Bee endorsement: The case against voting to re-elect Kevin McCarthy to Congress

Normally, the chance to recommend to voters a native-son candidate who stands a good chance of becoming the next speaker of the House of Representatives would be too good to pass up.

These are not normal times, however. Politics in America is badly fractured. One of the people most responsible for the sad state of affairs is the longtime representative from Bakersfield — Kevin McCarthy. Now, with redistricting, he is running to represent parts of Fresno, Clovis and swaths of Tulare, Kings and Kern counties.

A lifelong resident of the San Joaquin Valley, McCarthy is the Republican leader in the House. If the GOP emerges from the November election with a majority in the House, he will almost certainly take the speaker’s gavel from Democrat Nancy Pelosi.

If that happens, it will be bad for America.

McCarthy has already signaled on social media he will go after President Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, for authorizing the FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate.

Why did agents go there? Because Trump, unlike any president before him, had departed Washington with a cache of top secret and confidential documents that did not belong to him, but to the government and thus the American people.

Rather than react on principle, McCarthy played the politics card and sent the aggressive, threatening tweet singling out Garland. McCarthy blames the FBI and Justice Department for overreaching, but the real abuse of power belongs to Trump, who should not have had the documents in his possession.

That McCarthy would threaten the nation’s top law officer this way is just one example of why The Bee Editorial Board will not recommend that voters support McCarthy for Congress.

He has repeatedly shown in the last several years that he does not value democracy. He does not deserve to lead the House, much less the 20th District.

Actions against democracy

Time and again, McCarthy has chosen to side with Trump rather than uphold the rule of law and the nation’s well-established election process.

Case in point: Certifying the 2020 election results. McCarthy voted against approving the outcomes from Arizona and Pennsylvania, two states Joe Biden narrowly won. He cast doubt on the overall election results for days afterward, wrongly claiming that legally submitted votes that arrived after Nov. 3 should not count.

Then there’s McCarthy’s duplicity around the Jan. 6 insurrection.

In the immediate aftermath of the lawmarkers’ harrowing escapes from the mob that attacked the Capitol, McCarthy said Trump “bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters.”

But several weeks later, McCarthy visited Trump in Florida, held a photo op, and then changed his view and said “everyone across the country” is responsible for the rioting. This despite a recording in which he said he would tell Trump to resign.

Then, McCarthy voted against forming a special committee to review the riot. Once it was formed, he chose members who were blatant Trump backers and would not be open-minded. When Pelosi disqualified them, McCarthy became livid and decided the GOP would boycott the committee.

Finally, McCarthy joined almost all his GOP colleagues in the House voting against impeaching Trump over the Jan. 6 insurrection. Since that vote, evidence has piled up showing how the former president’s words that day helped spur the mob violence.

The Bee Editorial Board made multiple attempts to schedule a meeting with McCarthy. Neither he nor staffers returned the calls.

Democratic opponent

Marisa Wood is a Democrat who earnestly wants to represent the district. A junior high English teacher who just retired, she has lived in Bakersfield for 36 years.

She believes in the importance of education as the way to individual success; ensuring farmers have the water they need for their crops; and making health care available and affordable to all.

Wood has no elected experience and would have a lot to learn about navigating Washington, D.C.’s ways. But she would not be the first newcomer to Congress.

She is also running in a district tailor made for a Republican. Voter registration breaks down 46.5% GOP to 26.8% Democratic. It is the biggest such spread in the state for Republicans following redistricting.

And McCarthy has insurmountable financial resources. As of June 30, he had $6.8 million cash on hand. Wood had $207,000.

But Wood has one thing that McCarthy lacks: Integrity. She would vote her convictions. She would uphold her oath to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

For these reasons, The Bee Editorial Board recommends voters choose Wood.

McCarthy has repeatedly shown he’s willing to change his position to express fealty to Trump. It’s easy to imagine McCarthy zigging and zagging to whatever pops into Trump’s head, whether he returns to the White House or not.

McCarthy does not deserve another term.

What is the 20th District

It is a strangely shaped entity with 445,000 voters. More than half of them live in Kern County, and most of the district’s geography covers Kern and eastern Tulare County. A branch stretches across part of eastern Fresno County into Clovis and part of the city of Fresno. Another long, bony finger meanders across northern Tulare and Kings counties, taking in the entire city of Lemoore (with its naval air station) and parts of Hanford, Visalia and Tulare.

Republicans have nearly a 20-point advantage in party registration, making it the safest congressional seat for the GOP in California.

This story was originally published October 9, 2022 at 5:30 AM.