美国国家公共电台 NPR Devin Nunes' Re-Election Tests Whether All Politics Are Now National

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We go next to California's Central Valley. It's an agricultural region, the source of half the fruit, nuts and vegetables eaten in America, and also home to Congressman¹ Devin Nunes. But ag policy is not what drives his national profile. The Republican who is seeking re-election is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, known for his defense² of President Trump³ and criticism of special counsel Robert Mueller. NPR's Tim Mak has more.

TIM MAK, BYLINE⁴: In 2016, Devin Nunes won re-election by 35 percentage points. Now the eight-term Republican is in for the tightest race of his political life. Polls taken in the last few months suggest it could be a single-digit race.

LIZ MAIR: He's made a decision that he can pretty much do what he wants and ignore local concerns if he just nationalizes this whole race.

MAK: That's Liz Mair, a Republican who runs the Swamp Accountability Project and is opposing Nunes as part of her organization's effort to protect Mueller's Russia investigation⁵. The big question in this race is whether a congressman can run primarily on national stature⁶ while paying little attention to local issues. His national profile is a double-edged sword. Though he's raised a tremendous amount of money, Nunes' unwavering support of Trump has put a spotlight⁷ on him that he's never had before. In the district, constituents⁹ care deeply about agriculture, immigration and water, but Nunes has spent much of his time focused on criticizing Mueller and blocking additional investigations¹⁰ into potential Trump-Russia ties.

ANDREW JANZ: The Russia issue is relevant insofar as it takes away the political capital that he has now in Washington to focus on what people care about here.

MAK: That's Nunes' opponent Andrew Janz, who says he's the one who can give local representation to the district.

JANZ: I think that this race is about taking back the Central Valley.

MAK: While Janz has received about 28 percent of his campaign funds from outside his state, according to Open Secrets, Nunes has received more than half of his money from outside California. Mair, who lives in Virginia, received a fundraising appeal from Nunes' California congressional campaign and provided NPR a copy.

MAIR: It reads, (reading) your generous contribution from Virginia is exactly what I need right now to push back on the constant attacks from the radical¹¹ left.

MAK: Meanwhile, Nunes has also been hard to reach for his ordinary constituents. He has not held a town hall since before the last election. Even Michael Der Manouel Jr., a prominent Nunes supporter and a local business leader, told NPR that he disagreed with this.

MICHAEL DER MANOUEL JR.: I think public officials should be accessible to their constituents. I know he doesn't - personally he doesn't enjoy that environment much. I think, though, that the hostility¹² directed at him from around the country has made it a lot easier for him to say no to doing these.

MAK: Neither Nunes' campaign nor his congressional office responded to an interview request. And when NPR tried to visit his taxpayer-funded office in the most populated region of his district, it was closed and unstaffed at 2 p.m. on a weekday. Phone calls to that office go straight to voicemail. The only other office in that district is a 45-minute drive away.

LISA BRYANT: And so one of the criticisms of constituents has been he is not accessible.

MAK: That's Lisa Bryant, a professor at Fresno State, which is in the district.

BRYANT: I think if you are a loyal constituent⁸ and/or a donor¹³ to his campaign that he's accessible. He does, you know, fundraiser dinners and things like that. However, if as a regular constituent you want to go to his office and speak to somebody - a staffer in his office, it's very difficult.

MAK: While he's not holding public events, he's blanketing the airwaves with attack ads and even producing alternative media.

(SOUNDBITE OF PODCAST, "THE DEVIN NUNES PODCAST")

DEVIN NUNES: Hi, I'm Devin Nunes, and welcome to my very first podcast.

MAK: Nunes has even picked a fight with his local newspaper, The Fresno Bee. The Bee's editorial board declined to endorse¹⁴ him for the first time in 16 years after he refused to meet with them. In an unprecedented¹⁵ move, Nunes produced a 40-page, high-end glossy¹⁶ magazine that suggests that the newspaper is after him because of their supposed communist sympathies. His supporters are with him on this. Here's Der Manouel again.

MANOUEL JR.: I mean, I've lived in this valley my whole life except for six years, OK? I stopped taking the paper this year.

MAK: It's a unique strategy in this contentious¹⁷ midterm cycle. So while Nunes has traditionally coasted to victory, his views on Russia and the president may make for a nerve-wracking election night if a blue wave materializes. Tim Mak, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAKEY INSPIRED'S "STREET DREAMS")