Voters will elect the next representative of California’s highly contested 47th Congressional District this November, a seat Democrats and Republicans view as integral to their attempts at majority control of the U.S. House of Representatives. The district contains the cities of Irvine, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach and Seal Beach.
The seat is currently held by Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, who left it vacant to run for the Senate seat held by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Porter placed third in California’s top two open primary, behind Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey.
The race features Democratic State Sen. Dave Min against Republican Scott Baugh.
Min taught at UC Irvine as a business law professor before his election to the state Senate in 2020. Following his graduation from Harvard Law School in 2002, he worked as an enforcement attorney for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Min then went on to serve as an economic and financial policy advisor to New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, now Senate majority leader.
He has received endorsements from Porter, the California Democratic Party and a handful of local, county and state Democratic officials. Min told New University his run for Congress was influenced by his desire to invest in the future of young people.
“That philosophy of investing in our future, in your future as young people, is something that this country used to stand for and we got away from,” Min said. “That’s something we have to get back to.”
Min was arrested and cited for a misdemeanor in May 2023 on suspicion of drunk driving. He later took to Facebook to apologize for his actions, calling his decision to drive “irresponsible” and saying, “I am so deeply sorry. I know I need to do better.”
Baugh served in the California State Assembly from 1995 to 2000, serving as minority leader for one year. Previously, he worked as an attorney in private practice in Huntington Beach after graduating from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. After his state Assembly terms, he chaired the Republican Party of Orange County from 2004 to 2015. Baugh last ran for the 47th Congressional District in 2022, but was defeated by Porter.
Baugh has listed securing the border, reducing government spending and banning members of Congress from stock trading as his campaign priorities. He also opposes any new taxes or tax increases. He is endorsed by the California Republican Party.
In 1996, Baugh was indicted on four felony counts of falsifying campaign finance reports and 18 misdemeanor counts of violating state election law.
With a total of $6.4 million being spent in this race, Min and Baugh have yet to debate. An ASUCI government relations representative told New University that Min agreed to a UCI-hosted debate while Baugh declined. Min criticized Baugh for his decision in a comment to New University.
“The reason I think he is refusing to stand on a stage with me is because he knows that he is misrepresenting his record and my record and doesn’t want to be called out on it,” Min said. “This guy’s been a politician or a lobbyist for his entire career.”
Baugh said in an earlier interview with FOX 11 Los Angeles that he and Min had “made several agreements to debate” and that Min’s claims of him backing out were “nonsense.”
In the same interview, Min criticized the current 118th Congress for its inability to pass legislation and stated that he aims to build on his state Senate accomplishments in Congress.
“This particular Congress has spent far more time focusing on conspiracy theories than it has on actually governing,” Min told New University. “I passed 36 bills into law in four years. I brought back over $200 million in funding for local projects. I’ve been an advocate for local concerns, and I want to continue leading in the places I’ve led on in the state Senate.”
Min has labeled himself a staunch advocate for reproductive rights. He cites codifying the protections of Roe v. Wade and reining in the Supreme Court as his congressional priorities.
“On day one, I will sign on as a co-author of the codification of Roe v. Wade,” Min told New University. “And I think we need to go further and rein in the Supreme Court because they have acted lawlessly. That decision they wrote in Dobbs was poorly written and poorly reasoned.”
Baugh conversely describes himself as a “pro-life guy.” During his 2022 run for Congress, he told NBC News he “would never support” codifying federal protections for legal abortion and that he believes “life begins at conception.”
Speaking on gun control, Min told New University that he would look to enact an assault weapons ban, stronger background checks and stricter gun storage requirements.
Baugh told FOX 11 he did not believe in the effectiveness of assault weapon bans, instead suggesting lawmakers enact stricter restrictions on who can acquire a gun.
“You can outlaw an AR 16 times, it’s not gonna change what’s happening out there,” Baugh told FOX 11’s Elex Michaelson. “We need to make sure we do more red flag laws and make sure that people that have mental illness or have a criminal background never get a gun.”
On the issue of affordable housing, Min attributes “right-wing false narratives” that blame the 2008 financial recession on affordable housing as reasons why affordable housing initiatives receive less funding.
“We’ve basically seen a market fall-off in how much we’re funding affordable housing throughout the country,” Min told New University. “We need to restore and expand federal affordable housing and the incentive programs.”
Baugh, in a Nov. 2023 post on X, formerly known as Twitter, said “excessive regulations, astronomical taxes, and a failure to address inflation are crushing families and first-time homebuyers.” He added that Congress needs to “ease the tax burden and tackle inflation to make housing affordable again.”
While Min’s campaign website does not mention immigration, he told New University he supported the bipartisan Senate immigration bill crafted earlier this year, which ultimately failed to pass in a 43-50 vote.
“[The] bill would have provided billions of dollars in funding to provide more agents and also better technology to detect human trafficking, drug trafficking and gun trafficking,” Min said.
Min added that he believed it was a “no-brainer” to offer a fast-track to citizenship for Dreamers — undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States at a young age and attended school within the country.
Baugh told FOX 11 that he believes in a “tall fence and a wide gate” to secure the southern border. He criticized the bipartisan Senate immigration bill, saying “it allowed a million new people to come in every year,” and suggested “90% of [border security] can be done with administrative orders.” On his campaign website, he states “we must overhaul our immigration system to simplify and expedite legal immigration.”
On the issue of climate change, Min advocates for voters to acknowledge it as real and cited climate solutions as economically wise in the long term. He added that without action, the impacts of recent Hurricanes Helene and Milton, along with California wildfires, will become the new normal.
Baugh has not indicated a formal stance on the issue of climate change.
Min broke ranks with Gov. Gavin Newsom and a handful of other state Democratic lawmakers when he supported Proposition 36, which would allow for felony charges and increased sentences for certain drug and theft crimes.
“Prop 36 aims to address rampant retail theft by overturning a law voters passed ten years ago, Prop 47,” Min told New University. “[Prop 47] was well intentioned, but it had unanticipated consequences … we need to find the right balance and people who have committed crimes with intent should have some consequences.”
Baugh told FOX 11 there is a “proliferation of crime” in Orange County, citing a botched July robbery at Fashion Island that left one dead, and a September attempted robbery at South Coast Plaza. He went on to blast Min for “out-of-control policies” and listed several bills he claimed were promoting crime.
Baugh did not respond to New University’s request for comment.
Election Day is Nov. 5.
Kian Momeny is a News Intern for the fall 2024 quarter. He can be reached at kmomeny@uci.edu.
Edited by Victoria Le, Xinyu Zhang and Jacob Ramos.