Second Democrat Announces Challenge to Walters
Dave Min, former Schumer aide, joins Cal-Irvine colleague Katie Porter
California Republican Rep. Mimi Walters has received her second Democratic challenger in a week.
Dave Min, a law professor at the University of California at Irvine and a former aide to Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, told the Orange County Register on Tuesday that he’ll challenge the incumbent.
Min, the son of Korean immigrants, said President Donald Trump’s travel ban on several majority-Muslim countries was motivation for him to run.
“You think about what brought my parents here — it was the core American values of tolerance, diversity, economic opportunity and social mobility,” he told the Register. “What Trump was doing with the Muslim ban was un-American. Who’s next on Donald Trump’s list?”
Min criticized Walters for not giving her opinion about the travel ban.
Min joins UC-Irvine colleague Katie Porter, who announced her candidacy on Monday. Porter has the backing of California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris and Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
Along with working for Schumer, Min also worked at the Center for American Progress from 2007 to 2009.
Min said he wants to capitalize on the large Asian-American population in California’s 45th Congressional District. Roughly 21 percent of the district’s population is Asian.
While the district voted for Mitt Romney in 2012, it broke for Hillary Clinton last year, making it a prime pickup opportunity for Democrats.
