{"id":494741,"date":"2026-10-13T14:56:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T14:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/494741\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T14:56:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T14:56:08","slug":"in-californias-38th-congressional-district-pedro-antonio-casas-and-hilda-solis-face-off-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/494741\/","title":{"rendered":"In California\u2019s 38th Congressional District, Pedro Antonio Casas and Hilda Solis face off \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a common refrain across the country this midterm election cycle<\/a>, but both candidates for California\u2019s 38th Congressional District also had the same answer when asked about the No. 1 issue in their communities: affordability.<\/p>\n

Retired Army psychologist Pedro Antonio Casas<\/a> and L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis<\/a> are vying for this new district<\/a> that includes Yorba Linda in Orange County and Baldwin Park, Commerce, El Monte and Montebello in L.A. County.<\/p>\n

SCNG\u2019s 2026 Voter Guide<\/p>\n

The Southern California News Group asked the candidates vying to represent you several questions in order to help you get to know them better. This story is based on their responses. You can find the full questionnaires from these and other candidates on your ballot \u2014 as well as helpful tips on how to vote, explainers on the multitude of propositions and more \u2014 on our Voter Guide here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Casas, a Republican, and Solis, a Democrat, both pinpointed cost of living as the major issue impacting those in their district. But they differed \u2014 as they do on other topics, such as offshore drilling, healthcare and immigration \u2014 when it comes to just who is to blame.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia Democrats have made California into the highest cost of living. I intend to find fraud, audit all spending and lower taxes at all levels,\u201d Casas said in response to a questionnaire from the Southern California News Group.<\/p>\n

Solis, meanwhile, blamed the Trump administration\u2019s aggressive tariff policies<\/a>, its massive tax and spending bill passed in 2025<\/a> that made massive cuts to Medicaid, and the ongoing war with Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cFamilies should not have to bear the cost of policies driven by political agendas rather than their economic needs,\u201d Solis said. \u201cI will fight for practical policies that lower costs and strengthen working families, including tax relief for working- and middle-class households, more affordable housing and efforts to reduce health care and childcare costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Solis, 68, previously represented a California congressional district from 2001 to 2009, leaving to serve as the labor secretary under the Obama administration. A former state legislator, she has served on the L.A. County Board of Supervisors since 2014, including as its chair for nearly the past year.<\/p>\n

When it comes to how the federal government could actually help make housing in California more affordable, Solis said she supports extending federal investments in housing, including the low-income housing tax credit<\/a>, which gives states and certain local agencies authority to approve tax credits for the acquisition, rehabilitation or new construction of rental housing for lower-income households.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunities cannot meet the housing crisis alone. The federal government needs to be a stronger partner in helping people afford to live where they work and where their families have put down roots,\u201d Solis said. \u201cSuccess should be measured by whether families are spending less of their income on housing, whether more affordable homes are available, and whether fewer people are being forced out of their communities or into homelessness because they cannot afford to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building more housing isn\u2019t enough, said Solis, if working people cannot afford it.<\/p>\n

Born in Texas, Casas moved at a young age with his family to Baldwin Park, according to his campaign website<\/a>. He earned a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from UC Santa Barbara, and spent more than 29 years in the military, where he rose to the rank of colonel and commanded units in Germany, his campaign website said.<\/p>\n

As for housing policy, Casas, 64, said California Democrats were to blame for high housing costs in the Los Angeles area. If elected, Casas said he would like to \u201cinvestigate every aspect of this and lower housing costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Casas also wants to audit healthcare services, he said, and does not support expanding Medicare.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who believes that \u2018Medicare for All\u2019 is a good idea should consider the following: Do you want your taxes to be doubled or tripled to pay for it? Why should people who can, but do not attempt to work, qualify? What about those who simply expect free government rent and housing? \u2018Medicare for All\u2019 is a horrible idea,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Solis said she would support reversing cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, especially those made with President Donald Trump\u2019s 2025 tax and spending bill. But she also wants to expand Medicare\u2019s ability to negotiate drug prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cPharmaceutical companies should not be able to charge Americans more for the same medications while making billions in profits,\u201d Solis said. \u201cNo one should have to ration medication or choose between filling a prescription and buying groceries. We need a health care system that protects the programs people rely on, lowers costs and puts patients ahead of pharmaceutical profits.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the 38th Congressional District, registered Democrats account for 44.92% of the voters (192,112), according to the latest statistics from the California secretary of state\u2019s office. Registered Republicans make up 24.07% of the voters (102,942) and another 24.85% (106,302) are no party preference.<\/p>\n

For more about these candidates\u2019 \u2014 and others\u2019 \u2014 views on data centers, immigration, surveillance technology and more, view their questionnaires on our voter guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ballots have already been sent to every registered voter in California, and voting is underway. Election Day is Nov. 3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a common refrain across the country this midterm election cycle, but both candidates for California\u2019s 38th Congressional…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[135024,1400,7,9,8,400,204,137,100,611,13,136],"class_list":["post-494741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-2026-california-congressional-elections","tag-2026-elections","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-california-politics","tag-election","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-politics","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}