In MAGA-Led Shasta County, Election Apprehension Reigns
With the U.S. Election Assistance Commission at full warp speed in the Trump era, California has been facing an election threat from a different direction for the past year: the prospect of a “migrant caravan” heading through the state — and, specifically, into the electoral districts of Democratic U.S. Reps. Judy Chu and Ro Khanna.
If it does come to California, one California Republican — a candidate for the California State Assembly — says it’s very possible he’ll be the only elected official representing a district threatened by the migrants.
“They’re going to be pouring in, and they’re going to get a message, because they’re going to become the majority of the population,” Republican Assemblyman Rob Bonta told the Bee in a phone interview last Thursday.
The migrant caravan, carrying about 50 migrants who will seek entry into the United States, has already begun to roll through Mexico. The group of mostly Honduran, Guatemalan and Salvadoran immigrants has already been stopped and diverted in Mexico by federal police, the Associated Press reported.
So far, the California Democrats who control the Legislative Counsel Bureau and the state Elections Enforcement Association, which was formed in anticipation of a migrant caravan, have not identified a particular seat at risk in California, said Mark Geragos, executive director, California Democratic Party.
But they continue to call for Democrats to call voters to register to vote, and to call the office of the U.S. Capitol switchboard to register voters.
“We’re going to be watching closely. Our concern is that they’re going to be coming across the border. We want them to have a right to vote,” said Bonta, who is serving his first term in the Assembly.
“There are a number of seats where I think this could potentially affect them.”
Geragos said he expects the group of migrants to be stopped and diverted on the border, and even moved to another location along the U.S.-Mexico border — or else they’ll just stop at one spot