Tribune endorsement: Salud Carbajal is the moderate voice we need in Congress

Rep. Salud Carbajal describes the political views of his Republican opponent, Andy Caldwell, in a single word: extreme.

Caldwell says more or less the same thing about Carbajal.

“Salud Carbajal ... used to be somewhat of a moderate, but in the last two years, he’s gone with this shift that I think is leaving the Democratic Party behind, not to mention independents and Republicans,” Caldwell told The Tribune back in February.

At a recent Zoom interview The Tribune Editorial Board conducted with both candidates, Caldwell lit into Carbajal for supporting Planned Parenthood, chastised him for voting with the squad “95% of the time” and warned Carbajal supports defunding the police.

It’s time for a reality check.

Carbajal is a moderate Democrat — more moderate than some of his constituents would like.

For instance, he was slow to join the call to impeach President Donald Trump, to the frustration of many Central Coast Democrats.

He often — but not always — votes with “the squad,” as do other Democrats.

And, for the record, Carbajal, a former Marine, does not support defunding the police.

He was a cosponsor of the Justice in Policing Act, which calls for a ban on chokeholds, carotid holds and no-knock warrants; requires the use of dashboard and body cameras; and establishes a National Police Misconduct Registry, among other provisions. (The bill passed the House but failed to make it through the Senate.)

Those are sensible reforms — not a call for defunding.

In fact, Carbajal’s positions reflect the values and beliefs of the majority of his constituents in the 24th District, which includes all of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties and a sliver of Ventura County.

He’s opposed to new offshore oil drilling; he believes in cutting carbon emissions; he advocates for affordable heath care; he’s a strong protector of immigrant rights (he sponsored a bill to block funding of a “denaturalization office”); and he describes himself as “100% pro-choice.”

Plus, he’s a reliable lawmaker who advocates for his constituents.

When COVID-19 hit the Lompoc Federal Penitentiary, for instance, he joined California’s two senators in demanding action from the Federal Bureau of Prisons. According to the Santa Barbara Independent, they were especially concerned about the lack of arrangements made for employees, some of whom were sleeping in their cars so they wouldn’t infect their families.

Carbajal knows the Central Coast well. He served on the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors before being elected to Congress in 2014, in a closely watched big-money race that pitted him against Justin Fareed, a young, socially moderate candidate considered a rising star in the Republican Party.

Carbajal defeated Fareed twice in a row.

He now faces a far different candidate in Andy Caldwell.

Caldwell’s positions

Like Fareed, Caldwell has never served in an elected office, but unlike Fareed — who could be cagey on some issues — we know exactly where Caldwell stands.

In addition to serving as executive director of the Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business (COLAB) of Santa Barbara County, Caldwell has spent much of his adult life opining on his talk radio show and writing newspaper columns.

Here are some of his positions:

He denies human activity affects climate change.

He plays down the damage done by offshore oil spills by claiming that natural gas seeps from below the ocean floor are far more harmful.

If he’s elected, he said he’ll sponsor legislation asking the federal government to buy PG&E’s Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant so it can continue to operate — but he’s hazy about who would run it.

He opposes abortion in all circumstances, including cases of rape.

He suggests the police officer who put his knee on the neck of George Floyd was trying to calm him down so he wouldn’t go into cardiac arrest.

And he doesn’t believe Black people are in any way discriminated against by law enforcement — at least not on the Central Coast — and questions the motivation for holding Black Lives Matter protests here.

“It is certainly legitimate for citizens to hold a genuinely peaceful rally in cities that actually have a record of conflict, including cases of brutality, between the police and the black community,” he wrote in an op-ed for Cal Coast News. “It is another thing altogether to try and score political points and create a ruckus in communities that have little to no record of such conflict and in a community which doesn’t have much of a black population to begin with.”

He went on to say that “except for the gang bangers,” Black people on the Central Coast “lead upstanding lives, meaning they have had little to no contact with law enforcement to begin with, unless of course they work in law enforcement.”

He told the Editorial Board he doesn’t believe Black people here are pulled over any more often than white people.

Carbajal gave this response: “You’d have to live in a cave to not know that African Americans and people of color disproportionately are pulled over or disproportionately are targeted. I’m a person of color. I know what some of those issues are like.”

Bottom line: Caldwell exists in an ideological bubble. He would not be the moderate voice the Central Coast needs in Congress.

It’s one thing to spout conspiracy theories and ill-informed views on talk radio.

It’s entirely different to be entrusted with representing more than 700,000 people in Washington, D.C.

The Tribune strongly endorses Salud Carbajal for California’s 24th Congressional District seat.

This story was originally published October 16, 2020 at 9:01 AM.