Reference no: EM133663082

Homework: Political Science

Profiling a 2020 House of Representatives Race: California's 21st District, Cox vs. Valadao

Overview: This homework is a worksheet you will fill out regarding the 2020 election for California's 21st House district between the incumbent T. J. Cox and his challenger David Valadao. I selected this race for two reasons. First, the 21st District is in the San Joaquin Valley, covering Kings and parts of Kern, Fresno, and Tulare Counties, making it a local race, right in our backyard so to speak. Second, unlike the 22nd District, which largely covers Fresno County, and the 16th District to the north of us, mainly in Madera County, the contest in 21st District was very close. It's thus more interesting compared to those other two races.

This homework aims to improve your skills in gathering and assessing information about politics, in this case congressional races. In so doing, my goal is not just to improve your analytic and research skills, but boost your engagement and interest in American politics and our democracy.

Directions: Doing this homework involves involve visiting the Ballotpedia website. This excellent non-partisan site provides extensive information about US Congressional races. To access their rundown on the 2020 race in California's 21st House District. You can cut and paste into the google search bar part of your app's browser and it should take you to the site. If you have any problem doing this, you can also simply do a google search with the following keywords: "2020 California house district 21 race, ballotpedia" (that worked for me in my initial search for information about the 21st District race!). Finally, it may take a little bit of time for everything in the site to appear, especially the campaign ads, so try to be patient.

Worksheet Questions

A. The Vote:

I. Put in the number of votes won by Cox and Valadao and their share of the vote. Note how these totals compared to the votes and share of the vote they won in the primary election.

II. Describe the margin of victory in this race (was it close, a blowout, etc.)

III. How did this victory margin compare with other House races? Go the bottom of the first part, i.e. right above the "For More Information about the top-two primary, click here" prompt.

B. The 2020 Race vs earlier races in the 21st District:

I. What are the two main similarities between the 2020 and 2018 races in the 21st District?

II. What are the two main differences between the 2020 and 2018 vs. the 2014 and 2016 elections in the 21st District (go the bottom of the site to get the information about the 2014 and 2016 races)?

C. The 21st District:

I. Insert below the 2017 Cook Political Partisan Voter Index for the 21st District.

II. Given the Cook Index, why could one say that the outcome of the 2020 election is surprising?

D. The Candidates:

I. Compare Cox and Valadao in the following two areas:

1. Education (note who had more formal education).

2. Occupational background.

E. The Campaign

I. How was the contest for the 21st Districted seen by various race trackers?

II. Candidate Platforms/websites, referred to as "themes" on the site (worth 8 points combined):

1. List the main issues covered in the Cox and Valadao platforms/websites. You can say here "Cox" website: List his issues" and then "Valadao website: List his issues." In doing this, just note the bold-faced bullet headings on both sites, not the text below them.

2. While the issues the Cox/Valadao platforms/websites are largely similar, what issues does Valadao's platform mention that are not covered on Cox's platform? Are there any issues mentioned on Cox's platform that are not mentioned in Valadao's platform?

3. Look at Valadao's platform immigration bullet. How does his stance on immigration differ from that of President Trump? Why would it be important for Valadao to distance himself from Trump on this issue in the 21st District (keep in mind who lives in the 21st District)?

III. Financial and other support for the candidates:

1. Go to the "Campaign Finance" part of the Ballotpedia site on the race. Fill in the amounts of money raised by the candidates, noting which one, Cox or Valadao, raised the most money. Then briefly answer how we can explain the disparity in fundraising between the two candidates and why, given this disparity, the outcome of the race can be seen as a surprise.

2. Note the endorsements received by the candidates. Which of the three listed on the site might come as a surprise to you and why?

IV. Campaign spot ads (here go to the "Campaign Ads" part of the site):

1. Pro Cox ads (Watch the "For Us" and "Tackling Our Toughest Problems" spot ads). Answer the following questions about these two ads. How does Cox characterize himself in the ads? What problems is he saying he can solve? What party voters are mentioned in the "For Us" ad, and what is Cox trying to do here? Finally, in "Tackling Our Toughest Problems," what does he accuse Valadao of doing?

2. Pro Valadao ads (Watch the "One of the most Bipartisan Members of Congress" and "David Valadao: Values over Party" spot ads). In both ads, but especially the "Bipartisan Members of Congress" spot, does Valadao say he's a staunch Republican? Who does he say he'll put first? What kind of person appears in "David Valadao: Values over Party" spot to endorse Valadao? What does he say Valadao will bring to the Valley? What particular group is Valadao appealing to in this spot (note Democrats have a marked edge in voter registration in this district, which has a large immigrant population)? Hint on this last question, think about what ethnic group makes up a large of the population in the 21st District.

3. Anti Cox spot ad (Watch the "T. J. Cox has Embarrassed Us" spot ad). How does the ad generally characterize Cox? What specific things does ad cite to back up that claim?

4. Anti Valadao spot ad (Watch the "What's he Hiding" spot ad). How is this ad similar to the anti-Cox in terms of what it accuses Valadao of doing/being (hint: what do they say he's hiding and about Valadao's record in Congress?)? And besides attacking Valadao, how does the ad defend Cox?

V. Candidate debate. Here you'll go to the "Debates and Forums" part of the site. Click on "Part II" of the KGET candidate debate. Then watch ONEof the debate segments listed in the bullets below and answer questions about it (TO BE CLEAR, JUST DO ONE OF THE BULLETS BELOW!). Note: I've listed the times at which these segments appear in the debate-simply shift the time bar ball to the right to avoid watching the whole debate. Last but certainly not least, the bullets on this part of the worksheet are worth 10 points each (once more just answer one of the bullets). Each debate segment lasted around 5-8 minutes.

1. Undocumented Immigrants and "Dreamers" (First 5-6 minutes of the debate). Are both candidates generally pro-immigration in their remarks? How does Cox attack Valadao on this issue? In particular, does he bring Trump in here? And how does Valadao respond with respect to the "Dreamers" issue?

2. Climate Change and banning the sale of gas-powered cars (next 16:00 to 21:29 minutes of the debate). Do both candidates agree that climate change is real and does Valadao distance himself from Trump here? What two issue does Valadao pivot into when answering whether climate change is real? In answering the moderator's question regarding banning gas-powered cars, what does Cox say about Kern Co. and clean energy (note the comment on clean energy jobs vs. ones in oil refining)? Lastly, why is Valadao less enthusiastic about clean energy? Note what he says about who'll be hurt shifting to it and the problems with solar power.

3. Revitalizing the 21st District's economy (next 21:29 to 28:39 minutes of the debate). What are the key resources Valadao cites for boosting the economy of the 21st District (here note the one he really emphasizes)? What Trump policies does he cite as being beneficial to the 21st District? List the investments Cox cites as being crucial for the district? In particular, what does he want every household in the district to have?