Fresno City Councilman Blong Xiong told Roll Call on Monday that he has meetings scheduled on Capitol Hill today and Wednesday regarding his potential bid for California’s new 21st district.

Xiong is meeting with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and party leaders this week as he moves toward finalizing plans to run for one of a handful of open and competitive seats in the state. The 21st, based in the Central Valley, has a 49 percent Latino voting-age population and a 10-point Democratic voter registration edge, but President Barack Obama carried it by just 5 points in 2008.

“With a larger decline-to-state [voter] base than it was before, I think it’s still a winnable seat for the Dems, but I can see why there is definitely interest from the other party to take a serious look at it,” Xiong said.

Assemblyman David Valadao (R) is expected to advance past the June jungle primary, but his future Democratic opponent has been a mystery since state Sen. Michael Rubio dropped out of the race in late December. John Hernandez (D), CEO of the Central California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, announced in January that he was running, and former Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante (D) told the Fresno Bee last week that he was considering a bid.