California GOP looks to regain House seats
State Republicans are trying to tap into voter frustration towin back U.S. House districts the party lost two years ago.
LOS ANGELES » California’s tarnished Republican Party is hoping to rebound in a handful of U.S. House races but its candidatesmust overcome widespread loathing for President Donald Trump and voting trends that have made the nation’s most populous state an exemplar of Democratic strength.
The presidential contest is essentially over in California — Trump lost by more than 4 million votes to Hillary Clinton in 2016 and appears headed for another drubbing from Joe Biden and vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, the home-state senator.
California’s GOP has been sinking for years but the party is hoping to change course by tapping into voter frustration in a cluster of House districts lost to Democrats in 2018, including in the onetime GOP stronghold of Orange County sandwiched between Los Angeles and San Diego.
Candidates have been trying to make Sacramento’s lopsided government a defining issue, faulting the state’s dominant Democrats for the homeless crisis plaguing big cities, high taxes that could soon go up again and government coronavirus orders that shuttered businesses and closed gyms, beaches and parks.
Republican chances of gaining ground remain uncertain, as early voting begins Monday for the Nov. 3 election. State Democrats tend to turn out in droves in presidential election years, and it’s not yet clear how the fight over the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy might influence who goes to the polls.
California was the launching pad for Republican Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, and GOP nominees carried the state in nine of 10 presidential elections from 1952 to 1988. But California’s politics changed with a diversifying population and the GOP’s recent record speaks for itself: Republicans hold just seven of the state’s 53 House seats, and the party hasn’t won a statewide race in California since 2006.
Snapshots of key races:
Farm belt
Two years ago Democrat T. J. Cox surprised U.S. Rep. David Valadao in the farm belt’s 21st District, ousting the Republican incumbent by 862 votes. The rematch this year is expected to be close again, despite the district’s 17-point Democratic registration edge.
Valadao endorsed Trump after withholding his backing in 2016— arisk ina district the president lost by 15 points—but he also emphasize she has broken with the White House at times, including criticizing the administration for family separations at the border.
Cox has been campaigning on health care and immigration reform in a district with a large Latino population. In recent years, both candidates have seen unfavorable publicity tied to their business interests. Each had about $2 million stockpiled for the race at the end of June.
In the Central Valley’s 10th District, first- term Democratic Rep. Josh Harder is highlighting his work to secure funds for water projects, as well as working across party lines, in his contest against Republican Ted Howze.
Howze, a veterinarian, had trouble earlier this year, losing the support of national Republicans over derogatory online posts about Muslims and Hillary Clinton
that the candidate said he did not write. He’s positioned himself as an outsider running against the Democratic establishment and in recent posts has spoken out against efforts to defund police departments and echoed Trump’s criticism of Democratic-led cities.
The venture capitalist Harder’s campaign had about a $4million cash advantage over Howze at the end of June.
Moving districts
Former Republican Rep. Darrell Issa served nine terms in the coastal 49th District, and emerged as a chief antagonist of President Barack Obama when he headed the House Oversight and Government ReformCommittee from2011 to January 2015.
But Issa’s once strongly Republican district became increasingly friendly for Democrats and he nearly lost his seat in 2016 before deciding not to run in 2018. Now, he’s looking to return to Congress in the neighboring 50th District, which was held by former Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter until he resigned earlier this year after pleading guilty to a corruption charge.