California’s 45th Congressional district could go blue

Katie Porter, congressional candidate for California’s 45th District, leads the polls at 52 percent over incumbent Republican Mimi Walters, who is at 45 percent.

California’s 45th Congressional District, which includes most of Northern Orange County, including Orange and Villa Park, has been a Republican stronghold since 1983, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Katie Porter, the Democratic congressional candidate for the district, is running for Congress against incumbent representative Mimi Walters, the Republican candidate.

A Sept. 23 poll by University of California, Berkeley put Porter ahead of Walters, at 52 percent and Walters at 45 percent. Walters was first elected to Congress in 2014, and in 2016, she won re-election even though Hillary Clinton carried her district, according to the New York Times.

Porter’s campaign centers around fighting for universal healthcare, women’s reproductive rights, gun control and public education. She also aims to reverse the Republican tax plan that defunds Medicare and raises taxes on middle-class families, reform immigration policies, and advocate for renewable energy, according to Ballotpedia.

Women’s healthcare is threatened by efforts to limit women’s ability to make their own health care decisions, Porter told The Panther.

“(Freedom) is a core American value, and the government shouldn’t be telling people what they can and cannot do with their own personal health care decisions,” Porter said.

She supports the part of the Affordable Care Act that requires health insurance companies to treat prescription birth control the same as they would any other prescription.

“I support fully funding women’s health care,” Porter said. “I know that Planned Parenthood provides really important primary care and cancer screenings for folks … I think we ought to trust women to make our own health care decisions.”

Porter backs the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, while Walters wants to repeal it.

“Pregnancy has health implications, having a child has health implications, so the Affordable Care Act put in place a rule that really provided equality and parity between women’s health issues and men’s issues,” Porter said.

However, Walters opposes pro-choice legislation.

“As a mother of four, I know that nothing is more sacred than the gift of human life, and any organization that puts a price on unborn children must be held accountable,” Walters said in a 2015 House of Representatives session.

Porter also backs Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All healthcare program and said she believes “affordable health care is a human right.”

Walters voted to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act January 2017 and defund Planned Parenthood. Walters instead supported H.Res. 461, a measure that would create a panel to investigate claims related to Planned Parenthood’s activities involving abortion and fetal tissue procurement.

Pharmaceutical companies are among the top five donors to Mimi Walters’ campaign. She has received $207,325 from pharmaceutical companies and $120,625 from health insurance companies. Among Porter’s top donors are lawyers and law firms, at $225,820, and Democrats and liberals, at $199,844.

“I don’t take corporate tax distribution. I raise my money from folks who are stepping up to give us $10 or $15. We have had 180,000 regular hard-working Americans chip into this campaign, so I’m going to put those families’ interests first,” Porter said.

In regard to the environment, Porter opposes efforts to drill off the shores of Orange County beaches. In 2014, Walters signed a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke supporting the reopening of offshore drilling in California, and Walters received $17,500 from Marathon Petroleum for campaign finances, according to Vote Smart.

“California and Orange County have a beautiful climate, beautiful beaches and amazing preserve lands. I’m a strong supporter of our national parks and our public lands,” Porter said.

Kate Hoover contributed to this report.