Those of us who are fortunate enough to live in the 25th Congressional District deserve to have a leader in Washington who will represent the needs and concerns of the people for whom they represent. For years Santa Clarita was represented by conservative Buck McKeon. While I admit that I did not always support Buck, I at least knew he could be counted on to represent the interests of the people who voted him into office.
It’s worth pointing out that in the November 2016 general election, Steve Knight won this district by roughly 6 percentage points while Trump actually lost the district by nearly 7 percentage points. What these two races point out is that both Democrats and Republicans in our district can and will cross over party lines when they see fit. If you take away the extremes on both sides of the aisle, the rest of the voters in our district are mostly moderate, everyday Americans who just want to be represented by someone with similar interests and concerns. Someone who will be their voice in Washington and who will act according to the needs of the community for which they were elected to serve.
However, when we voted for Steve Knight in 2016, we ended up sending to Washington someone who is completely out of touch with the people of our district. Since January 2017, Representative Knight has voted in line with Trump’s position 98.7% of the time. Think about that number for a moment. Trump lost this district yet we have a Congressman who voted with his positions an astonishing 98.7 % of the time. If you take into account the needs and concerns of all the people in the district, the 53% who voted for Representative Knight and the 47% of those who did not, how can he possible justify those numbers? He can’t. And the people of our district can’t afford two more years of this blind rubber stamp of approval coming from Knight’s office.
We should expect and demand leadership from our elected officials not the blind acquiescence we’ve seen from Representative Knight. We’ve given him two terms to make a difference and we’ve received nothing but empty promises in return. Let’s not make the mistake of giving him a third term in office. Our district can do so much better.
Mike Piccard
Canyon Country
