Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)Bill Clark/AP
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) won his first election to the House of Representatives in 1988 with 64 percent from voting. He has been re-elected 13 times since then. Although he beat his last competitor by nearly… 17 percentage pointsSome Democrats now believe this may be the last term for conservatives in Southern California POLITICO It was called “Putin’s favorite congressman.“
The demonstrators, sometimes numerous In hundredsThey gather outside Rohrabacher’s office every Tuesday at 1 p.m. “He’s been our congressman for a long time,” laments Diana Carey, vice chair of the Orange County Democratic Party. “But since the district was majority Republican, my view is that he was in cruise control mode.” Thanks to Orange County’s changing demographics and newly motivated liberal voters, Carey doesn’t think Rohrabacher’s seat is safe anymore.
Most recently, Rohrabacher was embroiled in the scandal of possible collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia. Like Trump, Rohrabacher, who claims he once lost a drunken arm-wrestling match with Vladimir Putin in the 1990s, believes the Russian government is being unfairly smeared. (During the 1980s, Rohrabacher was a staunch anti-communist who accompanied anti-Soviet mujahideen in Afghanistan.) ignorance Allegations that Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election by suggesting that the United States was guilty of similar actions. in may, New York Times It was reported that in 2012 the FBI warned Rohrabacher that Russian spies were trying to recruit him. two days ago, The Washington Post In a recording from June 2016, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said: “There are two people who I think Putin is paying: Rohrabacher and Trump.” (McCarthy Rohrabacher confirmed These statements were intended to be a joke.)
But of all the issues on which Rohrabacher and Trump align, Russia is perhaps the least pressing concern for voters rallying against him. So far, Rohrabacher has voted in line with Trump’s positions more than 93% of the time, according to Thirty-five eightincluded Vote for From the GOP health care bill that would effectively end Obamacare. Rohrabacher pushed hard for the bill, warning his GOP colleagues that letting Trump’s first major legislative effort die would hamper the president’s momentum. “If this goes down” He said In March, “We’re going to castrate our President Trump. You can’t cut the balls off your bull and expect he’s going to go out and get the job done. Health care is a hot-button issue in the 48th District,” Curry says. “I’ve had conversations with people who are not quite well, afraid of “They will lose coverage.”
While Rohrabacher won his last race almost by a landslide, his district went for Hillary Clinton in the presidential election. She won by a narrow margin, but that was enough for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) to flag the district as Aim higher To turn it around in 2018. He says that if Democrats hope to best Rohrabacher in the midterms, they have a lot of work to do. Justin Wallenan Orange County pollster who runs an opinion research company. “I don’t think Dana has ever carved out a position as a strong supporter of any political figure except Ronald Reagan,” Whalen says, referring to Rohrabacher’s early days in the Reagan White House. “He tends to naturally fit in with that district in his views, personality, and political opinions. His district views him as an independent, and when Dana takes a stand on something that seems outside the mainstream, it can actually boost his positive regard.”
Two Democrats have announced their candidacy against Rohrabacher. One is first-time candidate Harley Rodda, a businessman and attorney He gave $9,200 to Republican candidates for Congress Nothing for Democrats between 1993 and 2007. The other is Boyd Robertsa real estate broker in Laguna Beach He pledged to work to remove him Trump, which is over Last of the five Candidates for a school board seat in Hemet, Calif., in 2012. They both are attack Rohrabacher because of his sympathetic attitude towards Russia. “The district will vote [Rohrabacher] Because I think there’s something about the Russian question. “I think I can raise money from it,” Roberts said. Los Angeles Times. in Online advertisingRhoda calls Rohrabacher “one of the most entrenched members of the Washington establishment” and pledges to get “tough on Russia” if elected.
“They’re both waving the Russian flag, and I don’t think that’s going to push them over the line,” Whalen says. Carey declined to comment on any of the candidates, though she says a third contender will announce her bid this summer. Meanwhile, DCCC has not extended its support to anyone yet. “Barring something dramatic happening, I would say it’s a lot safer than a number of other areas in the area,” Whalen says.
However, Curry believes that as long as Democrats continue to organize as aggressively as they have shown so far, they can turn the district blue. “We have a lot of people who say they never cared before, and a lot of people who don’t favor any party and who are really worried about democracy,” she says. When asked if people in the area are continuing to participate, she replied: “So far I think the energy remains. I tell people: ‘This is not a sprint, this is a marathon.’ But I think as long as Trump keeps tweeting, we will continue to care!”