After the midterms produced less success than pollsters, Republican voters, and GOP politicians expected, some lawmakers are acknowledging that the party must come to grips with the reality of Democrat ballot harvesting and other COVID-19 “emergency” election changes that are now likely permanent in many locations.
Rep. Michelle Steel (R-CA) represents California’s 45th congressional district and her husband, Shawn Steel, is a member of the Republican National Committee. He said this weekend that the GOP must now “adapt or die” in light of the new ground rules.
Shawn Steel, husband of Rep. Michelle Steel (R-CA), who won reelection, said Republicans must "adapt or die" in California with respect to legalized ballot harvesting. https://t.co/rT1IBeLYiH
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) November 15, 2022
Shawn said Michelle used ballot harvesting tactics that are legal and encouraged in California to win reelection last week. She engaged congregations at Korean and Vietnamese churches and is telling party members in red states they need to pay attention to the shape of things to come their way.
She specifically brought up the importance of using community and church leaders to help immigrant citizen voters to feel comfortable about their decision to participate in elections.
Shawn Steel said that the rules remain more traditional in some states and others have expressly outlawed ballot harvesting since the onset and tapering off of the COVID-19 pandemic. He added that he personally doesn’t like harvesting, but given that it is now enshrined in state law in California and elsewhere, “you have to adapt or die, and so we’ve adapted it.”
He added that he and Michelle are not “not ashamed of it, because that’s explicitly the law.
He went on to say that America is now entering into a third election cycle where several generations will think they can rely on a trusted organization. He said people should be able to say, “I know they’ll take care of my ballot. I know they’re doing the right thing.”
Shawn also pointed out how Michelle’s affiliation with the Republican Party and an anti-communism stance helped her in her election. Her political positions rang true to many newer voters in the district whose families fled from the evils found in communist countries.
California’s 48th congressional district is about 28% Asian-American. It is located in Orange County on the southern California coast.
Shawn said Michelle’s success primarily resulted from “knocking on 200,000 doors, campaigning in seven languages, and fiercely taking on the Chinese Communist Party.” He described it as the “most anti-communist campaign in America.”
Steel’s Democrat opponent was Jay Chen, who received a master’s degree from the University of Peking. Steel won last week’s election with 53.8% of the vote.
