California Dem Says Michael Bloomberg's $4.3M Support Will Raise Climate Change Awareness
*By Christian Smith*
With less than two weeks until election day, a California Democrat, Harley Rouda, has gotten a $4.3 million boost from Michael Bloomberg in his bid to take down 30-year incumbent Republican Congressman Rohrabacher.
Bloomberg's Independence USA PAC disclosed the spending last week, which went to advertising targeting the Republican. Rouda said Bloomberg's ad campaign will help bring the issue of climate change to the forefront of voters' minds in the coastal Orange County district.
"We're thrilled to have Bloomberg's support, and more importantly calling attention to that really important issue of climate change, which my opponent Dana Rohrabacher basically calls junk science," Rouda said Monday in an interview on Cheddar.
"It's certainly going to boost voters' awareness of Rohrabacher's atrocious record in addressing climate change, and more importantly the fact that he's been in the pocket of special interest groups like big oil and big gas," he added.
The U.S. House race is now dead-even in California's 48th District, went for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. Orange County is a key target for the Democratic Party, which used to be a stronghold for the Reagan-era Republican party, but has trended blue in recent years.
The race became the most expensive in the country after billionaire Michael Bloomberg's infusion of ad spending. More than $18.2 million has been spent on the race in total.
Recent polls have the race as a tie. The latest Monmouth University poll puts Rep. Rohrabacher ahead of Rouda 50 to 48 percent, which is within the margin of error, and a recent New York Times poll has the two at an even 45-45 split with 10 percent of respondents saying they are undecided.
With the race a virtual tie just a week from election day, Rouda said his team of volunteers will be key to winning the race.
"What's going to get us over the finish line is what got us to where we are now and that is our incredible volunteers," Rouda said. "We have almost 5,000 volunteers now and they're knocking on doors and making phone calls because they want real change."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/californias-48th-district-becomes-most-expensive-house-race-in-u-s).
California Governor Gavin Newsom is projected to keep his job. Around two-thirds of the votes have been reported, and roughly 64% of those votes are in favor of keeping Newsom as their governor.
Daniel Strauss, senior political correspondent at The New Republic, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss more about what Newsom's win means to both political parties moving into Midterm elections season.
The Department of Justice is suing Texas over the state's new abortion law that prohibits abortions after six weeks, well before many women even know they're pregnant. The lawsuit argues the law is unconstitutional under long-standing Supreme Court precedent. It was filed last week in federal court in Texas, but could go all the way to the high court within weeks. Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at South Texas College of Law Houston, discusses the DOJ lawsuit and what it could mean for other abortion laws across the country.
26 states have now fully vaccinated more than half of their population with Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts fully vaccinating at least two-thirds of their residents. These three states are among the ones with the lowest new Covid-19 cases per capita, but in states with low vaccination rates, hospitals are filling up again.
Dr. Rob Davidson, ER doctor and executive director of Committee to Protect Health Care, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss more.
The Biden Administration has officially extended a ban on a Trump-era policy that prohibits traveling with a U.S. passport to North Korea. The extension is expected to last until August 2022. The ban was initially enforced after the death of Otto Warmbier, who entered a vegetative state while in North Korean custody. Advocates against the ban argue that it has caused crippling impacts on Korean Americans who have not been able to reunite with their families back home. Senior Fellow at The Foundation For Defense of Democracies Anthony Ruggiero joined Cheddar's News Wrap to discuss more.
