California Congressional District 40 primary election voter guide

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The race in California’s 40th Congressional District pits Republican Rep. Young Kim against two Democratic challengers: Joe Kerr, a retired fire captain, and Allyson Muñiz Damikolas, a Tustin Unified School District board member.

In this inland suburban district that’s mostly in Orange County, Republicans have a voter registration advantage of 3.7 percentage points, though President Biden won here by a narrow margin.

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Who are the candidates?

Young Kim, Republican, incumbent

Kim, who was born in South Korea, was one of the first three Korean American women elected to Congress in 2020. She previously served in the state Assembly for two years and unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2018. Kim worked for more than two decades for then-Rep. Ed Royce, a longtime member of Congress from Orange County.

Kim told The Times she’s running to “continue to bring commonsense back to Washington, break through partisan gridlock, and deliver results.” She added that “we must make life affordable, keep communities safe, and ensure America leads on the world stage.”

Kim’s legislative priorities include combating inflation, lowering taxes and boosting security at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Joe Kerr, Democrat, retired firefighter captain

Kerr spent 34 years as a fire captain with the Orange County Fire Authority and served 17 years as president of the Orange County Professional Firefighters Assn., a labor union that represents 800 firefighters. He ran unsuccessfully for the state Senate in 2022 and for the Orange County Board of Supervisors in 2018.

He told The Times he’s running for Congress “to bring back commonsense solutions, pragmatic problem-solving and progress for working families.”

Kerr’s legislative priorities include preserving abortion rights nationwide, combating climate change by securing funding for artificial intelligence technology that can identify early-stage wildfires, making housing and healthcare more affordable and combating gun violence.

Allyson Muñiz Damikolas, Democrat, Tustin Unified School District board member

In 2020, Damikolas became the first Latina Democrat elected to the Tustin Unified School District board of trustees.

Her campaign has largely focused on education, affordable access to healthcare, gun violence prevention and women’s rights. On her campaign website, she explains the struggle she faced fighting insurance companies to get her daughters the care they needed after they were diagnosed with a life-threatening condition.

“With abortion rights at risk, costs on the rise, and families fearful of gun violence, this community deserves an advocate in Congress,” she said.

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Where is the district?

The district is largely based in Orange County, including Aliso Viejo, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Tustin and Villa Park. It also includes Corona in Riverside County and Chino Hills in San Bernardino County.

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Economy and affordability

Kim blames the inflation that’s driving up costs for families on what she says is “reckless spending” in Washington. She supports cutting taxes, and says the “best way to keep good-paying jobs in Southern California is by getting rid of every unnecessary regulation, backing free-market policies, and working with state and local leaders to create an environment where business can prosper.”

In January 2022, Kim co-sponsored the Inflation Prevention Act, a bill that would have barred any measures that could increase inflation “until the year-over-year inflation rate drops below 4.5%,” according to a news release.

She was also among a handful of Republicans to co-sponsor the SALT Deductibility Act, a bill that aimed to cut federal income taxes by repealing the cap on state and local tax deductions.

Kerr said he would use his experience in organized labor to advance legislation that mirrors President Biden’s Build Back Better plan, to create more jobs with good benefits so workers can invest back into the economy. He also supports equity in taxation so working families pay less than the top 1% of earners in the country.

“No person should need to work two-plus jobs in order to feed, house and protect their families,” he said. “In addition to economic security, we need to secure federal investments into affordable housing.”

Damikolas said she would support expanding the low-income housing tax credit and allocating federal money to build more affordable housing. She also supports expanding Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act to make life more affordable for families.

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Gun laws

Gun violence has become an issue at the forefront of the 40th Congressional District race. Last year, a gunman opened fire at Cook’s Corner, a beloved bar in Trabuco Canyon, killing three and wounding six others.

Kerr said the Cook’s Corner shooting was personal for him.

“It is a place my family would frequent for their Wednesday night spaghetti,” he wrote on his campaign website. “For some reason that I still can’t explain, my family and I decided not to go that night. In Congress, I will lead on this issue.”

He told The Times he supports restrictions on firearms including raising the federal minimum age to purchase a gun from 18 to 21, requiring universal background checks and a waiting period for gun purchases, and prohibiting civilians from buying assault weapons. He also supports gun registration and requiring that owners have insurance for their firearms, according to his campaign website.

Kim told The Times that Congress has to balance improving firearm safety with not infringing on “law-abiding citizens’ 2nd Amendment rights.”

She has voted against several gun reform bills, including one that aimed to limit access to assault weapons and another that sought to expand the types of firearms subject to stricter regulation.

Last year, Kim helped introduce a bipartisan bill — the Prevent Family Fire Act — that would provide a tax credit for gun sellers who also sell devices that deny unauthorized access to firearms or render them inoperable and are secured by a combination, key or biometric lock. The bill is pending.

Damikolas told The Times she supports raising the federal minimum age to purchase a gun to 21 years old, requiring universal background checks and a waiting period for gun purchases, and barring civilians from purchasing assault weapons.

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Related coverage

She wrote on her campaign website that she’ll “always fight for commonsense gun safety laws that protect our children and let them focus on being kids.”