[UPDATE 9:22 a.m.] Local Farmer Running Conservative Grassroots Campaign for California Governor

David Collenberg photo provided by the candidate.

A locally raised farmer and businessman currently living in Siskiyou County but operating Lost Coast Hay and Feed in Eureka, David Collenberg, is carrying out a conservative, grassroots campaign for governor of California. Collenberg, who has acknowledged past arrests, says his own turnaround is part of why he believes he understands the struggles of everyday Californians.” He characterized his candidacy bluntly, “I’m just an everyday person like everybody else, and I’ve never been in politics…I’m here to serve the people.”

Collenberg, who grew up on a dairy farm in Arcata and now operates a hay and grain business in Siskiyou County is hoping to parlay his social media presence, slightly over 100,000 followers on his Facebook campaign page, and his policy platform focused heavily on rural concerns, water storage, forest management, and lowering the cost of living into the governorship.

He has never held public office, something he frames as an asset rather than a liability. “I’m not a politician. I don’t plan to be one,” he said in an interview with Redheaded Blackbelt. What he believes he does bring, he said, is a grounded understanding of rural frustrations: “One of the biggest issues is rural representation from the state of California…we don’t get much because we’re up here in the middle of nowhere. There’s not a lot of population, so we probably don’t create as much tax revenue as Southern California.”

Collenberg said the California Republican Party is not backing him at this time, nor have county GOP committees. He believes many are waiting to see how the primary field and national endorsements develop.

Aside from a website and several social-media accounts, he is running the campaign largely on his own.

Water Storage and Regulatory Reform

Collenberg has made water policy a central pillar of his plan, arguing that California’s water shortages stem from inadequate storage rather than lack of rainfall. He frames the issue as a failure of planning, not climate change.

His proposals include expanding reservoir capacity, repairing aging water infrastructure, increasing groundwater-recharge projects, and restructuring the State Water Board to make it what he says will be more transparent and accountable.

Forest Management and Timber Industry

Wildfire policy is another major focus. Collenberg calls California’s destructive fire seasons “a man-made crisis” and supports reviving the timber workforce, reopening mills, thinning forests at scale, and using dead and overstocked timber for lumber, biomass, and energy.

He argues that Sacramento should rely more heavily on local land-management experts rather than distant bureaucracies. In an interview with us, he tied those broader ideas to the lived experience of rural communities, saying, “[O]ur biggest thing, at least, where I’m at, is wildfires, and so you know, they only show up when we’re on the news, and then once the news has died down, they forget all about us.”

Economy and Cost of Living

Collenberg ties the state’s high cost of living to over-regulation, high taxes, and anti-business policies. “California should be a great state to raise our families, and it’s not,” he told us. He says he is “being just taxed to death.” Collenberg explained, “I spend a lot of money on taxes…It makes a big difference when you buy $5 diesel versus $3 diesel for your tractors.”

Much of Collenberg’s platform he says stems from years of navigating state regulations as a farmer and small-business owner. He described what he sees as overreach by agencies ranging from the California Coastal Commission to the State Water Board.

“Humboldt has a lot of Coastal Commission properties… I’ve had firsthand experiences with the Coastal Commission and their power over the control of your properties over there,” he said, adding that on his Siskiyou County farm he struggles with the “overreach” of the “unelected officials” from the State Water Board.

Collenberg also pointed to Humboldt’s cannabis permitting collapse as another example of bureaucratic burden “They made it so hard to get compliant,” he explained. And, he said the added taxes “just ruined that industry.”

Potential Liabilities in a Statewide Race

Collenberg’s background includes past arrests related to marijuana cultivation and other legal disputes that could draw scrutiny in a statewide race. In 2012, at age 30, he was arrested in Humboldt County after deputies reportedly found a loaded .357 revolver next to the driver’s seat during a traffic stop, according to a Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office press release posted on Redheaded Blackbelt. He was identified by the HCSO in the press release as a convicted felon prohibited from possessing firearms and was booked on multiple weapons charges. Deputies also served warrants on properties associated with him and reported locating marijuana grows, though records available to us at this time do not clarify whether those allegations resulted in convictions.

More recently, the State Water Resources Control Board issued a cease-and-desist order in 2025 alleging that Collenberg failed for years to comply with required diversion-measurement and reporting regulations on Kidder and Oro Fino Creeks in Siskiyou County. The order—adopted after he declined to submit testimony or a closing brief—requires him to install proper measuring devices and to cease all diversions until he meets regulatory standards.

*After publication, Collenberg provided the following written statement in response to questions about his past legal issues:

Earlier in my life, I made mistakes — and I’ve owned them.

I was arrested during an investigation involving one of my rental properties. The firearm charge was dropped. I did take responsibility for knowing a tenant was growing marijuana on the property. I faced it head-on and completed what the court required.

Not long after, the felony on my record from 2001 was removed. Since 2013, I have not been a felon. I’ve been focused on being a father, a farmer, and a contributor to my community.

I don’t pretend to be perfect — I’ve lived real life. I’ve worked hard to learn from my mistakes and to build a better path forward. That’s exactly why I believe I can help others who feel like the system has counted them out.

A Longshot Bid, but Not Symbolic, He Says

When asked about the viability of his campaign, Collenberg said voters are seeking a candidate without ties to Sacramento.

“People want someone like me,” Collenberg said. “They’re tired of politicians. They’re tired of everything that’s going on, all the stuff you see on the news. We’re all just tired of it. It’s time that somebody gets in there and makes that change so that we can actually get true help for people in California.”

Collenberg has a history of stepping in directly when he sees a need. During the 2015 Valley Fire, he helped organize a convoy of trucks from Humboldt County to Lake County loaded with hay, feed, and supplies for displaced residents and livestock. Those who witnessed the effort credited him in large part with pulling the operation together, an example of the get-it-done approach he says he would carry into state leadership.

He said he decided to run because the challenges he faces—taxes, water access, and regulatory pressure—mirror those of many rural residents. Collenberg argues that his candidacy reflects a deeper dissatisfaction among voters who feel unseen by Sacramento. Whether that argument can carry a farmer from Siskiyou County into a competitive statewide run remains to be seen, but he says he intends to make his case directly to voters. He’s currently in Butte County reaching out to voters there.

Read more about his policies on his webpage.

Editor’s Note

Although I have interviewed David Collenberg before, I have never met him. We are distant relatives—he is the cousin of my cousin’s wife.

*Editor’s note 2: Updated with Collenberg’s statement at 9:22 a.m.