With Laura Oatman Out Of The CA-48 Race, What Do Orange County Progressives Do Now?

Stopping Rohrabacher and Keirstead means picking between Kotick or Rouda

CA-48 is a traditionally Republican district along the coast of Orange County. It starts at Seal Beach and Leisure Would in the north and works its way south through Garden Grove, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach to Aliso Viejo, Laguna Beach and Laguna Niguel to Three Arch Bay and the outskirts of San Juan Capistrano. Obama lost the district both times-- with 46% against McCain and 43% against Romney-- and in 2015 the PVI was R+7. The Hillary beat Trump 47.9% to 46.2% and the PVI is now a much friendlier R+4.

The incumbent congressman is a crackpot ally of Trump's and Putin's, Dana Rohrabacher, who was first elected in 1988. There are 5 Republicans besides Rohrabacher running. The race also attracted 8 Democrats. As of the December 31 FEC reporting deadline 7 candidates have either raised six figures or had six figures in their campaign war chests. New Dem and former Republican Harley Rouda had raised the most ($1,225,534) and had the biggest war chest ($833,688), followed by Rohrabacher who had raised $1,110,094 and had $713,144 on hand. Two Republicans reported big war chests as well, Scott Baugh ($545,403) and Stelian Onufrei ($139,845). There are a lot of self-funders in the race:

• Harley Rouda (D)- $730,500
• Omar Siddiqui (self-described "Reagan Democrat)- $458,498
• Michael Kotick (D)- $245,452
• Stelian Onufrei (R)- $228,000
• Hans Keirstead (D)- 220,400

Blue America looked at the race early on and endorsed the only actual progressive candidate, Laura Oatman. Rouda also seemed like a good candidate-- and someone likely to be able to beat Rohrabacher. The problems is that he's pretty much from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. He should be running as a mainstream Republican but instead joined the Wall Street owned and operated New Dems (as has Hans Keirstead.) Last week Oatman dropped out of the race, leaving no viable progressive. She decided to endorse Rouda and implore her supporters to back him, figuring that he's the best chance the Democrats-- if you want to count him as a Democrat-- to flip the district. This recent poll shows Found and Oatman as the top 2 most popular Democrats in the race:

Laura had been endorsed by DFA, Justice Democrats and Our Revolution. Her withdrawal statement calls for Democratic unity-- around Rouda:

Harley Rouda represents the best choice to flip the 48th District from red to blue. He has both a deep understanding of the issues, as well as the courage and determination needed to stand up to Dana Rohrabacher. I am hoping all local activists, the majority of whom have been split between supporting myself or Harley, can now unite into one mighty force, and we can work together to get Dana out. I am calling on all 6 other Democratic candidates to do the same; this is not about any one of us. This is about all of us.

I know Harley will be a strong and effective leader working to move us forward, from protecting our pristine coastline to fighting for Medicare for ALL, to tackling gun violence, to investing more in renewable energy like wind and solar and working to create more good-paying jobs. Orange County residents need a Congressman who will work hard for them, and after campaigning alongside him for over a year now, I am confident Harley is the right person for the job.

There are no good New Dems in Congress; not one. They are the Wall Street puppets within the Democratic Party. I've watched them for years and they never turn out any good. On too many crucial issues they wind up voting with the Republicans against the issues of working families. But if you're a lesser than two evils voters and you want to defeat Rohrabacher, Rouda is probably the way to go. I live northeast of CA-48-- and my own congressman is also a New Dem-- so I don't get to vote in CA-48. If I did, I'd probably vote for intriguing millennial, Michael Kotick who might be a progressive, but who certainly would be a more interesting member of Congress than anyone else running in the district. One thing for sure-- Keirstead and Siddiqui are the worst of the Democrats who want to take on Rohrabacher and, Keirstead is, surreptitiously so far, the DCCC candidate.