Re-elect Congressional Representative Lou Correa to keep CA-46 on the right track.

About the Position

The United States is divided into 435 congressional districts, each with a population of about 710,000 individuals. Each district elects a representative to the House of Representatives for a two-year term. California has 53 congressional representatives. There is no term limit for this position.  

About the District

California's 46th Congressional District includes parts of Orange County. Republicans held this district until 2012, when district lines were redrawn and Loretta Sanchez won and flipped CA-46 from red to blue. In recent years, this district has voted for Democratic state and federal candidates, with 63 percent of the vote for Gavin Newsom in 2018, and 66 percent of the vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

About the Race

In the primary, Democrat incumbent Representative Lou Correa led Republican challenger James Waters by a margin of 30.8 percent. Rep. Correa’s campaign has not pledged to refuse fossil fuel, police, or corporate PAC money. Correa has received donations from several oil and gas companies, including Marathon Petroleum Corporation and Phillips 66. He has also received donations from Everytown for Gun Safety AF Inc. PAC. Waters’ campaign has not committed to any pledges and has recorded insignificant fundraising to date, with all raised funds coming directly from his family.

About the Candidate

Rep. Correa, who has held elected office for over 20 years, is from Anaheim, CA. According to campaign materials, Rep. Correa is running for re-election to continue to improve quality of life and middle-class access for district residents.

Rep. Correa’s priorities for CA-46 this year have included grants to support community placement of police recruits, highlighting mental-health care and minority health disparities, and providing support to military veterans. He currently sits on two committees: Homeland Security (ranks 7th), and Judiciary (ranks 16th). This year, Rep. Correa has voted 99 percent of the time with Nancy Pelosi and 94 percent of the time with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In contrast to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Correa voted in favor of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act, and in agreement with the conference report for the National Defense Authorization Act for 2020. Rep. Correa has sponsored 29 bills about veteran’s support, cannabis research and protections, and mental-health care access this year. Of those bills, two have been received in the Senate, and all remaining are in committee or referred to committee.  

Rep. Correa is primarily endorsed by local unions, and does not have substantial endorsements from progressive organizations. He is also endorsed by a variety of law-enforcement organizations in the district, including California Statewide Law Enforcement Association, Peace Officers Research Association of California, Santa Ana Police Officers Association, and Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs. However, the threat of Republican challenger James Waters’ potential policies greatly outweighs Rep. Correa’s moderate voting record and association with law-enforcement organizations. According to our analysis, Rep. Correa is the strongest choice for equitable and representative leadership in office.