By Ben Christopher published: September 14, 2018
Majority Report: Our weekly recap of California's hottest House races
Lt. Gov. Gavin Newson take a picture with Democratic congressional candidate Katie Hill at a campaigning event to endorse Hill and Assembly candidate Christy Smith on September 10. Photo by Eddy Martinez, The Santa Clarita Valley Signal.
Political relevance is an unfamiliar feeling for Californians. But now the fate of the U.S. House—and whether it's Democrats or Republicans who'll garner the power to make budgets, launch investigations, and fend off or draw up articles of impeachment—might just come down voters in Orange County, San Diego and the Central Valley.
The problem for the average voter: California is a big state, and by our count at least 10 congressional districts are very much in play this year.
So today we kick off a weekly roundup of the most significant (or most funny or interesting or just plain weird) developments across California's 53 congressional districts:
1. Newsom campaigns for Congress: Lt. Gov. and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom hit the campaign trail this week, but his focus seemed less on Sacramento then on Washington D.C. From Orange County up through the Central Valley, Newsom hit three of the most competitive congressional districts (CA-25, CA-21, and CA-10) and 8 state legislative races too. He'll hit more districts on his way back down south. The goal is to bring about "presidential-level Democratic turnout" in these elections, the Sacramento Bee reported. Or, according to the article's headline, "Gavin Newsom doing his best to pretend he has no opponent."
Newsom may not be particularly popular in some of the state's purpler districts, (in Fresno, where he campaigned with Democrat TJ Cox on Wednesday, Newsom lost the June primary vote to his opponent John Cox—no relation—by 17 percentage points). But as the San Francisco Chronicle reports, candidates still appreciate the media attention—and the gobs of money—that follow in Newsom's wake.
2. Knife fight: A man allegedly pulled a knife on Republican congressional candidate Rudy Peters (CA-15) at an outdoor festival in Castro Valley on Tuesday. The attacker reportedly shouted profanities about President Trump at both Peters and GOP Assembly candidate Joseph Grcar (AD-20) before brandishing a switchblade. Authorities arrested 35-year-old Farzad Fazeli; no one was hurt.
3. The world's most unadvisable aside: In Orange County, Splinter News unearthed footage from a February Voice of America interview with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (CA-48) in which the Republican incumbent unnecessarily, cringingly redirects a conversation about the Chinese celebration of the Year of the Dog to note that he does not "blame (the Chinese people) for eating dog." "I mean, if that's what tastes good, that's what tastes good," he added.
Incidentally, the House of Representatives passed the Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act of 2018 yesterday, banning the slaughter of household pets for food. The bill passed unanimously.
4. Carpetbagger Watch: Democratic candidate Jessica Morse (CA-04) dropped $200,000 on a new broadside against incumbent GOP Rep. Tom McClintock accusing him of being an out-of-touch out-of-towner. McClintock represents the 4th, but lives in the 7th congressional district. It's not a new attack against McClintock, who is now going for his sixth term and whose district (er, the one he represents in Congress) is among the most Republican in the state.
And as the Sacramento Bee reports, questioning your opponent's hometown bonafides is a common attack in districts around the state.
5. Snub from the Birther-in-Chief: On Wednesday, the CNN's KFile investigative news team dug up old radio episodes from far-right congressional candidate Tim Donnelly (CA-08), in which the candidate speculated that former President Barack Obama was a secret member of the Muslim Brotherhood. This comes a week after President Trump endorsed Donnelley's opponent, Republican Rep. Paul Cook, to the dismay of right-wing activists, who are now saying the president was "tricked."
6. Gender gap: On Thursday, the American Association of University Women used newly released Census economic data to calculate the size of the wage gap between men and women in each state—and each congressional district. Incidentally, the three congressional districts with the biggest disparities (#1: CA-17, #2: CA-33, #3: CA-18), also happen to have among the highest average incomes (#2, #5, and #3).
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