Former Democratic California Rep. Joe Baca is running for a seat in the House, this time as a Republican.  

Baca previously served in Congress as a Democrat from 1999 to 2013, before losing to fellow Democrat Gloria Negrete McLeod. In 2014, Baca ran for a seat in California’s 31st district but failed to make it out of the primary. California has a top-two primary system, where voters can choose any of the candidates in any party and then the top two candidates square off in the general election.  

Baca will be facing the eventual winner of the 2014 race, Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., and will be one of three other Republicans running for the seat, along with Aguilar, another Democrat and another candidate whose party was not specified.  

In 2015, Baca changed parties , saying it reflected his “core Christian” values. Baca was considered a moderate Democrat in Congress, having been a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.  

Contact Garcia at EricGarcia@cqrollcall.com and follow him on Twitter @EricMGarcia

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