Orange County Line
Spending Free-For-All in South OC's 45th Congressional District
Democrat challenger Katie Porter takes on incumbent Mimi Walters (and vice versa) via commercials
Millions of dollars are pouring into Orange County's 45th Congressional District, a wealthy area which goes from Anaheim Hills down to Irvine and Rancho Santa Margarita. It's currently represented by three-term incumbent Mimi Walters, who has been around in local politics for two decades. Challenging her is UC Irvine School of Law professor and first-time candidate Katie Porter. Porter's TV ads have aired constantly on local TV stations, while Walters has not had any, fueling a Los Angeles Times story that claimed a PAC aligned with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan had left the GOP congresswoman to herself, a charge the PAC refuted. The 45th is too close to call—will the lack of commercials doom Walters?