He refused to host a town hall in his district or meet with concerned residents and did NOTHING to help anyone in his district with issues such as the government shutdown, mass deportations, etc. instead parroting the Trump MAGA talking points on right-wing talk shows. He's introduced zero meaningful legislation.
His district now has more Dems than Reps, and at least 10 Dems are lining up to run against him. The party narrowly missed having enough votes for a pre-primary endorsement of San Diego Councilmember Marnie Von WIlpert, at around 68% but 70% is needed for a pre-primary endorsement. She is probably the leading contender, though Ammar Campa Najjar did a lot of votes when he ran against Issa before. However there are many decline to state voters in this district, and a lot of them, maybe most, skew conservative albeit with no allegiance to either party. So a moderate Dem might be the safer bet to oust Issa.
I would advise any candidate not to ignore issues of concern to San Diego's East County, which does have many moderate and Democrat voters, if they want to win. Most of the candidates don't live in EAst County--they're North County, coastal, or even Riverside County. To win this seat, they need to shore up votes from Dems and moderate independents in East County, which is doable if they don't shoot themselves in the foot with talking points that will alienate small business people, farmers, rural and suburban voters, tribes, etc. Don't talk up building high rises everywhere as the answer to the housing crisis, support the dreaded mileage tax or talk up stringent gun control. Focus on inflation soaring, farm workers getting deported, ICE abuses against immigrants and even citizens, and DO talk about how Issa's idol Trump has sought to sell off public lands and allow road building in national forests (Cleveland National Forest is in this district still, I think), and DO talk about people losing fire insurance while Trump is slashing funds for firefighting and trying to eliminate FEMA that has helped many in East County--thousands lost homes in the 2003 and 2007 firestorms. Talk about Issa's silence as Trump's administration destroys or defies nearly every Constitutional right--including the 1st and 2nd amendment (free speech/press and right to bear arms) and amendments that protect us from unreasonable search and seizure, etc. Talk about Issa doing nothing about the dangerous El Capitan Dam,voting against infrastructure funding. With the possible exception of immigration, which draws mixed emotions out here, those others are sure winning talking points for anyone wanting to win many votes in this district. If anyone running out here wants a private conversation, PM me. I know the East County area and its issues very well.
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