Amanda Funderburg is a junior economics, political science, and human resource management major in the Sam M. Walton College of Business and the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Science from Ardmore, OK. Amanda has been involved in SOOIE, Associated Student Government, Campus Y and the Student Alumni Board. Upon graduation, Amanda hopes to continue working to promote high school student civic engagement.
California’s 48th Congressional District, representing the Southern California Orange County area, has been characterized as one of the key seats needed to flip by Democrats. The district is currently represented by Dana Rohrabacher (R), who first assumed office in 1989, and who has ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Harley Rouda (D) has been the first viable challenger to Rohrabacher since he took office. In 2016, CA-48 was one of 23 split ticket districts, voting for Hillary Clinton in the Presidential race by 1.7 percentage points and Rohrabacher (R) in the Congressional race by 16 percentage points. Going into the midterm election, Rohrabacher and Rouda are declared a toss-up by the Cook Political Report and Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, and tilt Democratic according to Inside Elections.
Dana Rohrabacher is a conservative Republican who has strong ties to Russia and advocates for cooperation with the foreign country, as he believes the nation is no longer a primary threat. Recently, Rohrabacher accompanied a bus of senior citizens to a marijuana dispensary and expressed his opinion that marijuana laws should be left up to the states. In addition, he shared that he has received assurances from the White House that President Trump intends to keep his campaign promise to protect state marijuana polices from federal interference. Rohrabacher does support portions of the Affordable Healthcare Act, most notably the mandate that insurance companies offer coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions. Rohrabacher is a strong supporter of Trump, particularly on immigration policy and the border wall construction. He supports limiting the California gas tax and frequently highlights his years of experience representing the district. Despite his years of service, his opponent has managed to outspend him by almost 2 million dollars. In response to the stagnant polls in the district, Republican National Committee Chairman Ronna McDaniel visited Laguna Niguel on October 17th to campaign on behalf of Rohrabacher.
Challenging Rohrabacher is Harley Rouda, a former Republican turned moderate Democrat who is hoping to attract both Democrats and moderate Republicans. Rouda does not fit the mold of liberal Democrats like Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA); he donated to John Kasich’s campaign in 2016, yet he remains the Democrats’ best chance at unseating Rohrabacher. Rouda has managed to outspend Rohrabacher by significant margins and has received a key endorsement from President Barack Obama early in the campaign. He promotes common sense gun reform, increased education funding, equal pay between males and females and the Affordable Care Act. Most notably, he supports environmental reform and funding for clean tech. Orange County’s Balboa Island is directly feeling the effects of rising sea levels. On particularly high sea level days, the sea wall cannot stop the flow of water on the 3,300-person isle, and many of the homes in danger are multimillion-dollar mansions. Constituents are vastly concerned about the longevity of their million-dollar investments and are displeased with Rohrabacher’s denunciation of human-inflicted climate change. Rouda offers an alternative, advocating for curbing carbon emissions and promoting clean energy.
The current race is essentially too close to call a clear winner. However due to general displeasure in the district with President Trump and the impending threats of climate change, I would say that Rouda has a slight edge, but there are still many factors in play between today and election day.