Raths reflects on loss in 45th Congressional District race

Democratic incumbent Katie Porter defeated Republican Greg Raths in the 45th Congressional District race, securing her seat in the House of Representatives for another two-year term. Photo courtesy of Raths

After competing for reelection Nov. 3 for the 45th Congressional District House of Representatives seat, incumbent Katie Porter, defeated Republican Greg Raths by a narrow 6.5% margin, according to The Associated Press. Porter is a long-time Democrat whose political acclaim stems from flipping the district blue in 2018 and from working with Vice President-elect and former California Attorney General Kamala Harris. 

Although Porter ran unopposed on the Democratic ticket since the start of her campaign, Raths competed against five other Republican candidates levying for the seat, ultimately gaining the Republican nomination. 

Raths’ background in local government stems from working as the councilmember of Mission Viejo, California, since 2014. In addition, he served as the assistant chief of staff of The White House Military Office in 1996, under former President Bill Clinton’s administration. Raths reflected on the added difficulty of campaigning for a federal position as opposed to a city role.

“On a city level, you kind of just run on your own and have one person help you,” Raths said. “On a federal level, you need a whole team. You need a strategist, you need a strategy chief, you need a campaign manager, you need a team for meet and greets … It’s a totally different operation.”

Raths theorized one possible reason behind Porter’s reelection in a Republican-heavy district was the considerable discrepancy in campaign funding, contrasting Porter’s $15 million raised with his own $1.28 million. In Porter’s own campaign, this money was used toward advertising efforts and sending out mail in the native languages of voters – an added facet of accessibility that Raths said he was unable to pursue based on the sheer financial impact, though he readily conceded his support for Porter’s implementation of the resource. 

“(Porter was able to) bring in the best of the best in advertising and bring in the best teams to micro-target different voters,” Raths said. “Money really helps to win, and when she outraised me 10 to one, we still did really well.”

Raths further told The Panther that funding from the national Republican Party played a large role in the effectiveness of Republican candidate campaigns in district elections. He noted that money donated by political action committees and individual donors go toward probable winners of close races.

“I’m disappointed in the national Republican Party … I thought they would see how close this race could be, but they went and helped Michelle Steel in the 48th district and they helped Young Kim in the 39th,” Raths said. “If the national party had injected some money and brought in some professional advertisers, we could have won this seat too.”

Raths proposed the GOP didn’t help fund his race since Porter had raised $15 million, posing a high-risk, high-return bet they weren’t willing to make. Now that his campaign has ceased, Raths plans on continuing his work on the Mission Viejo City Council with his primary focus being the “safety and security of citizens” – with attention on the police force, road infrastructure and business sustainability.

Regardless of a Democratic representative filling the 45th Congressional District seat, the Orange County Register reports the region still leans Republican by 0.5%, which is equivalent to just about 2,500 voters. The Republican Party of Orange County lost four seats to Democratic candidates in the 2018 election, two of which they have regained as the 2020 election draws to a close.