Former Rep. Harley Rouda has dropped out of the race for California’s 47th congressional district on the advice of his doctors.
The Laguna Beach Democrat, who launched a 2024 bid for the seat in January, fell late last month, he said on April 11, and suffered a moderate traumatic brain injury. Rouda was treated at a hospital, he said, and had two intraparenchymal hemorrhages, a brain bleed — “a concerning diagnosis to say the least,” Rouda said.
“Thankfully, my doctors say that I have started on the path to a full recovery,” Rouda said. “But on their advice, I am ending my campaign for California’s 47th congressional district today. This is not the outcome I wanted. But my family comes first, and to be there for them, I need to focus fully on my recovery in the months ahead.”
Rouda, who said he would focus on the climate crisis if voters send him back to Congress, was first elected to represent Orange County in 2018, defeating longtime GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. He served a single term, losing his reelection bid in 2020 to Republican Rep. Michelle Steel.
His campaign recently announced that it had raised more than $1.25 million in the first quarter.
Rouda, 61, jumped into the CA-47 race in Jan. 11, just one day after Rep. Katie Porter launched a U.S. Senate bid.
“I’m sending condolences to Harley, Kaira and the entire Rouda family during this difficult time,” Porter said. “I wish him a thorough recovery.”
The race for CA-47 includes several candidates, including state Sen. Dave Min, community organizer Joanna Weiss and former GOP Assembly leader Scott Baugh.
“Jane and I want to send Harley, Kaira, and the whole Rouda family good thoughts and prayers,” Min said. “Knowing the fighter that Harley is, I have no doubt that he will have a full and speedy recovery. I want to thank Harley for his public service, his decency and patriotism.”
Calling him a “personal friend,” Weiss also expressed her well-wishes for the former congressman. And Baugh said Rooda “was an important voice in the campaign” and expressed his prayers for a complete recovery.
Max Ukropina, a Republican who announced his candidacy earlier this week, said, “We are praying for your full recovery. You got this.”
The coastal CA-47 includes Irvine, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach and Huntington Beach.
It’s one of more than three dozen Democrat-held seats being eyed by the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm of the GOP, to flip to Republican control in 2024.
Democrats have a slight upper hand in voter registration, with 35.6% of voters in the district registered as Democrats to 33.93% as Republicans. Porter won a reelection bid to the seat last year, defeating Baugh to do so.
Originally from Ohio, Rouda is a former Republican who donated to former Gov. John Kasich in the 2016 presidential election.
Rouda was a lawyer who eventually took over his family’s real estate business. In Congress, he chaired the Oversight Subcommittee on the Environment.
“Harley, it was truly an honor to serve with you as part of the historic Class of 2018,” said Rep. Mike Levin on Twitter. “Chrissy and I are wishing you a full and fast recovery.”
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