The rules have changed.
With redistricting drastically changing the shape and political makeup of the 24th U.S. Congressional District, combined with the state’s new open primary laws, the June 5 election has all the makings of a classic showdown.
Four candidates are vying for a shot at moving on to November’s general election. Only two will advance, regardless of party affiliation. There’s Rep. Lois Capps, whose grip on the region will likely be tested by the 24th’s more conservative-leaning voters. There’s the maverick, Abel Maldonado, who’s worn many hats, from mayor to state senator, and is trying to get back on track after losing the 2010 lieutenant governor race. There’s the dark horse, in hard-line conservative and former actor Chris Mitchum, who’s got the official endorsement of the Santa Barbara County Republican Party Central Committee. And there’s the political newcomer, Matt Boutté, a 26-year-old San Luis Obispo native and Cal Poly graduate running with no party preference.
The Sun spoke with all four congressional candidates about the race and their thoughts on the issues important to their potential future constituents. Here’s what they had to say:
The 24th District is brand new, now including all of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. How has redistricting altered the political landscape here, and how do you feel it plays to your advantage?
Matt Boutté: For a lot of people on the Central Coast, they went from one of the most gerrymandered districts in the country—the old 23rd—to one of the most competitive districts in the country. Neither party has more than 40 percent of registered voters, and there’s a very large number of independent voters. I think someone with no party preference is best situated to represent the Central Coast, since neither party has a majority, or even close to a majority for that matter. Looking nationally, I think people are upset with both parties and are looking for some other option.
Lois Capps: Actually, it’s almost identical to a district that I represented prior to 2002 [the 22nd District] … Since then even, I’ve been representing the interests of everybody in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. I’ve lived here a very long time. I’ve raised my family here, and I have a deep knowledge and relationship with very many people in just about every community around the district. It’s my home.
Abel Maldonado: I think it’s a district that’s more competitive. It is a district that was drawn by the Citizen’s Commission on Redistricting; it was not drawn by politicians. So, I think it’s a great district for the people of Santa Barbara County. … You get to have one congressperson, one that’s focused on Santa Barbara. In 2000, you had politicians paying the guy that was drawing the lines $20,000 to draw you a district. That’s not competitive, and I think it’s a conflict of interest.
Chris Mitchum: It’s been very good. It’s almost a dead heat now … [Capps] had a 20-point advantage; now she has a three-point [edge], so this is a very winnable seat. Her nickname, even amongst some moderate Democrats, is the “[Nancy] Pelosi of the Central Coast,” because she’s voted right down the line with Pelosi. She’s very liberal in her votes, so this becomes a very clear race. My toughest race I think is the primary against Abel Maldonado. He has a lot of name ID … A lot of people haven’t forgotten that he went with the Dems and voted for the highest tax increase in California history.
What do you feel is the biggest challenge facing the district now, and into the next two years?
Boutté: People here on the Central Coast are concerned with the things people across the country are concerned with right now, and that’s jobs, the economy, and the federal deficit. I’ve talked to students who are afraid that they’re not going to be able to find a job when they graduate from Cal Poly or UCSB. I’m talking to parents who have been looking for steady work for quite some time, and are just not able to do that. I really think that’s the main concern with voters here on the Central Coast.
Capps: The biggest challenge is getting our economy moving again. This really involves what is the backbone of the Central Coast—our small businesses—and helping them to expand, create jobs, and making sure everyone has the power to succeed. It’s also important that our middle class California families have a voice, because these powerful, corporate interests are so strong. Of course, a very important part of our community are our veterans, and protecting veterans, as well as seniors, to make sure that they have the benefits they deserve—for example, seniors with Social Security and Medicare.
Maldonado: Jobs, and the economy. We have to work hard to create better-paying jobs. We have to end costly regulations, and we have to end that irresponsible spending coming out of Washington. Washington doesn’t make things work; Washington makes things worse. And that’s why we’re having troubles jumping our economy and getting jobs back in play.
Mitchum: The need for jobs, and the need to get the economy going again. It’s all related to our national debt, our deficit, and our spending. It’s a spider web of interwoven things that need to be taken care of. … As you start addressing these things, each one will help the other get better. If we get the spending under control, the debt lowered, and get the taxes down … now people feel comfortable to start reinvesting money back into the economy, and there will be jobs created.
Unemployment is still a big issue in most cities, and wages are low in many of the available jobs. What do you feel is the best way to stimulate the economy, and, if elected, what would you do in Washington to create jobs?
Boutté: The first responsibility of the next Congress has to be to address the long-term deficits. If we don’t address this in the near future, we could be facing economic problems of even a greater magnitude than we’re facing right now. If Congress responsibly and quickly addresses those issues, I really do think it will do much to spur economic growth and job market growth. Currently, there’s just too much uncertainty out there. You can’t expect economic growth when the federal government is having its credit rating downgraded.
Capps: I have made a concerted effort to work on topics such as making sure we have a balance of tax cuts that encourage small businesses to invest and grow, but at the same time targeting some investments in the infrastructure. For example, the Santa Maria levee has been an important protection for homeowners with their flood insurance, but it also put a lot of people to work there in the valley. … We also are very mindful that we have a huge budget deficit, and one of the ways to lower the deficit is to put people back to work. … College being more affordable is how we get this next generation prepared for the jobs that are there for them. … Finally, I will continue to make sure that Social Security and Medicare are protected for our seniors and those who need the benefits.
Maldonado: We have to lift the confidence of the American public, and you have to give certainty to small family businesses. Washington doesn’t do that. Washington fights over everything, and they hold the American public hostage. Washington cares more about Washington, but what about us? That’s the reason we’re struggling to improve this economy and create jobs. We need to lift the spirits of the American public with some confidence, and end the partisan bickering that goes on back there, and we have to stop these costly regulations. We have to stop these costly bank bailouts. We have to stop this endless spending, and we’ve got to get back on track.
Mitchum: I’m a strong advocate of developing our natural resources. I think that is the electric paddles on the heart of a dying economy. … Santa Barbara County has identified 2 billion barrels of oil off the coast. It would take 20 years to drill it out. The revenue to the state would be $400 million a year in royalties, of which Santa Barbara County would get $100 million a year. Plus the fact that jobs are being stimulated; they’d have some back-end money coming in to help their budgeting. You get that kind of money, you can do things like lower sales tax, make it a more attractive place to shop, lower building fees, and make it a more attractive place to have construction.
Some economists are saying oil and gas is the answer to getting the Central Coast back on track economically. Would you support increased drilling, onshore or offshore?
Boutté: I don’t think we’re at an either-or situation, either all gas or all renewable. That’s just not the practical reality. We need to realize that, and implement policies that recognize that. We need some limited onshore increase in drilling, but also we need to look at the future, at where we want to be, and implementing policies that promote the research and development we need for renewable energy. That’s going to be the foundation of our economy in the decades to come, and it’s necessary to increase our national security and global security.
Capps: We already drill for oil offshore, with most of the leases offshore in California being right here on our Central Coast. We drill onshore as well, and there’s been an increase in leases onshore during the last year. I’m convinced we can’t afford new drilling off our coast, because our scenic coastline is a national treasure that greatly impacts our economy. Our fishing resources, our tourism, and protecting our natural environment means we need to push the leases that we have, continue them, but then make the concerted effort into renewable energy.
Maldonado: I support the extraction of more energy onshore. I oppose offshore oil drilling. When I say I support the extraction of energy onshore, I mean that with all the new technology in a clean way. So yes, I would support the extraction of energy. With all the new technology, if we can slant drill from onshore into offshore reservoirs, I would support that also, in a clean way. But I don’t support platforms off the coast of Santa Barbara County.
Mitchum: Absolutely. Here are the facts about the ’69 [Santa Barbara oil] spill. They estimate 3,600 birds lost their lives. In 2005 in Ventura County, there was a natural seepage from the heavy rains in January, and 5,000 birds lost their lives from the natural seepage. Since 1969, with the spill and leakage from people out there drilling, 844 barrels have gone into the Channel. Today, right now, 160 to 244 barrels a day are going into the Channel from seepage. There’s more natural seepage in a week then there has been since 1969. On top of that, UCSB … went out to study the Channel to see what the lasting damage was from the oil spill. Zero lasting damage. Why? Because there are bio-organisms that feed on oil. … That’s the only thing stopping our beaches from being coated right now.
There have been attempts in the past to force farmers to implement E-Verify on their workers, including the Legal Workforce Act introduced last year in Congress. If you had the chance to vote, would you support mandating E-Verify?
Boutté: Yes I would. When I talk to business owners in agriculture and other industries that rely a lot on migrant workers and immigrant workers, what I hear from them is they want and they need legitimacy. … They rely on this labor, and the labor plays a very important role in our economy, and here on the Central Coast specifically. We need to recognize that, but we need to be able to provide assurance to these employers that they are acting within the law.
Capps: I have a record on that because it’s come up, and I voted against mandating E-Verify. I’ve spent a lot of time, and I continue to value the advice I get from our growers and from those working in our fields. Agriculture is the No. 1 cornerstone of our economy, up and down the Central Coast, so I’ve listened carefully as farmworkers and farm owners have told me E-Verify doesn’t work for them. I voted against the bill that mandated E-Verify, and I will continue to listen to the agriculture community.
Maldonado: First of all, you can’t single out one group. I think if you’re going to do E-Verify, you have to do E-Verify across the board. But I would support E-Verify as long as it was tied together with a comprehensive immigration reform system.
Mitchum: Absolutely. But I’d also get a bracero program going. It worked before [Gov.] Jerry Brown killed it, and it can work again. You have migrant workers come into the states. … They work the crops, pay their taxes, and go home, and they’re delighted that way. The bracero program, that’s what basically started illegal immigration. They still came here to work, except they’re now illegal because they weren’t supposed to be coming here.
Immigration reform is sure to remain a hot-button issue, regardless of who sits in the White House next year. What would you do to change the system if you had the chance?
Boutté: I think the goal is working towards legitimacy. E-Verify is a component of that, and I think we need a robust guest worker program in order to provide that legitimacy. Of course, security is a concern. The United States, like any country, has a right to secure its borders, but there are physical and practical limitations to what you can do along such a long border. Developing programs so that immigrants can come here legitimately and work will decrease incentives to enter the country illegally, and that really should be a focus of the federal government.
Capps: Our ag community needs a reliable workforce, and the bi-partisan AgJOBS bill, which I’ve been on every time it’s been introduced, is very critical to our farming community. … We have so many people living in the shadows who are vulnerable and who don’t pay as many taxes as they should, and they want to be a productive, legal part of our society. We need to make that happen, so we need to establish a pathway for legal status. Finally, we’ve got to think about our greatest resource: our young people. What a shame that they come without any say in the fact that they’re coming across the border illegally; the bright ones that want to go on to get their education and be productive parts of our workforce; we need to open that opportunity up for them through the Dream Act.
Maldonado: The last time there was immigration reform was in 1986; that was President Ronald Reagan. Congress hasn’t had the courage to come together to come up with a temporary worker permit system to have a comprehensive immigration reform system in place. I support a system that allows people to work on a temporary basis, and if they’re good temporary workers, then they get their temporary worker permit renewed. My father came to America as a temporary worker.
Mitchum: Somehow, the Democrats have managed to frame it that because Republicans are against illegal immigration, that they’re against Mexicans. That’s just crazy. They’re against illegal immigration. It’s that simple. We are a nation of law, and there’s something inherently wrong when the first thing a person does when they step foot in our country is break the law. It’s totally against the entire foundation and fabric of this nation. If nothing else, for national security [reasons], we need to seal our borders. … I would also cut off federal aid to welfare programs to any state that gives welfare to illegals. How atrocious that people run across this country and say, “Gimme, gimme.” It’s terrible.
Many Americans are calling for reforms to the federal tax system, including raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations. Do you feel the tax system could be made fairer, and if so, what would you propose Congress do to level the playing field?
Boutté: Congress is going to have to address five very difficult areas: taxes, defense spending, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. They’re all hard to talk about, but that’s really where all the money is. If we’re going to fix the problem, that’s where we’re going to have to do the work. … I think we need to repeal the Bush tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans. They’re not paying their fair share. But we also need more. We need comprehensive tax reform; that means closing loopholes, broadening the base, and then lowering rates.
Capps: I think we would all be united in agreeing that our tax structure is too complicated, too long, and really doesn’t work very well. It needs to be simplified; it needs to be changed. We need to have a major overhaul, [and] it needs to be done in an objective, non-partisan way. We’ve done it in the past with non-partisan commissions that have studied the problem, but I think it needs to be fair. … Some folks get their tax breaks … and others bear the burden of the tax code. We do need to change that. It’s something that Republicans and Democrats, we all agree that it’s broken; now we need to come together to fix it.
Maldonado: The federal tax system is broken. It’s too big, it hurts jobs, and it hurts the economy. There’s something like 75,000 pages—that is way too big. We need to make it simpler, we need to make it fairer, and we need to make sure it creates jobs, not hurts jobs. And we need to start by closing all the loopholes. We already have raising taxes on the wealthy in California—it’s called Proposition 63—and we have one of the highest employment rates in America, so that doesn’t work.
Mitchum: No matter what the tax rate is, the government’s going to bring in about 19 percent. It’s all about control and manipulating the working population, and making people dependent or not dependent on the government. Worldwide, the unemployable runs about 3.5 percent. … When you have a robust enough economy, you can help that 3.5 percent. When you have 47 percent of people in the country on welfare, that’s atrocious. … These are awful numbers. This is not America.
What is your position on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, called “Obamacare,&rdquo by some critics; which is being reviewed by the Supreme Court?
Boutté: What the law did was address access, and access is important. But what it failed to do, and what I think the next Congress must address, is medical costs. … Medical expenses are going to be the single largest contributor to the federal deficit over the next several decades. Unfunded obligations to Medicare alone are $30 trillion. That’s twice the current federal debt level. It’s simply a problem that won’t go away, and we need to address it—the sooner the better. What that looks like in terms of the [bill], it might mean amending it … but I really think that addressing costs should be the primary focus going forward.
Capps: We passed the legislation, which I voted for, in 2010. Now, we’re in the process of implementing it. It isn’t going to be fully implemented until 2014, almost two years from now, but right now … seniors are saving dollars on their prescription drug costs. We have many small-business owners on the Central Coast who have already received tax credits to help provide health insurance for their workers. … Now, young people under 26 can be on their parents’ health insurance, and in fact there’s thousands right here on the Central Coast. Those with chronic conditions, we’re in the process of ending annual and lifetime limits on their coverage, so that they can know if they have a serious diagnosis that their insurance company’s not going to cut them off. … We want to see what’s working with health-care reform with the law, and what needs to be improved, and we should fix what needs to be improved.
Maldonado: We have to start over in a bi-partisan way. Congress passed a bill that they didn’t read. There’s taxes on medical equipment. There’s taxes when you sell your house. Congress doesn’t know what’s in the bill. They said it would lower premiums; they have not gone down. They said that it would create jobs; it has not. They said that you could keep your doctor; you can’t. And they actually put a 15-person board appointed by the president that is unaccountable to the people, and it was just a way to bypass complaints by the voters. We need to start over. Some people said it was a huge gamble when they passed it. They said when they passed it, it was $970 billion; now the Congressional Budget Office says it’s $1.7 trillion.
Mitchum: It needs to be overturned completely. “Obamacare” is such a misnomer because there’s nothing about care in it. It’s about control over the medical industry. It’s about exterminating insurance companies and making everybody dependent on the government. It is to the medical world what Dodd-Frank is to the financial world. … You see these totalitarian acts that the Dems are doing when they have full control of everything. Basically we suffered a socialist, bloodless coup in two of the three branches of government. They took over Congress, they took over the presidency, and they just ran with it. The good news is they showed America what a liberal really is. The far-left liberal is a socialist.
What do think makes you most qualified to represent the district?
Boutté: Neither party is even close to a majority in the district, so someone situated in the middle is best to represent our district. I haven’t taken a single cent from corporations or special interests, or anything like that. That’s something voters are concerned about right now, with Citizens United and the rise of super PACs and the role they’re playing in national politics. Finally, I really think my youth is an asset. Sacrifices are going to be asked of my generation to address some of these long-term fiscal issues, and having a young person at the table during those discussions … really adds legitimacy to the process, and also brings fresh ideas and approaches.
Capps: I have a record, and I’m proud of it, actually. It’s an open record of accomplishment in the years that I’ve been in Congress. I’ve lived in this area now for a long time; I raised my family here, all my kids were born here on the Central Coast. I’ve worked my years living here as a school nurse. I’ve also taught at Santa Barbara City College as a part-time instructor, and I’ve been an advocate on behalf of public health. I have been really honored to serve Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties in Congress, and I’ve tried very hard to represent the values and priorities of the folks I represent. That’s why I pay a great deal of attention, wanting to get out and meet with them and listen to them and encourage them to be in touch with me.
Maldonado: I’ve actually been a job creator. I have experience creating jobs. I’m a small family business owner, and right now, Washington needs to be in the business of creating jobs. … We need to end these costly regulations, we need to stop these bank bailouts, and we need to lift the spirits and the confidence of the American people. I believe Washington needs job creators at this time, and I’ve been a job creator. Washington’s broken. Washington cares more about Washington. We need some fresh ideas, and we need to teach Washington the lessons we learned growing up.
Mitchum: One of the things that differentiates a politician from a statesman is the statesman has principle. I have principles. I will fight for my principles. That’s what made Reagan such a great leader. He took a lot of heat his first two years. … Why did he persevere? Because he had principles. He knew that these principles were solid, and he stuck with them, and he was right. I don’t want to be a career politician like Capps or Maldonado; I have no desire. I want to get my country working, make it a constitutional country again, and put our government back in the hands of the people where our Constitution says it belongs.
What would you most like voters to know before they head to the polls on June 5?
Boutté: Currently, the Medicare trust fund is going to be completely exhausted by 2024, and the Social Security trust fund will be completely exhausted by 2033. And those numbers are worsening. Just last year, the projections for Social Security were that the trust fund would last through 2036. … I don’t think there’s a single American who thinks that the current Congress is up to the task of addressing those problems. We need to start looking outside the box for leaders who are willing to address the problem, no matter what the cost.
Capps: I would say thank you. Thank you first of all for people who vote. It’s really important; there’s still time to register. A good voter turnout to me is a good sign of a democracy in action. So thank you for folks who intend to vote, and I hope that everybody does. And I thank my constituents in the Santa Maria Valley for their support over these years, for the pleasure I’ve had, and the real privilege it’s been to serve this community.
Maldonado: If they want to vote for somebody to end irresponsible spending, I hope they consider me. If they want somebody that’s going to stop the partisan bickering, I hope they would consider me. … I think I’ve proven that I can make tough decisions, and I can put our fiscal house in order. That’s what I want people to know before they go to the polls, and I’m going back to Washington to vote for my district. No one’s going to tell me how to vote. If it’s good for Santa Barbara County, I will be a yes. If it’s bad for Santa Barbara County, I will be a no. I’m not going back there to do what party bosses want me to do.
Mitchum: I’d like the Republican voters to know that they do have the choice, that I’m in the race, and that I’m backed by all three Tea Parties in the district. I received the endorsement of the Santa Barbara Central Committee, and I was two votes shy of the endorsement by the San Luis Obispo Central Committee. From the hardcore, conservative constitutional Tea Party, to the more centrally based Republican Party, I’ve got their endorsements. I’m the guy they want, which should speak volumes to any Republican.
Contact Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 24-31, 2012.