In 2018 I deployed to Brea, California to work on flipping the 39th Congressional District from Red to Blue. It was part of the successful effort to win Democratic control of the House of Representatives, a check on the dictatorial agenda of “Agent Orange”, then President Trump. In 2020, two of the four seats that we flipped in Orange County (the OC) were flipped back to the Republican aisle. One of those newly redistricted seats is held by Republican Michelle Steel who voted against certifying the Presidential election and is all in with Trump. 

Many of the members of my old union, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) live in the OC. Over 1000 members of the principal LA/Long Beach port dockers union, Local 13, live in the 45th Congressional district represented by Michelle Steel. Steel has gifted us a great issue. She is the co-sponsor of “HR 5886” that would place the ILWU and other maritime unions under the jurisdiction of the Railway Labor Act (RLA). The RLA would severely limit the ability of the ILWU to exercise power in bargaining with the giant international ocean carriers represented collectively by the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA). The contract for the west coast expired July 1 and the ILWU and PMA are in acrimonious negotiations at this very moment.

“The greatest antidote to disinformation and vicious attacks is direct contact, and …”

The race for the 45th is projected to be very tight so every vote counts (The American Prospect). I have been knocking doors with the campaign in the neighborhoods of multiple cities in Orange County. Democrats have a 5% registration edge in the district and the demographics could favor the effort to flip the seat. The district is 31% Asian Pacific Islander and 21% Latino. However, it is important to dissect the demographics deeper especially the Asian Pacific factor (NPR). The district is home to one of the largest concentrations of Vietnamese outside of Vietnam. The older Viet generation, forced to flee their country after the collapse of the US supported government in 1975, tends to vote conservative, like the Cuban refugees of 1959 who flooded South Florida. In fact, Michele Steel’s campaign has featured vicious adds attacking Navy veteran Jay Chen as “China’s Candidate”. TV adds fraudulently show Chen, an educator and community college board member, supposedly teaching schoolchildren flanked by photos of Mao and Lenin. Another ad has two Chinese communist intelligence officers claiming Jay Chen as “one of us.”

The greatest antidote to disinformation and vicious attacks is direct contact, and there is nothing as powerful as union member to union member conversation, particularly when members know that a strong union is what has enabled them to live a decent life with their families. That is why the radical decline of union membership, particularly in the private sector from 35% in 1955 to 6% today, makes it so difficult to counter the outright lies and distortions of Trump and his MAGA collaborators. When workers are in the same organization there is the basis for a healthy discussion even if there isn’t always agreement.

Working with fellow ILWUers and members of the Inland Boatmen’s Union, the marine division, we have been making a special appeal to our members on the phone, and It Works, it works really well! While we are flummoxed by the number of message machines we get, when we do go live with a member, the response is almost universally positive. Members have received emails and mailings from their Locals, and our calls reinforce the message that Steel is poison for the ILWU. Hearing directly from us that Chen is backed by the labor movement, members volunteer to take lawn signs and to corral their whole household into voting for Chen. 

Mickey Chavez, a Local 94 (working foremen) member and newly elected head of the Southern California District Council (SCDC) reported to me that there were 25 active Local 94 members and 6 retirees in the district. He told me he had personally talked with all of them and that they are all “Yeses for Chen” including one Republican. I was delighted but initially mystified by Mickey’s ability to talk to everyone given I was getting more message machines than live members. Acting on a hunch I asked him if he had called from Local 94 offices. He burst out laughing and said yes, and that he called during dispatch, so all the members thought he was calling to offer them work! The power of a hiring hall union!

When I was on doors in Garden Grove, I approached the home of a 72-year-old female voter with “Declined to State” affiliation. I rang the bell and the husband answered. I asked for his spouse, and he asked what it was about. I told him I was working for Jay Chen for Congress, and he said, “He is a Democrat. Democrats are evil. Get off my porch you son of a bitch.” Compare this Fox fueled rant with the response of an ILWU member who is anti-Abortion and pro-GUNS. I called a member in the 45th and told him my mission. He said he would check Jay out. The next day I received the following message: “Hey Peter this is Fred. I am calling you back because you called me yesterday about the Congressional race in the 45th District. I did some research, and we had a get together in my neighborhood last night, as we do every Tuesday night. We have a very diverse neighborhood, Hispanic, white, and Asian. They don’t like this Jay Chen. I personally vote with my religious beliefs. Jay Chen is not a pro-gun guy. He doesn’t sound like a Christian to me. He is pro-abortion. I am not going to vote for him no matter what my union says. I may leave that race completely blank. These damn Democrats are pushing abortion. I am sick and tired of that. Fuck them. I am sorry for my language, and God is going to punish me for that. I am not voting for any Democrats. Sorry buddy!” I have returned his call and am hoping to have a face to face meet up with him. I continue to call Local 13 members and have had conversations with two registered Republicans who agreed to vote for Chen because their union is on record supporting him. Solidarity just this once!                              

The power of the union can bind people together.  I can at least lead to a respectful issues-based discussion and a respectful disagreement that doesn’t come to blows!

Despite my long history on doors, I make rookie mistakes. I went to the door of 20-year-old Basurto Jimenez, a registered Democrat. I told him I was working for Jay Chen for Congress and asked him if he had heard of him. He said no, so I proceeded to say that he was “Running against a right-wing Republican named Michele Steel”. An older female voice behind him spoke up and said, “We are a right-wing Republican household”. Basurto sheepishly retreated, obviously used to his outsider status when it came to family politics. I stepped away from the porch and back out into the 90-degree heat of the OC. An older man followed me out and said, “Get yourself a hat or you will die of sunstroke.” I replied that this is a very humane right-wing Republican household! There is nothing like the doors to open insights into America with all its frights and faults, humanity, and kindness.

Good luck to all of us on November 8th! VOTE!

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