As the election approaches, both parties are desperately trying to secure control of the U.S. House of Representatives, which now has a slim GOP majority. National attention has focused on swing districts, including California’s 47th – a coastal and southern Orange County district with a slight Democratic tilt. Not surprisingly, it’s turning into a wild race, punctuated by huge spending and vicious attack ads.
U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, the progressive firebrand, beat Republican Scott Baugh by fewer than 4 percentage points in 2020. She is running for U.S. Senate, thus leaving an open seat – and a Democratic campaign featuring state Sen. Dave Min and Joanna Weiss, a local activist and attorney. With some minor MAGA world exceptions, Baugh has consolidated Republican support, so he’s largely saving his war chest for the general election.
Recent ads backing Weiss highlight this fierce Democratic division. Both candidates stake out typical left-leaning positions, so campaign volleys focus on character. One stinging ad from the Weiss campaign accuses Min of violating his “no-corporate money” pledge – and features devastating footage of Min taking a sobriety test after his DUI arrest near the Capitol. Min blew through a red light in a state-owned car and tested at nearly twice the legal limit.
Min’s campaign has struck back, accusing Weiss of funding her campaign from funds earned by her husband legally defending Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse. That smacks of desperation, as Weiss notes her husband mainly advised the diocese on employment matters and that most of her personal funding comes from a loan after she refinanced her house.
From a policy standpoint, we’ve criticized Min repeatedly for his coziness with the state’s prison-guards union, epitomized by his vote to approve an unjustifiable new contract that costs the state an additional $1 billion. Their union spent more than $1 million backing his election to the state Senate.
But primarily, we don’t believe anyone with a drunken driving conviction and is currently on probation should be rewarded with a seat in Congress, even though Min has apologized for the DUI. He obviously hasn’t heeded our call for him to drop out – but now Democrats have a reasonable alternative.
