Democratic incumbent Rep. Harley Rouda had a growing lead Wednesday over Republican challenger Michelle Steel in their bids to represent coastal Orange County’s 48th congressional district.
“Our community’s trust means everything to me,” Rouda said. “I’m proud to have earned it, and I will continue fighting to deliver bipartisan solutions for coastal Orange County.”
Four other challengers trailed the early leaders, including Republican Brian Burley, John Thomas Schuesler, Richard Mata and James Brian Griffin. Results so far include a portion of mail-in and in-person ballots.
Though Steel and Rouda are expected to finish in the top two spots and advance to the general election when all votes from the March 3 primary are counted, the election offers a first look at how voters feel about the pair before what’s likely to be a heated November battle to win CA-48.
“I have spent my time in local government fighting for real change,” Steel said as results came in Tuesday night. “I am ready to take these fights to Congress, and I am truly honored and thankful for the support I have received.”
The votes counted early tend to be cast by traditional voters and tend to break for the GOP. Votes counted later, including late mail-in ballots, walk-up votes and election day votes tend to break for the Democratic party.
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The coastal Orange County district — which runs from Seal Beach to Aliso Viejo — still leans Republican, with the party holding a 6.1 percentage point registration advantage over Democrats. How those voters decide on Rouda or Steel could say a lot about the state of the two parties in Orange County.
In winning CA-48 two years ago, Rouda, a political newcomer from Laguna Beach, defeated 15-term Republican Dana Rohrabacher. This time, Republicans hope the solid economy under President Donald Trump and messaging that Democrats are too far to the left will prompt voters to un-flip the seat — a formula they’re betting on in a few other local House races.
However, Rouda, 58, has taken a more moderate position on some issues than some of his fellow House Democrats. In his first year, he introduced a few dozen bills focused on, among other things, environmental protection, fighting the opioid crisis and reducing robocalls, with three of those bills signed into law. He’s also avoided scandal and been a solid fundraiser, bringing in $2.5 million in donations as of Wednesday — traits that could make unseating him a challenge.
Rouda is a former real estate executive whose wife, Kaira, has written best-selling crime novels. They have four children. Since taking office, Rouda said he’s most proud of being one of the most legislatively productive members of congress. His predecessor, Rohrabacher, passed three bills during his three decades in office.
Rouda is stumping for former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg in the presidential race.
The best known challenger in CA-48 is Steel, who serves as chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors. She’s raised more money than any challenger vying for a House seat in Orange County, though more than a third of that $1.8 million has come from her own pocket. She’s also picked up endorsements from county and state Republican parties, plus several GOP officials.
Steel, 64, was a young adult when she and her family immigrated to the United States. Her husband, Shawn Steel, is California’s Republican National Committee member and former head of the state GOP. They live in Seal Beach’s Surfside community, and they have two grown daughters and one grandchild.
Steel said she first became interested in politics as she watched her single mom struggle to fight an unwarranted tax bill from the California State Board of Equalization. She won a seat on the BOE in 2006, which at the time made her the country’s highest-ranking Korean American officeholder and California’s highest-ranking Republican woman.
Steel’s views on major issues fall mostly along party lines. She opposes abortion rights, gay marriage and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, though she supports some additional regulations to combat climate change. She is campaigning on pledges to reduce taxes, oppose government-run health care, support a border wall with Mexico and protect beaches.
Steel plans to vote for Trump and has ties to the president. Steel and her husband greeted Trump at Los Angeles International Airport during a March 2018 fundraising visit, and the president in 2019 named her co-chair of his Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. But she spoke out in opposition to Trump administration’s plans to deport thousands of Vietnamese refugees who fled to the U.S. prior to 1995 and subsequently committed crimes.
The only other CA-48 challenger with financial backing is Burley, a 26-year-old business owner from Huntington Beach who’s raised $87,067 this cycle.
This is Burley’s first campaign. His views on many major issues are in line with Steel, though he differs from her in supporting a woman’s right to choose under narrow circumstances, legal marijuana and fewer regulations aimed at combating climate change. Burley has specific plans for increasing tax deductions, enforcing camping bans to get homeless people off city streets, cutting off benefits for undocumented immigrants, and pushing block grants for Medicaid.
Griffin also is a Republican and political newcomer. Griffin, 64, lives in Sunset Beach. He owns a real estate brokerage and property management firm and has published a career guide. Griffin has three adult children and four grandchildren.
Griffin opposes a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and legal marijuana, but supports gay marriage and a woman’s right to choose under narrow circumstances. He’s campaigning on a platform of lower business taxes, lower health insurance premiums, better mental health care, reforming immigration and lowering the national debt.
Another GOP challenger in CA-48 is Schuesler, who runs a real estate finance company and is a documentary filmmaker. Schuesler declined to answer campaign questions, instead sending an email that slammed the media and universities. His campaign website warns of a coming civil war against Marxist Socialism.
The final CA-48 challenger is retired educator Mata, a member of the far-right American Independent party. Mata did not respond to requests to complete the Register’s candidate survey, and the Costa Mesa resident doesn’t appear to have a campaign website.