In their first town halls, new So Cal Democrats pressed about progressive campaign pledges

Democrats dominated Southern California’s House races in November by telling voters they would pursue universal health care, immigration reform, stricter gun laws and green energy programs.

They also promised something else: accessibility.

Now, just weeks into the freshmen Democrats’ first terms, voters who helped elect them — and a few who voted against them — already are asking, “What are you doing to keep those promises?”

That was the context at a handful of well-attended town halls hosted around Southern California in recent weeks by new U.S. Reps. Katie Porter, Mike Levin, Katie Hill, and Gil Cisneros. There, many voters showed up to say they weren’t satisfied with simply flipping the formerly GOP-held seat; they’re also paying attention to what’s happening in Washington.

Early action

For some of the freshmen, the face-to-face meetings alone represented fulfilled commitments to be more accessible than their predecessors.

In recent years, town halls in Southern California and elsewhere often turned into political cage matches of sorts, with voters angrily confronting elected representatives, particularly after the Republicans’ failed attempt to repeal Obamacare. Nationally, some members of Congress suffered even for trying to meet with constituents, as video of ticked off voters seeming to get the best of their representatives frequently went viral.

During the 2018 August recess — just three months before a midterm election — the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including members of both parties, scheduled only 180 in-person events, down 70 percent from a year earlier, according to data tracked by Legistorm, a nonpartisan source of Congressional data.

In the 45th District, new Rep. Porter’s Jan. 22 town hall, at an Irvine synagogue, was the first time in two years that many constituents had a chance to meet face to face with the person their taxes pay to represent them in the House. The woman Porter beat – former two-term congresswoman Mimi Walters — opted to host telephone call-in forums instead of town halls, saying it was more productive than “having a bunch of people screaming.”

Porter fielded questions by highlighting her early support of several bills that aligned with her pre-election promises — one to reform campaign finance (HR 1), another that would require background checks for virtually any gun transaction (HR 8), and a third that would prohibit considering religion to determine admissibility into the U.S. (HR 810). Nearly all House Democrats have backed the proposals on gun control and campaign finance.

In response to a previous request from a constituent who asked her to “do something” about the toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos – which scientific studies have linked to health problems and developmental disabilities in children – Porter said she’d already taken action.

“What’s that chemical you don’t like, Chlorpyrifos?” Porter asked. “Guess what, I signed on to legislation that would ban chlorpyrifos from poisoning our kids.

“If you let us know what you’re caring about, we will stay in communication with you. That’s what I need to be effective.”

Stakes in the ground

Four days later and fifty miles down the coast, in front of a packed high school auditorium in Oceanside, 49th District Rep. Levin was peppered with questions from environmental activists. They were eager to hear him commit to backing a Green New Deal, an economic stimulus program designed to move to the nation toward renewable energy. He said he would.

“Not only will I, but I have been and will continue to work on that legislation,” Levin said. “I’m all in on this.”

Levin acknowledged that legislation for a Green New Deal and Medicare for All – which he also doubled-down on – are unlikely to pass in the Senate in this session. But he said voters should use both goals as a litmus test for Democratic nominees for president in 2020.

“We put a stake in the ground and say, ‘If you’re running for Democratic nomination for President of the United States, we want to see where you stand,’ Levin said. “Are you with us or not?”

On Feb. 2, in Hacienda Heights, 39th District Rep. Cisneros fielded questions about how he was fulfilling his campaign promises to support immigration reform. He told voters that he and the Hispanic caucus will work on a bill to protect DREAMers (undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children) and immigrants with temporary protected status.

“It’s going to protect them so they can… continue to live in the only country they’ve ever known,” Cisneros said. “The border is an issue that we need to take care of. But…  the DREAMers are a totally separate issue, and we shouldn’t be tying them together.”

Early pushback

Despite Cisneros’ early promises, several attendees at the congressman’s town hall criticized him for being vague and failing to commit to specific policies he’d indicated support for during his campaign.

Diane Offner, a Placentia resident and steering committee member of Indivisible CA-39, said she was unhappy that Cisneros indicated he was more focused on protecting Obamacare than on supporting Medicare for All, an idea he’d backed during his congressional bid. Cisneros told the crowd that Medicare for All wouldn’t pass the Senate this year and that it was better to focus efforts elsewhere when it comes to health care.

“I understand it wouldn’t pass,” Offner said later, when asked about Cisneros’ answers. “But I think it’s so important that you still push that vision and plan. I think he’s passionate, but we need specific plans.

“We’re going to keep following him,” she added. “If we see things aren’t happening, we’re going to tell him that. It’s about furthering our agendas beyond just these elections.”

Vivianne Kelly, a former Cisneros campaign volunteer and a member of the Citizen’s Climate Lobby, said she also thought Cisneros’ town hall promises on environmental issues were too broad. Kelly urged Cisneros to co-sponsor a bill that would put a fee on fossil fuels and then redistribute the revenue to U.S. households.

“I respect Gil, but I was disappointed he did not focus on specific policies to tackle climate change,” Kelly said. “I’d like to hear him say he supports a carbon fee, and that there’s a possibility for a Green New Deal.”

While Republican voters failed to turn out to the new House members’ first town halls in significant numbers, the few who did were vocal in representing their interests.

At Cisneros’ gathering, a man in the front row confronted the congressman over whether he would commit to meeting with the Angel Moms, a group of parents whose children had been killed by people in this country illegally.

At Porter’s town hall, one of the randomly-selected questions came from Republican Earl Baker, a NASA attorney.

Furloughed at the time of the meeting, due to the government shutdown, Baker asked Porter if she’d sacrifice her Congressional salary until other federal workers were paid. When the Porter declined, Baker yelled from his seat: “You’re a coward! Thirty years of service, and I don’t get paid on Friday!”

Afterward, Baker said he’d asked the question to put Porter “on the spot” and to “make her uncomfortable.” Baker blamed Democrats – not Trump – for the shutdown, accusing Porter and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of refusing to budge on funding for a border wall solely to worsen the president’s odds of re-election.

“She’d rather have those people not get paid than give the president $5 billion to build a wall,” said Baker, a self-described Reagan Republican attending his first town hall in nearly two decades.

Still, Baker commended Porter for the format of the town hall, one that saw the congresswoman choose questions at random from a raffle-ticket drum she jokingly dubbed “Mimi.”

“I’ll give her complete credit for not filtering out the questions,” Baker said.

“A congressperson should be answerable to their constituents.”