Washington Examiner: Congressman attacks GOP challenger for wearing mask at legislative meeting
Noting that this isn’t the first time Harley Rouda has baselessly and aggressively attacked the Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last week Rouda accused Steel of “not waiving (property tax) late fees for struggling Orange County families” suffering because of COVID-19’s toll on the economy.
What Rouda apparently didn’t know (or didn’t care) about the area he represents is that the chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors does not have the power to waive property tax late fees. That power lies solely with the tax collector.
In case you missed it…
Congressman attacks GOP challenger for wearing mask at legislative meeting
Kerry Picket
Washington Examiner
April 16, 2020
Rep. Harley Rouda, a California Democrat, is slamming his Republican challenger for wearing a face mask while conducting official business.
Rouda, elected in 2018 to a coastal seat long held by Republicans, on Tuesday derided Orange County Supervisor Michelle Steel during a meeting of the five-member body on which she serves. Steel is running for Rouda’s seat, emerging under California’s all-party primary as a Republican alternative in November.
“You can’t make this up: @michellesteel and her colleagues are standing in masks…refusing to create workplace safety provisions that would give masks to our brave essential workers. This isn’t leadership — it’s reserving the lifeboat for yourself,” Rouda tweeted from his campaign account while Congress is out of session amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Steel shot back on Twitter at saying, “No, @HarleyRouda What’s shameful is your continued efforts to politicize this pandemic. This is a picture of me accepting 2,000 face masks for the county’s emergency health workers.”
The race between Rouda, 58, and Steel, 64, will likely get uglier. The Cook Political Report rates the district as “Lean Democratic” but notes the district’s partisan voting index has a +4 Republican advantage.
The 48th Congressional District encompasses Huntington Beach, Newport, Fountain Valley, Laguna Beach, Seal Beach, Laguna Niguel, and Costa Mesa, as well as areas of Aliso Viejo, Santa Ana, Midway City, Westminster, and Garden Grove.
Rouda ousted 30-year incumbent Dana Rohrbacher by 21,000 votes, a 7-point margin during the 2018 midterm elections. Prior to the general election, during the state’s jungle primary that year, he picked up 17.3% of the vote behind Rohrbacher’s 30.3%, making them the top two vote-getters among other challengers, which advanced them to the general.
In 2018 Rouda outraised Rohrbacher, like so many other of his fellow Democratic challengers that year, with the help billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s political action committee, 3-to-1. The California Democrat has raised over $2.5 million for his 2020 run and has almost $1.9 million in cash on hand.
Steel, who heads the Orange County Board of Supervisors and has served in the body since 2014, has raised nearly $1.8 million since she launched her campaign for the 48th District and has just over $1.1 million in cash on hand.
Registered Republicans presently outnumber registered Democrats in the district by 25,000 voters, but of the 424,000 registered voters in the district, a fourth of those are No Party Preference voters who tend to favor Democrats.
The Los Angeles Times reported last month that the March 3 jungle primary election had a record turnout in Orange County, which led to Rouda earning 46.7% of the primary vote, followed by Steel with 34.9%.