Maverick Jessica Morse Finds South Asian Support in Her Bid for Congress
By Ras H. Siddiqui
In the California’s US Congressional District 4 race which will be closely watched on November 6, 2018 a relatively youthful newcomer, Jessica Morse (Democrat) is running against incumbent Tom McClintock (Republican), a veteran of the California political scene.
McClintock has enjoyed the support of a relatively conservative voter base in this district which covers most of the Sierra Nevada mountain country (from Truckee in the north to the Sequoia National Forest in the south) for many years, and the outcome of these elections has almost always resulted in a wide margin of victory for him. Two years ago in a race against Democrat Bob Derlet, McClintock won by an almost 2 to 1 margin. The same goes for his victory against another Democrat, Art Moore in the 2014 elections. Only Retired Air Force Lieutenant Charlie Brown in 2008 came close to beating him (the margin was just a half a percentage point). So why should this year be different?
Can Jessica Morse come close to duplicating Charlie Brown’s popularity in this predominantly Republican district and even overcome McClintock? The answer to that lies in her ability to win the support of the centrist voters here. If the primary election earlier this year is an indicator, the vote is approximately 60/40 in favor of the Republican candidate. Charlie Brown had name recognition (for obvious reasons) and a background in defense. Jessica has been associated with, and has participated in, the American military operations in Iraq and has also had a role of lesser visibility in India during her career. Tom McClintock has not served in the active military that we are aware of but his incumbency and party affiliation work in his favor in this district.
Our daughter Samreen and I had the opportunity to attend a “Meet Jessica Morse Auburn Citizens Climate Lobby Meeting” in September where a small gathering of climate-conscious locals had the opportunity to interact with her. She was very impressive in presenting her ideas and offered clear and concise answers to the questions presented to her. Jessica has spent a great deal of her life in this district and she has had first-hand experience hiking, fishing and camping in the Sierras with her family. The tragic fires in California were a hot topic here, along with climate change and the real costs of carbon emissions. She is a strong supporter of clean energy and recycling. She even commended the organizing group for their use of re-usable cloth napkins at this event. She also showed strong support for public transportation and said that she would like to see a passenger train from the central valley (connected to the bay area) to Tahoe which would certainly reduce the traffic congestion and pressure on Hwy 50.
While Jessica is wooing the center-right vote in the district she has not ignored the Democratic Party Left. A strong show of support from the legendary Dolores Huerta perked our interest. Huerta and César Chávez founded an organization in the early 1960’s that later became the United Farm Workers. Huerta has thrown her support behind Jessica Morse, a move which will have a positive impact on the progressive and Latino vote for Jessica.
The latest polls show that this may be a much closer race than many had predicted. That is where our South-Asian voters may become an important factor. Not to be taken for granted by the Democrats, our community concerns like economic growth, health care and legal immigration will find a supporter in Jessica Morse. At a more recent Town Hall meeting in Roseville at Oakmont High School a handful of us had an opportunity to listen to Jessica in a packed hall. She addressed these topics and more with a high level of confidence and clarity. At the Roseville event this writer ran into a family originally from Delhi whose son was an active volunteer for the Jessica Morse campaign just like our daughter. It is great to see our young people (like Sehrish Khan, for example, who is running for Roseville City Council) involved in local politics.
Whatever the outcome of this race on November 6th what we do know is that Jessica Morse is going to be a factor in the politics of this district for years to come. She is gaining name recognition and if she does not succeed this time, she may try again in two years. She is seeking bi-partisan support across the political spectrum and may even appeal to those (few) South-Asians who traditionally vote Republican. This race is going to be close and the Jessica Morse candidacy is showing strong momentum
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