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Yesterday, the San Francisco Chronicle made the case that Orange County represents a major pick-up opportunity for House Democrats this cycle. Republicans who have consistently voted against the interests of working families finally face accountability after being redistricted into far more competitive districts.
Top of the list of vulnerable Republicans: Rep. Michelle Steel, who, as the Chronicle notes, refused to hold insurrectionists accountable while voting against aid to small businesses and millions in investments for her district.
In her last race, Steel won her old district by only 2%. Now, facing a much tougher district and an indefensible record of siding with big corporations and her radical party bosses, Steel’s campaign for reelection is in big trouble. Read more below:
San Francisco Chronicle: Democrats’ Fate Lies in the Nation’s Political Battlefield: Orange County
By Joe Garofoli
May 1, 2022
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A lot has changed since 2020, when Republican Reps. Michelle Steel and Young Kim made history by being the first GOP Korean American women to ever serve in Congress. Or 2018, when Democrats flipped four GOP seats here to help take the House. Now, Steel’s race is rated a “toss-up…”
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Instead of running in the more conservative, coastal district where she won in 2020, Steel is now running in the 45th Congressional District, where Democrats have a 5-point registration advantage.
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Steel’s main opponent is Jay Chen, a child of Taiwanese immigrants, U.S. Naval Reserve officer, school board member and owner of a real estate firm.
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Chen is a better fit for the new district, which “is more working class,” said Ajay Mohan, executive director of the Orange County Democratic Party. Democrats intend to pound Steel for not supporting the federal Paycheck Protection Plan that provided funding to the small businesses that drive the community.
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They say Steel — a fervent Trump supporter who received a 77% rating by the Conservative Political Action Committee scorecard (slightly higher than House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield) — is too conservative for the newly drawn district.
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Perhaps even more damaging, Chen said, is that she voted against establishing the commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection and against the bipartisan $1.9 trillion American Recovery Plan last year.
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