RIVERBANK, Stanislaus County — The Tuesday morning event was billed as “coffee and casual conversation” with Rep. Jeff Denham. But after the Turlock Republican made an 11th-hour decision to support the GOP health care bill last week, many of the 100 people lined up before the doors opened weren’t feeling casual and didn’t need caffeine to get amped up.

They wanted to know how Denham could back a bill that could lead to 109,000 of his constituents — like them — losing Medi-Cal coverage and threaten 7,000 health care jobs in a district with high unemployment. Several said Denham’s aides had told them as recently as a day before the House vote that he would oppose the bill. But on Tuesday, the congressman said some last-minute provisions made him more comfortable voting for it.

“He flipped at the last minute,” said Wayne Adler, a Manteca (San Joaquin County) resident who carried a sign that read, “Denham lies/CA (District) 10 dies.”

And while the legislation may pose serious questions about health care, a life-and-death question for some voters, it also raises real political danger for Denham.

He is one of seven California House Republicans whom Democrats are targeting in the 2018 midterm elections, in part by tying him to the health care vote and the fact that he votes in line with President Trump’s positions 100 percent of the time, according to Fivethirtyeight.com.

They hope outrage over those positions will help flip a district that Hillary Clinton won in November and Denham carried by only 8,201 votes. Then again, Democrats have been trying unsuccessfully to replace Denham since he was first elected in 2011 in a swing district where 40 percent of the popultion is Latino and the unemployment rate is 18 percent.

So while nearly every other California GOP representative is steering clear of town halls during the current congresional break, Denham showed up to explain his vote Tuesday at the 8 a.m. coffee at the Riverbank Teen Center.

Back to Gallery Swing district GOP Rep. Denham gets earful over health... 9 1 of 9 Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle 2 of 9 Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle 3 of 9 Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle 4 of 9 Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle 5 of 9 Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle 6 of 9 Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle 7 of 9 Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle 8 of 9 Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle 9 of 9 Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

















“He’s a man who knows his district pretty well,” said Thomas Holyoke, a professor of political science at California State University Fresno. “The Democrats keep running at him over and over again, and he keeps winning.”

Unless the Senate passes a similar version of the House bill and Trump signs it, Holyoke doesn’t think last week’s vote will hurt Denham. “I don’t think he runs much of a risk at all if nothing ends up passing. On most issues, the public doesn’t have a very good memory,” he said.

But some people in Riverbank said Tuesday that the atmosphere has been changing since Trump’s surprise victory in November. Traditionally, there hasn’t been a lot grassroots political activism in this district, which is centered on Modesto, but that is starting to change. The Turlock branch of the grassroots progressive group Be the Change has more than 200 members in Denham’s hometown, and an immigrants rights demonstration in Modesto a few weeks ago drew 200 people.

Usually, only a handful of people turn out for Denham’s early morning coffee events, and, “They just want to talk about how bad the roads are in town,” Adler said. But few in Tuesday’s audience wanted to talk roads. They were terrified about losing their health care coverage.

And they jeered Denham when he said that last week’s vote was bipartisan.

Avonelle Tomlinson, who said she has “lived in this valley since I was 6 years old,” has fibromyalgia, arthritis and other ailments that prevent her from working full time. She survives largely on food stamps.

“I’m your constituent. I’m at your office every week. I call you. I email you. I write you letters. You’ve sent me one response,” Tomlinson told Denham. “I am suffering and you don’t care. What can you do to help me?”

“I voted for something that I thought would help my district,” Denham said.

Denham told her, “If you have Medi-Cal, you will continue to be on Medi-Cal. If you have a pre-existing condition, you’ll continue to have pre-existing coverage.” Medi-Cal is California’s version of Medicaid.

Tomlinson wasn’t buying it. She was also worried about what would happen to her roommate, who has multiple sclerosis.

“This isn’t helping anyone and you know it,” Tomlinson said. “The poor people are getting screwed.”

“How are they getting screwed?” Denham said. “You’re telling me (the bill) is cutting Medi-Cal, but you can’t tell me where. You’re telling me (your friend is) not going to be covered under pre-existing conditions, but you can’t tell me why.”

And so it went for the hour-long event.

Denham explained that he decided to support the bill after an amendment added $8 billion to help those with pre-existing conditions pay for increased premiums in states that seek waivers from that part of the law.

“That’s just a Band-Aid on a gaping wound,” said Michelle Park, a Turlock artist. “It’s not going to cover how much premiums are going to go up.”

Denham reasoned that Democrat-dominated California likely would not seek a waiver from having to comply with any mandate to cover pre-existing conditions.

“Do you think California is ever going to opt out?” Denham asked the audience. “I look at every vote from a state perspective and a (Central) Valley perspective.”

But Matt Napier told Denham that was a narrow view.

Napier, a former firefighter who can’t work because of a spinal injury, worries he will lose everything should his wife lose her job, which provides the family’s health insurance. Napier grew up in a mobile home park near Madera and wants his children to have opportunities he didn’t as a child.

“I’m worried about the poor and middle class across the country,” Napier told Denham. “This isn’t a California issue. I care about Mississippi and Alabama.”

After an hour, Denham thanked people for coming and encouraged them to have some coffee as he headed out the door.

Momeets after he left, Park stood outside the Riverbank Teen Center, shaking her head.

“Deflection, deflection, deflection, that’s all he does,” she said as she stood next to a cardboard cutout of an empty chair meant to symbolize Denham’s dearth of town hall appearances. After his heath care vote, she covered it with dozens of flip-flops. “He’s Teflon.”

Park didn’t give Denham credit for being one of the few Republicans to face constituents after the health care vote.

“That’s his job,” she said.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicle’s senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli

10th Congressional District

Area: Stanislaus County and part of San Joaquin County. Main cities include Modesto, Tracy, Manteca, Oakdale, Turlock and Ceres.

Economy: Median household income of $56,368 is below the state figure of $61,320. Agriculture is the major industry, with almonds, hay, walnuts, vegetables and poultry the top components.

Ethnic makeup: White, 46 percent; Latino, 41 percent; Asian, 8 percent; African American, 4 percent; other, 1 percent.

Politics: Democrats have a 39 percent to 36 percent registration edge, and Democrat Hillary Clinton beat Republican Donald Trump, 48 pertcent to 45 percent, in 2016. Republican incumbent Rep. Jeff Denham beat Democratic challenger Michael Eggman, 52 percent to 48 percent.

Source: Chronicle research

Video

To see a video of a constituent confronting Rep. Jeff Denham, go to http://bit.ly/2q3TeMw