Santana: OC Hosts One of America’s Tightest Congressional Races 

While Republican campaigner Scott Baugh and Democrat Rep. Dave Min are 2 radically antithetic radical politically, they find themselves doing the aforesaid happening each day. 

Dialing for dollars. 

The propulsion for fundraising – to spend things similar media ads connected television, YouTube and Facebook on with mailers – is what’s often called the “Mothers Milk of Politics.”

All this wealth – astir $10 cardinal betwixt some candidates – generates deed pieces from each run connected the other, which volition scope a fever transportation successful this past agelong earlier Nov. 5.

While the maneuver works to get politicians elected – due to the fact that the aforesaid nationalist look gets rolled retired each predetermination rhythm connected cardinal races – it does a unspeakable occupation of letting voters cognize the information astir each candidate’s inheritance and voting record,

Much little spur immoderate benignant of substantive assemblage treatment connected issues. 

When it comes to choky legislature races similar the 47th District, nationalist parties look squarely successful complaint of a process that produces much guarded candidates, overmuch little apt to prosecute each different oregon tract questions successful public. 

Note that not 1 OC instauration had immoderate luck getting Min and Baugh to prosecute each different successful a nationalist debate. 

It’s the same for the different legislature contention successful OC with nationalist implications, the 45th territory successful cardinal OC, wherever incumbent Republican Congresswoman Michelle Steel is being challenged by Democrat Derek Tran, a section attorney. 

Voice of OC did get a accidental to interrogation some Baugh and Min individually during little telephone calls, with the purpose of offering residents a basal breakdown of wherever the 2 candidates basal connected respective cardinal issues and however they respond to questions astir their idiosyncratic controversies. 

To work the candidates’ instrumentality connected cardinal issues, click here. 

The District

The spot for the 47th District – redrawn aft the 2020 census – opened up past twelvemonth aft Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) announced she was moving for the U.S. Senate, a contention she lost. 

The territory runs on the seashore from the OC enactment astatine Seal Beach and goes arsenic acold southbound arsenic Laguna Beach. It besides includes inland communities similar Costa Mesa, Irvine and parts of Laguna Hills and Laguna Woods. 

While governmental observers spot the district arsenic leaning Democratic, I spot purple with Republicans really hanging onto a flimsy voter registration vantage of conscionable nether a percent point. 

Democratic voter registration advantages successful Irvine are challenged by a ample fig of Republican voters from Newport Beach and Huntington Beach – making the territory a hotly contested seat. 

There’s astir 450,000 registered voters successful the district, divided principally among 159,287 Republicans different 159, 079 Democrats and 100,000 autarkic voters. 

Dave Min

A Harvard Law schoolhouse postgraduate with acquisition connected economical argumentation astatine the nationalist level, Min was a concern instrumentality prof astatine UC Irvine erstwhile helium archetypal ran for Congress successful 2018 for the spot that erstwhile Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez near unfastened erstwhile she ran for U.S. Senate, a contention she lost. 

Min mislaid that contention to Congresswoman Katie Porter, but aboriginal successful 2020 successfully ran to correspond the 37th State Senate District. 

As a authorities legislator successful Orange County, Min has been astir disposable for authorities banning weapon shows astatine the OC fairgrounds and offshore drilling successful summation to caller authorities related to the County Supervisor Andrew Do scandal, requiring elected officials to disclose erstwhile their children get authorities contracts and abstain from votes. 

Scott Baugh

An lawyer from Huntington Beach, Baugh archetypal entered OC authorities successful 1995 arsenic a replacement campaigner successful the callback predetermination against Assemblywoman Doris Allen for the 67th State Assembly District. 

Baugh was wrapped up successful an probe by past OCDA Mike Capizzi successful that predetermination contention – an probe that was aboriginal thrown retired by a section justice who took contented with prosecutors’ ethics. Baugh aboriginal paid a good successful 1999 to the FPPC. 

Baugh was elected by his colleagues successful the State Assembly arsenic Republican person from April 1999 until helium was termed retired successful December 2000. 

In 2004, Baugh would instrumentality implicit arsenic president of the OC GOP, succeeding the precocious Tom Fuentes, a station helium held until 2015. During that time, helium besides worked arsenic a lobbyist for the County of Orange with the firm, Platinum Advisors successful Sacramento. 

Baugh unsuccessfully ran against erstwhile Congressman and chap Republican Dana Rohrabacher successful 2018 for the 48th Congressional District and mislaid to Porter for the 47th Congressional District successful 2022. 

Campaign Finance Rundown

So far, Min has retired fundraised Baugh connected the fundraising blitz, according to Sept. 30 national run disclosures, raising astir $5.7 cardinal to Baugh’s $3.9 million.

But aft factoring successful spending, which featured a superior conflict for Min, helium entered the past 4th with little currency connected manus – $915,805 – compared to Baugh’s $2.2 million.

There’s besides been sizable sums spent by extracurricular groups some supporting and opposing each campaigner – mostly done a big of wide and blimpish governmental enactment committees.

Since June, Min’s seen $3.2 cardinal successful spending against him and $2.4 cardinal supporting him. 

Baugh meanwhile, had $5.7 cardinal spent against him, compared to $1.2 cardinal supporting him. 

Both candidates got the bulk of their donations from ample idiosyncratic contributions. Most of their idiosyncratic contributions travel from wrong California but extracurricular the 47th district. 

Min got importantly much donations from the communications/electronics assemblage than Baugh did. 

Baugh got much from finance, security and existent property interests. 

Min got much successful health, lawyers and lobbyists. 

Baugh got much from single-issue ideological sectors. 

To spot a implicit breakdown of the wealth successful the race, cheque retired the Opensecrets website. 

Candidate Controversies

For Dave Min, it’s a DUI

“My biggest mistake,” Min said of past year’s DUI condemnation arsenic a authorities legislator successful Sacramento trying to thrust himself location aft excessively galore drinks.

Min was arrested by the California Highway Patrol past May for being implicit the ineligible bounds aft moving a reddish airy without his lights connected astatine night. 

He was convicted of a misdemeanor past August and sentenced to 3 years of informal probation. 

“It was a mistake that is not diagnostic of who I am,” Min said erstwhile I asked him astir it. 

Min was upfront astir the contented and took responsibility, saying helium was drinking socially earlier successful the nighttime astatine a bid of receptions with “constituents and stakeholders” and miscalculated successful reasoning helium was good to drive. 

“I screwed up. I thought I was bully to drive. I was not,” Min said, disputing immoderate allegations that helium tried to usage his presumption to debar a ticket. 

“I did not effort to get retired of it,” helium said. 

“It is what it is,’ Min added.

Scott Baugh grappled with a antithetic benignant of contention astatine the commencement of his governmental vocation successful the 1990s – facing a OC District Attorney investigation for allegedly scheming to divided the Democratic ballot successful a authorities predetermination – charges helium denied astatine the clip and inactive denies today. 

Baugh criticized the charges against him arsenic portion of a governmental vendetta – noting correctly that the charges were yet dismissed by a section justice who ruled that the territory lawyer had engaged successful “prosecutorial misconduct.”

“I was cleared of each those allegations,” Baugh said of the predetermination interference probe by erstwhile District Attorney Mike Capizzi. 

Baugh does admit what helium describes arsenic “subsequently, successful a antithetic action,” his treasurer run paid a fine.

It came aft the section charges against him were referred to the authorities Attorney General aft Capiizzi was thrown disconnected the case. 

The authorities AG past referred the substance to the Fair Political Practices Committee, which issued a ruling successful 1999 wherever Baugh did hold to wage a civilian good of $47, 900 for 9 violations of the authorities Political Reform Act. 

Baugh astatine the clip denied immoderate intentional wrongdoing, a stance helium maintains today. At the time, helium was quoted successful property reports arsenic having spent $350,000 to combat the allegations. 

“It was proven to beryllium a implicit governmental jihad against me,” Baugh said of the case. 

Four run aides eventually pled guilty to misdemeanors for different predetermination instrumentality violations related to helping suffice a decoy campaigner successful the authorities election. They received probationary sentences and fines.

Baugh decried that prosecution effort arsenic an aboriginal signifier of what galore Republicans present telephone “Lawfare” – referring to the ongoing array of prosecutions against erstwhile President Donald Trump. 

“When we spot radical we don’t hold with,” Baugh said, “we springiness the payment of the uncertainty to the prosecutor.”

•••