We will miss Rep. Kate Porter, and her slate.
The Irvine Democrat proved to be a force to be reckoned with in Congress. Did she like the availability of free COVID-19 testing and treatment? That happened because Porter pulled out her whiteboard during a congressional hearing and used it to pressure the administration to agree that there would be no cost to Americans.
She would have had a strong chance of retaining her seat representing the 47th Congressional District, but instead opted to run for the U.S. Senate, losing in the primary to the highly qualified Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank).
That leaves voters in this key coastal Orange County district deciding between state Sen. Dave Min (D-Irvine) and Republican Scott Baugh, who lost to Porter in the last election.
Baugh’s campaign website proclaims that she is “fighting for Orange County values.” But what Baugh, a longtime figure in the county’s Republican politics, seems to have overlooked is that Orange County values have changed.
Much of District 47 was once a conservative, grassroots district; after redistricting in 2021, it stretches from Laguna Beach to Seal Beach and includes Irvine and Costa Mesa. With the exception of Huntington Beach, where the City Council prefers to ban books and waste time trying to force teachers to out transgender students, opinions in the district are much more mixed. This was once Reagan territory, but in 2020, 53.5% of Orange County voters supported President Biden.
For the most part, this is a district that still believes in a woman’s right to make her own medical decisions; banning abortion is not a popular idea. With UC Irvine in its fold, it’s an area that believes in quality education that students of all backgrounds can access. And since much of it is along the coast, climate change is a serious threat. That’s not to mention residents’ concerns about oil rigs and the history of toxic oil spills offshore.
The best candidate to represent the district’s interests by far is Min, who, like Porter, is a former law professor at the University of California, Irvine. He would fight to protect the right to abortion, in vitro fertilization and contraception; he wants to strengthen public education at all levels; and he introduced state legislation to phase out oil and gas drilling in California waters, which failed to pass but was the right idea.
Instead, Baugh told the Orange County Register that he believes life begins at conception. At the same time he would eliminate individual rights, he wants to bolster the rights of large corporations by weakening regulations. Those regulations have helped protect the coast, reduce air pollution, improve fuel economy and combat climate change. Baugh also opposes banning assault weapons.
He is also actively involved in the destructive culture wars. In a grossly ignorant statement that insultingly downplayed the horrors of the Holocaust, Baugh claimed last year that “wokeism” was a greater threat to the country than both world wars.
During the 1990s, he was charged with serious campaign-related offenses, including charges of falsifying campaign reports and persuading someone to commit perjury. Those charges were later reduced to civil violations for which he was fined $50,000.
Min has certainly had his own run-in with the law. He was arrested in May 2023 on suspicion of drunk driving and later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. Min said he had been drinking at a political event in Sacramento. On his way home, he stopped at a red light, checked for oncoming traffic, but then continued driving through the intersection with his headlights off.
It was a dangerous act, but people deserve a second chance when they acknowledge their mistake and take steps to never repeat it again. In Min's case, he immediately took responsibility and apologized. In addition to performing court-ordered community service, he went to therapy. Min said that although the therapist agreed he did not have a drinking problem, he decided to stop drinking altogether.
Politicians are not free from mistakes, but the sign that they will be good public servants is when they do not seek to be treated differently than others, admit that they were wrong, apologize and show that they have learned from the experience.
In this close race, voters should put Min's mistake aside and vote for the only candidate in the race who will stand up for their rights and fight to protect the local and global environment.
