Republican Rocky Chavez is serving his third term as a state assemblyman representing the 76th District, which encompasses parts of Camp Pendleton, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Oceanside and Vista. He is also a retired U.S. Marine colonel, former Oceanside city councilman, deputy mayor and the acting Secretary of the California Department of Veteran’s Affairs.
Chavez is the leader in a new poll from Survey USA in the hotly contested race for the 49th District – a district that caught national attention when U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa decided to vacate his precarious seat at the end of his term this year.
Much has been made of a so-called blue wave that could flip red congressional seats to blue, but ahead of the primary Chavez’s Republicanism doesn’t seem to be hurting him. He leads the poll with 16 percent. Democrat Doug Applegate, who narrowly lost to Issa in 2016, is in second with 12 percent.
“We're very happy,” Chavez said of the polling. “We’ve been working in communities very strongly for over 20 years … This is about knowing your community and what they care about and the central issue, the national issue that they care about, with Camp Pendleton there, is national security and when are their women and men going to go into harm’s way. They need a serious congressman who understands their concerns on foreign affairs.”
Regarding problems with the VA, Chavez said there needs to be more accountability.
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“I think the biggest issue on Veterans' Affairs is that it’s a large bureaucracy with not a lot of people being accountable," he said. “It’s the second largest organization in the United States’ government. Having been the secretary and having been back to D.C. talking to them a number of times, you need someone who understands not just the medical component, which you hear about a lot, but also you need to look at people for their retirement" compensation and pension.
Chavez noted that the VA is also involved in such wide-ranging areas as prosthetic limb research and maintaining VA cemeteries.
“So it’s a large organization, a lot of important areas, and you need to have the right people that are accountable,” he repeated. “The central issue is this: take care of the veterans. It’s not about the money it’s not about bureaucracy, it’s not about jobs, it’s about what can you do for the veterans.”
Chavez said the transition to civilian life is always a big issue for veterans, but it’s a smart business decision.
“Veterans come to you with an understanding of how to work. They understand how to get things done. They work as a team, they have great skills,” he said. “They are the best and brightest of our country.”
Regarding foreign relations, Chavez believes it’s a smart idea to rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
“It much better to develop trade in relationships economically so that you don’t go to war,” he explained. “If we pull ourselves back from these sorts of negotiations it opens us up for threats in the future.”
When asked about the unprecedented turnover at the White House, Chavez said the tone is set at the top.
“It’s all about leadership and the central person in there who sets the vision and the atmosphere for success. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the White House or if you’re running a major company or if you’re a principal of a high school, you need to have that vision and environment so everybody can be successful.”
In his view, President Trump has made some good choices and some less so.
“I think the tweets hurt us,” he said, but he said he strongly approves of decisions like the appointment of Supreme Court Judge Neil Gorsuch.
The primary is June 5 and the top two candidates will face off in November.
