National commentators have focused on the congressional race in Orange County’s 47th district in south Orange County because it could help determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives. The seat is held by progressive firebrand Katie Porter, who gave it up to run for U.S. Senate. For a sense of her approach: She initially claimed billionaires tried to “rig” the primary after her loss.
Voters finally have a chance to, well, elect someone more thoughtful and representative of the district. The November ballot pits Democratic state Sen. Dave Min against former Republican legislator Scott Baugh. The district has a one-percentage point Democratic lean, a large Asian-American community and is one of the wealthiest in the nation – so it’s full of bellwethers and news hooks.
Min amassed a progressive record in Sacramento and isn’t exactly hiding it, but he’s taking the more traditional tack of courting undecided voters. But his two best known actions in Sacramento were: a) a drunken-driving arrest last year; and his effort to undermine an anti-crime ballot initiative by inserting sneaky “poison-pill” amendments in his alternative crime bill. He ultimately backed down, but it spotlighted a certain spinelessness.
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Min is trying to depict Baugh as a representative of “divisive” MAGA politics, but that’s nonsense. We’ve followed Baugh’s career for decades and interviewed him recently. Baugh’s a thoughtful policy-oriented conservative who – and we mean this in the best way – seems like a throwback in party where the presidential nominee repeats online falsehoods about cat-eating immigrants.
Baugh will tell it like it is, regardless of pressure from his party. He straight-up opposed Donald Trump’s misguided proposed tariffs, takes a mostly traditional GOP view on foreign policy, and talks about reducing spending and lowering the national debt. We find him a refreshing antidote to Republican populism and Democratic leftism. He’s an adult at a time when Congress needs more of them.
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