A battle over who is the true progressive defines L.A. congressional race
A battle over who is the true progressive defines L.A. congressional race
The battle between two liberal stars is playing out in a district that goes right to the Democratic presidential race, but one that is deeply red in its own right.
If a person were to ask who the most progressive in the country is, an easy answer would be Rep. John Garamendi, D-El Cajon, who has worked to pass the Safe Neighborhoods and School Safety Act and other gun-safety bills that have received a ton of support from liberal activists and supporters.
But the district is more than just the safe harbor of Capitol Hill. It has an estimated population of 835,000 people.
In the 2008 elections, the district only elected one Republican and eight Democrats between them.
But in 2012 when both the top two Democratic and Republican candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives were considered too liberal by voters, Congressman Garamendi won this conservative seat.
It turns out Garamendi has a lot of ground to defend in his bid to become the first freshman Democrat to represent the area in the U.S. House ever since the district was carved out of the San Diego area in 1852.
He faces an uphill battle.
“I think the most liberal member of Congress would not be in Congress right now,” said Garamendi. “He or she would be either in the governor’s mansion or out of Congress.”
But Garamendi says voters will not be impressed with his liberal stances and that he has a record that shows he will fight for the kind of policies that have made him a leader in national groups like the Democratic Socialists of America, which he says “is very progressive.”
“I’m a progressive on some issues and I am a conservative on others,” said Garamendi. “The one thing that is certain is that I’m on the Democratic side of the aisle, just like a lot of people who vote for me.”
“He has no record of supporting the kind of progressive policies that have made him a leader internationally that he talks about,” said
