Bill Clinton to stump for Min in Westminster Saturday amid contentious battle for CA’s 47th district

Former President Bill Clinton will stump for state Sen. Dave Min in support of his bid for U.S. Congress at a rally Saturday in Westminster, a little over two weeks after at least three of the Korean American Democrat’s campaign signs in neighboring Huntington Beach were defaced with anti-Asian slurs.

Scheduled speakers included House Rep. Judy Chu, Rep. Julia Brownley and Rep. Jill Tokuda. Huntington Beach elected officials and candidates plan to attend.

“Speakers will highlight how the values of patriotism, inclusivity, and service to others will always trump bigotry and hate in Huntington Beach and California’s 47th,” campaign officials said.

Bill Clinton will join Dave Min at a rally Saturday in Westminster to support the Min’s bid for Congress.

(Courtesy of the office of state Sen. Dave Min)

Min, a former UC Irvine law professor who has served in the state Senate since 2020, is in a contentious race to represent California’s 47th congressional district against Republican Scott Baugh. His opponent is a Huntington Beach-based attorney who was a member of the state Assembly from 1995 to 2000, and the chairman of the California GOP from 2004 to 2015. The seat they’re competing for is currently held by Democrat Katie Porter, who made a failed bid this year to replace the late Dianne Feinstein in the U.S. Senate.

Clinton’s visit to Westminster “underscores the national importance of the CA-47 race,” Min’s campaign officials said. It’s one of six in the politically purple regions of Orange County, the Inland Empire and the Antelope and San Joaquin Valleys that could determine which party controls the House of Representatives. Republicans won a narrow majority in that body the 2022 midterms.

According to Min’s campaign website, he supports gun violence prevention, reproductive rights, public education and confronting anti-Asian hatred. Signs for his campaign were found vandalized with a racist slur for Asian people in Huntington Beach on Oct. 8. In a statement, Min linked the vandalism to the rhetoric of former president Donald Trump and “Make America Great” movement associated with him.

Min has also called public safety one of his priorities, and it’s an issue that has been at the forefront in Orange County, especially in its most affluent communities. He broke ranks with most Democratic politicians by coming out in support of Proposition 36, an initiative on the Nov. 5 ballot that purports to address homelessness and drug addiction by imposing harsher penalties against people convicted of retail theft or trafficking fentanyl. Proponents of the measure say it’s needed to combat an alleged “explosion of retail and cargo theft,” while critics say it would lead to overcrowding in the prison system and cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

Min has also been active on environmental issues. After an oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach released about 25,000 gallons of crude into the ocean, he authored legislation to terminate leases for offshore drilling along California’s coast.