Candidates for California's 46th Congressional District weigh in on healthcare, data centers and immigration

In the race for California's 46th Congressional District, voters will choose between two candidates with differing perspectives on federal health insurance programs, data centers and more.

The Southern California News Group asked the candidates vying to represent you several questions in order to help you get to know them better. This story is based on their responses. You can find the full questionnaires from these and other candidates on your ballot -- as well as helpful tips on how to vote, explainers on the multitude of propositions and more -- on our Voter Guide here.

Rep. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, said the rising number of uninsured Americans and the lack of affordable healthcare available to them is a result of President Donald Trump's administration gutting the Affordable Care Act.

Any structural reforms to Medicare and Medicaid can only happen once Congress reverses the cuts that were included in the Big Beautiful Bill budget package, which passed last year, said Correa, 68, who is seeking his sixth term in Congress to represent a district that covers parts of Anaheim, Fullerton and Santa Ana.

"We must be more efficient in delivering healthcare services, better coordinated medical data, and more preventive care. We need to ensure that we have a cost-effective, healthy nation," Correa said in response to a questionnaire from the Southern California New Group.

His challenger is David Pan, 62, a Republican and professor of German at UC Irvine.

To fix the healthcare programs, Pan said the federal government should look to privatize Medicare and Medicaid, so that private insurance companies approved by and contracted with the federal government would be the sole providers of Medicare and Medicaid benefits.

But Pan's proposal doesn't stop there. It aligns with how he feels Congress should address rising affordability concerns: The federal government should phase out the country's welfare and entitlement programs "and use this money to create a universal basic income of $16,000 per year for every individual 21 and older."

He called for monthly payments of $1,000 to all U.S. citizens who are at least 21 years old "and $4,000 per year could be paid into each person's health savings account." The savings created by privatizing Medicare and Medicaid would go toward creating this universal basic income, Pan said.

"My plan would improve affordability by putting cash directly into people's bank accounts, reduce fraud and waste in government, and still save over $1 trillion per year over the long term," Pan said. "We would have a system that provides freedom and equal opportunity to everyone, and in which hard work leads to success."

This isn't a new platform for Pan. He campaigned on universal basic income in his 2024 congressional bid, losing then to Correa.

The two candidates for the 46th Congressional District don't see eye-to-eye on what the top concern constituents are facing. For Correa, it's immigration.

The ramp-up of federal immigration enforcement since the beginning of 2025 has had a direct impact on the economy, especially in California, Correa said.

"California today is the fourth-largest economy in the world. We lead the nation in agriculture and food production, as well as light manufacturing, biomedical, high tech, and high-tech startups, and venture capital. All these industries rely on an immigrant workforce," Correa said. "Our economy needs immigrant workers to grow, these workers that are being deported."

As for specific policy, Correa said Congress should reform the timeline of when an immigrant can apply for a change in their legal status.

Federal law allows for undocumented people to apply for a change to their citizenship if they were in the country before 1972. A bill in the House would change that date, from 1972 to seven years before that application to change citizenship is filed. (That bill, which has no Republican co-sponsors, has stalled in the House Judiciary Committee after it was introduced last year.)

Correa would like to see that amendment go even further: "Let's change the date again to 2019."

Pan, when asked what immigration policy should look like in five years, said the federal government should maintain a secure border.

"In addition, we should have ways for people to immigrate legally if they go through proper procedures and are vetted," he said. "We can establish a pathway to legal residence for law-abiding residents who contribute to our country."

Another area where Correa and Pan differ is their stance on offshore oil drilling and production in California, something the Trump administration has aggressively pushed since taking office last year.

Correa, who was first elected in 2016, pointed to his record of opposing these efforts and co-sponsoring legislation to permanently ban offshore drilling off California's coast. The West Coast Ocean Protection Act would permanently ban oil and gas exploration off the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington. The bill was introduced in April 2025 and referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources, where it has since stalled.

While Congress needs to ensure people can afford to fill their gas tanks today, the country needs a "smart, balanced, long-term energy policy" that transitions to favor renewable energy sources, Correa said.

"And we must be sure that the food we eat, including seafood, is not contaminated. Accordingly, we must protect our future food supply, and that includes our oceans," he said. "The threat of offshore oil spills and the threat to our future food supply make offshore drilling unwise."

Conversely, Pan said he would support expanding offshore drilling here, so long as oil companies "think that it would be economically productive." As long as oil is still comparably efficient with other energy resources, Pan said, "its production should not be suppressed."

But like Correa, Pan acknowledged that energy production must eventually transition to cleaner alternatives.

"I support the expansion of all forms of energy that are economically efficient and can diversify our energy production," he said. "Climate policy should instead focus on carbon taxes, which would generate government revenue and have a real environmental effect."

Correa has similar environmental concerns about data centers. Communities have increasingly pushed back on data centers opening in their neighborhoods, citing environmental concerns about the amount of water and energy they need to operate and residents' worries about relentless noise pollution.

While artificial intelligence -- which requires large amounts of computing power from these data centers -- is here to stay, the technology "must be about making life better for all" and not be about winning at all costs, Correa said.

"Rather, let informed voters decide. ... As local, state and federal governments engage in policy decisions about data centers, let's ensure full public disclosure and no 'backroom deals,' and prohibit the use of 'non-disclosure agreements' by governments or their agencies," he said. "Taxpayers and ratepayers deserve to be part of the decision-making. It's more about the will of the people than it is about balancing different interests."

Pan would not prevent construction of data centers. But data centers should be required to mitigate their effects on noise pollution, water use and energy consumption, he said.

"(Data centers) are important for the economy of the future, as well as the U.S.'s ability to compete economically and militarily with the rest of the world," Pan said. "Their effects on communities are not worse than other forms of industry that we want to support, and they bring high-paying jobs to communities."

In the 46th Congressional District, registered Democrats make up 45.87% (168,696) of the voters, according to the latest statistics from the California secretary of state's office. Registered Republicans account for 24.05% (88,459) of the voters, and another 23.88% (87,816) are no party preference.

For more about these candidates' -- and others' -- views on data centers, immigration, surveillance technology and more, view their questionnaires on our voter guide.

Ballots have already been sent to every registered voter in California, and voting is underway. Election Day is Nov. 3.

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