A Republican has mounted a longshot challenge to Rep. Lou Correa, the four-term Santa Ana Democrat representing California’s 46th congressional district, in the 2024 elections.
Correa is being challenged by David Pan who teaches German language, history, literature and culture at UC Irvine.
The district is anchored in central Orange County, home to one of the nation’s densest concentrations of Latinos. The son of Mexican immigrants, Correa, a longtime fixture in Orange County politics, has easily held onto his seat in his past reelection bids.
A member of the Committee on Homeland Security, Correa, 66, says border security “must be a top priority for the nation.” He says that he’s long been a supporter of “Dreamers,” young immigrants brought to the U.S. unlawfully through no fault of their own, and he introduced legislation last year that would give permanent resident status to “Dreamers” for 10 years and provide them a pathway to citizenship.
“‘Dreamers’ deserve to live in peace and continue contributing to our great nation without fear of deportation,” he said in 2023.
Pan, who said he was a registered Democrat until earlier last year, also supports helping “Dreamers” if elected. “We need to craft a deal to stop illegal immigration while developing a solution for ‘Dreamers’ and a sustainable immigration policy that contributes to a strong economy,” he said.
When it comes to artificial intelligence — increasingly becoming a hot topic in the 2024 election as Meta and other tech companies are working “to create common technical standards for identifying” posts created using AI, according to Bloomberg — both candidates want to see some action from the federal government on regulation.
“As with cybersecurity, the federal government has the role of collaborating with private actors to develop safe AI systems that also allow for growth and innovation,” Pan, 60, said.
Correa, who compared AI technology to the invention of the semiconductor and the internet, said, “AI promises much and has the potential for great misuse.” The federal government, he said, must provide “legal guardrails” to ensure that AI does not erode civil rights and privacy.
“We must also ensure that American entrepreneurship and innovation continue to flourish under AI and that the benefits of AI flow to all, creating jobs and prosperity for all Americans,” Correa said.
When asked what environment or climate policy they’d champion if elected, Correa pointed to legislation he introduced last year that would give a 40% tax credit to small landscape businesses to transition their gasoline lawnmowers to all-electric. The ban on the sale of gas-powered lawnmowers in California went into effect at the beginning of the year.
“Most of the gardeners who cut our lawns live paycheck to paycheck and will unlikely be able to make the expensive ‘transition’ to all-electric,” said Correa. “As we address climate policy, let’s not forget our hard-working men and women on Main Street.”
Pan said he would support cap-and-trade policies, which would set a “cap” on emissions, limiting companies on how much greenhouse gases they emit.
“That would create demonstrable progress toward climate goals,” he said.
CA-46 covers Anaheim — home to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure — Santa Ana, Stanton and parts of Orange and Fullerton.
Correa’s seat is deemed unlikely to become closely contested by the Cook Political Report, which analyzes elections. According to state data, CA-46 is a Democratic stronghold: Democrats account for 48.8% of all the registered voters in the district, while 22.1% are Republicans and 23.1% are no party preference voters.
Correa holds a comfortable cash lead over his challenger. He reported raising $163,075 in the last quarter of 2023, ending the year with about $1.8 million still left to spend.
In the same quarter, Pan brought in $35,753 and closed out the year with $30,861 cash on hand.
Primary ballots went out to all registered voters on Monday, Feb. 5. Ballot drop boxes also opened on Monday and voting centers will open on Feb. 24. The Orange County Registrar’s office is providing in-person voting, voter registration, replacement ballots and other general assistance.
