lincoln is seeking to unseat incumbent Democrat Adam Gray, who has represented the residents of all of Merced County, most of Madera, and parts of Stanislaus, Fresno, and San Joaquin counties since January 2025.

As mayor of Stockton from 2021 to 2025, Lincoln used a bipartisanship approach to solve the city’s financial problems. 

According to online Stocktonia News, Lincoln’s tenure focused on public safety and crime, helping to produce a 1.2 percent decrease in violent crime and an 8 percent drop in homicides in 2023. 

The report also states that under his leadership, Stockton invested $12 million in police recruitment and retention.

His administration expanded homelessness services and pursued behavioral health responses to homelessness.

The Sacramento Observer noted that during Lincoln’s tenure Stockton invested more than $6 million in youth and workforce programs.

The Observer stated that Lincoln “emphasized youth, community organizations, and fiscal responsibility, aiming to position Stockton as a ‘best city to live, raise a family, and grow business.’” 

After his first term as Stockton’s mayor, Lincoln ran and lost a close race for Congress against Democrat incumbent Josh Harder in 2024. A rematch was expected in the 9th Congressional District, but after passage of Proposition 50 last November, Lincoln announced he would run for the District 13 seat.

“I’m excited about the future of our country,” Lincoln said. “We have to work across party lines, and across government agencies.”

Lincoln said if elected he would pursue pro-growth and pro-housing priorities. Using his experience in Stockton, he said he strongly advocates investing in the next generation with a focus on public safety, safe neighborhoods, and good schools.

“For too long, our country has been sold to the highest bidder. That’s not me,” he said, describing himself as a public servant rather than a politician.

“America’s best days are still ahead if we elect leaders with the courage to fight for them.”

Lincoln emphasizes his leadership abilities across a variety of occupations and experiences. After his high school graduation, the Stockton native joined the US Marine Corps in 2001, just months before the events of 9/11.

“That was one of the greatest decisions I made in my life,” he said.

He began training at the military police academy and was later recruited by the White House Military Office and assigned to Marine One, where he would serve the president of the United States, George W. Bush.

During his 3 ½ years serving President Bush and at the end of his enlistment, Lincoln returned to Stockton to pastor a local church. In 2020 he ran for mayor against an incumbent with a larger campaign war chest.

Lincoln’s win shocked the political establishment. 

“What set me apart from him (former mayor Michael Tubbs), was that I worked harder to earn the votes than he did. I met with people he ignored.”

He said he is continuing that same determination to earn votes in the largely Democrat-registered District 13.

Lincoln said that if elected, he would “work to meet the needs of the people, and not pander to partisan politics.”

Lincoln is a third generation US citizen with paternal roots in Mexico. He said he values hard work and said his life is an example of “the American dream.”

Lincoln is married to his wife Bonnie and the couple have two children.

“At the end of the day, I’m a very blessed man.”