Chris Duncan, the Democratic mayor of San Clemente, is challenging Republican incumbent Laurie Davies for the 74th Assembly District, representing North County and southern Orange County.
To help inform voters, the San Diego Union-Tribune asked all the candidates a series of the same questions about their priorities, positions and campaigns. Their emailed answers have been lightly edited for clarity.
Why are you running, and what makes you the best candidate?
I am running to fight for the middle-class and get things done. My values are ensuring all our children grow up safe with real opportunity and building up the economy from the middle out, not top down. From keeping costs and crime down as mayor of San Clemente to protecting public safety as a federal prosecutor and as a life-long Californian, I’ve spent my whole career fighting to keep the promise of the California dream alive for our kids. And that’s what I’ll do in Sacramento.
I will fully fund law enforcement officers and firefighters, work to lower taxes for working families and defend the values Californians share, especially protecting a woman’s right to have an abortion. That’s the type of common sense leadership that we deserve from our representative in Sacramento but aren’t getting. Instead of focusing on what our district needs, my opponent spends her time rallying with Jan. 6 insurrectionists and opposing women’s abortion rights. She is extreme, doesn’t share our values and can’t get the job done.
What are the top 3 issues facing this district and California generally?
As a former federal prosecutor and father, keeping our children safe is my top priority. Before becoming mayor, I worked to protect our community and go after drug smugglers and child traffickers in the Department of Homeland Security. On public safety, we need a representative we can trust. My opponent voted against funding to fight fentanyl and even campaigned for Trump’s reelection with a now-convicted Jan. 6 terrorist. That’s unacceptable. I’ll fully fund public safety and continue to work hand-in-hand with law enforcement to step up the fight against the fentanyl and opioid crisis.
We also have an obligation to get the basics done for the community. As mayor of San Clemente, I helped get millions to restore local beaches and worked with the federal, state and county partners to reopen the coastal rail line that continues to collapse and fail. This vital rail line is critical for the local economy, small businesses and commuters, but Sacramento and our current Assembly member aren’t doing enough to fix it. I will.
What are the first 3 things you would do in your first term in the Legislature?
I will work with leaders of both parties to address the rising cost of living squeezing the middle class in every way we can: more union jobs, better job training and vocational education, reining in high tuition at University of California and California State University campuses and lowering taxes for working families who are struggling to get by.
I will ensure police officers, firefighters,and disaster responders are appropriately resourced and supported in the state budget, including for worsening climate threats like wildfires, landslides and floods.
I will fight for our community’s fair share of state and federal funds to save our beaches, protect our homes and infrastructure and fix the coastal rail line between San Clemente and Oceanside.
What would you do to curb climate change and its effects on California, including the fact that those effects are often borne disproportionately by communities of color?
We must stabilize our climate to protect our coastline, economy and way of life. The state has prioritized clean energy to lower emissions levels, but we must do more. I will support clean energy policies that lower gas and utility prices, increase U.S. energy production and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. It is critical to do more to ensure new energy technology is not just developed in California, but built and manufactured here at home by California workers.
I worked with Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano, to protect our coastline from oil spills, improve ocean water quality and replenish sand on our local beaches.
On the county fire authority, I secured new firefighting helicopters, and we’re adding a new specialized wildfire station to best prepare our community for the worsening wildfires. I’m proud to be endorsed by the Sierra Club and California’s firefighters.
What would you do to combat California’s housing, affordability and homelessness crises?
As San Clemente mayor, we decreased our unsheltered population by 16 percent in one year. We did it by taking on all the causes of homelessness, bringing the community together in a bipartisan way and focusing on proven methods to get our homeless off our streets, not nice-sounding rhetoric.
Our entire district deserves immediate action on homelessness, not more of the status quo, and I’ll lead the charge in the Assembly. The state has spent a lot of money on homelessness without a long-term system in place to ensure the money is spent effectively. Spending millions to put homeless people in hotel rooms is not the long-term answer our residents deserve. We need comprehensive solutions on homelessness that include more affordable housing but also focus on drug addiction and mental health treatment, especially for veterans at risk of falling into homelessness.
And yes, we need to let local governments enforce their laws if services are refused and courts to mandate care for those with severe mental illness.
Do you personally support Proposition 1? Why or why not?
Yes. The San Diego Union-Tribune’s editorial endorsing Prop. 1 hit the nail on the head. It will ensure smarter use of existing taxpayer dollars, and it would spur real growth in the number of psychiatric beds available in the state. We have to be bold to address the homelessness crisis. And while this won’t solve everything, it will help.
Do you support or oppose stricter gun laws and background checks? Which, and if you support them, to what extent?
As a federal prosecutor, I went after the gun smugglers who fuel violence in our communities by flooding illegal weapons across the border. I personally know federal officers who were shot and killed in the line of duty, so I know firsthand how critical strong gun safety laws are to keeping our country and communities safe, and you can be sure I’ll enforce them. My opponent has an A rating from the National Rifle Association gun lobby, which opposes even the most common-sense gun safety laws like background checks that can help prevent school shootings.
Do you support or oppose asking voters to roll back elements of Proposition 47, by which they recategorized some nonviolent crimes as misdemeanors 10 years ago? Why or why not? Do you personally support or oppose making changes to Prop. 47?
As a former prosecutor, I know changes at the state level are clearly needed to better respond to retail thefts, opioids and other rising public safety threats. Prop. 47 passed nearly a decade ago, but our community is now struggling with new public safety challenges that didn’t exist then. For example, fentanyl was hardly on the streets in 2014. And few could have predicted the crime wave that came with the COVID-19 epidemic.
I agree with those who are working to add new penalties for professional-style theft rings, expand law enforcement’s powers to arrest and prosecute repeat retail thieves and severely punish fentanyl dealers who are killing our kids. I look forward to utilizing my background as a prosecutor to move these processes forward and to be a voice for families like mine and other business owners.
Californians will vote this year on whether to repeal Proposition 8, a 2008 same-sex marriage ban that has been unenforceable since the Supreme Court ruling legalized same-sex marriage but that remains on the books. Will you personally vote for or against repealing Prop. 8?
Yes, I will vote to defend LGBTQ rights and repeal Prop 8. I have been an LGBTQ ally, and I support full equality for LGBTQ Californians in every way.
We have to oppose these growing fringe attacks on fundamental freedoms in all their forms. I’ve seen it in our community all too often. When the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, right-wing extremists tried to ban abortion in the San Clemente city limits. I stood with women of all political parties, including many pro-choice Republicans, to stop them — and we won. You can always count on me to defend Californians’ basic freedoms from far-right extremists who are trying to take them away. Unlike my opponent, I will stand up for our freedoms, not stand with extremists who threaten them.
