May 11, 2018
Orange, Calif. – Democratic Party of Orange County Chair Fran Sdao issued the following statement today after the announcement that the DCCC has endorsed in CA-48:
“In light of recent news about DCCC’s announced support for Harley Rouda for CA-48, I share today’s statement by California Democratic Party Chair Eric Bauman, and strongly encourage DCCC to focus its energy and resources to attack CA-48’s corrupt incumbent Dana Rohrabacher along with his extremist Republican opponent, Scott Baugh.
The Democratic Party of Orange County is dedicated to building a deep blue bench of Democrats for local offices, including County, City Council and School Boards. Our efforts are driven by hardworking grassroots people who organize, register voters, and serve their communities.”
California Democratic Party Chair Eric Bauman’s statement is posted on the California Democratic Party website, and reads:
“For the past several months, the California Democratic Party and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have had a productive and successful partnership in California’s many battleground districts. We’ve coordinated efforts against Republican incumbents, and on general Party-building activities like voter registration. Throughout our partnership, I have been consistently clear on one key point: when CDP Delegates endorse a candidate, that candidate is the official candidate of the Party, and the DCCC should tread carefully in openly supporting a different candidate.
California Democratic Activists value our independence and the grassroots nature of our endorsement process. Decisions that undercut the independence or our endorsed candidates have the potential to be extraordinarily counterproductive.
I have communicated clearly to the DCCC that attacks against our candidates coming from outside national groups will likely strengthen the resolve of our endorsed candidate’s supporters. The DCCC certainly has a different set of considerations in making their decisions, but it is my strong belief that whatever resources they commit to CD 48 should be spent attacking the corrupt and compromised-by-Putin incumbent, Dana Rohrabacher, or his bareknuckled extremist Republican challenger, Scott Baugh.”