Brian Mast, Lauren Baer get national attention in congressional District 18 election

Ali Schmitz | Treasure Coast Newspapers

A Treasure Coast congressional race is gearing up to be one of the most competitive and expensive in the nation, as outside interests aim to win the swing district.

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Palm City, is being challenged by Democrat Lauren Baer, a former Obama administration foreign policy adviser, in the Nov. 6 election.

The House District 18 race, covering Martin, St. Lucie and northern Palm Beach counties, already has gained national attention and is being closely watched.

Nonpartisan political analysts — Cook Political Report, Sabato's Crystal Ball and Inside Elections — predict Mast will win, but faces a tough battle. But Baer could ride into the seat on an anti-Trump, pro-woman, pro-Democrat Blue Wave.

The 2016 election for the seat was the most expensive U.S. congressional races that year, according the Center for Responsive Politics. Both campaigns have said they expect the race to be incredibly expensive again.

Both campaigns are expected to focus on three main issues: the environment, health care and how to respond to President Donald Trump's administration.

Environment

Mast is one of the loudest voices in Washington about Lake Okeechobee discharges.

He's worked with fellow lawmakers to get the House to authorize and fund a reservoir to cut discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers. He's doggedly questioned how the Army Corps of Engineers and South Florida Water Management District have managed the lake level. He's been critical of Gov. Rick Scott's administration's response to toxic blue-green algae blooms plaguing both coasts this year.

More: TCPalm's complete coverage of the algae crisis

Mast's recent focus is pushing the Army Corps to lower the lake level during the dry season to eliminate or significantly reduce the need for discharges in the wet season.

He was also the first Treasure Coast lawmaker to vote for reforming federal price supports for the sugar industry.

Local clean-water groups have lauded him, working with him on pieces of legislation that would increase federal funding for combating the blooms and expedite construction for Everglades restoration projects.

But Mast has come under fire from some progressive environmental groups for supporting environmental issues only in his own district.

More: Baer says Florida can't afford a congressman who neglects the environment

The League of Conservation Voters, a progressive PAC that often supports Democrats, gave him a 23 percent rating because of votes to roll back environmental regulations in other parts of the U.S. Republicans says the PAC is biased against conservatives.

Baer, who often mentions the rating on the campaign trail, has said she would support:

Limiting the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous entering Lake Okeechobee.

Giving the Environmental Protection Agency oversight of the lake.

Funding septic-to-sewer conversions, especially in Martin County.

Fully funding the 2000 Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.

Can we eat the fish? Scientists have discovered a link between blooms of cyanobacteria - blue-green algae - like the kind seen on lakes and rivers in Florida - with Alzheimers and ALS disease. ED KILLER/TCPALM

Health care

Baer has made health care the top priority of her campaign.

When announcing her congressional bid, Baer said her mother, who has chronic health problems from a 1992 car crash, was a major influence in her decision to run for office.

On the campaign trail, she's said health care is the most important issue in the district —and she's hammered Mast for supporting the Affordable Care Act repeal.

On the Treasure Coast, 72,400 St. Lucie County residents alone are not covered by a health care plan, according to a 2015 University of Wisconsin survey.

Baer supports universal access to medical care, a policy supported by several moderate Democrats. It would allow individuals and corporations to buy into Medicare and Medicaid. If they could not afford to purchase health care, government subsidies would be provided to subsidize health care costs.

Mast has said he supported repealing the ACA, commonly called "Obamacare," because it caused health insurers to leave the market. There's only one insurer in Martin and St. Lucie counties.

The Trump factor

Mast votes in line with Trump's position more than 93 percent of the time, according to 538 or FiveThirtyEight, a website that focuses on politics and opinion poll analysis.

But he's mostly stayed out of the fray, unlike several other vulnerable Republican representatives across the country.

Mast often has been mum or slow to take a position during controversial moments in the Trump administration. They include the policy of separating immigrant children from their parents who illegally entered the country and former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt's allegations of misconduct that led to his ouster.

Baer, like many other Democrats nationwide, has campaigned on serving as a check to the Trump administration. But she's been cautious when it comes to calls for impeaching the president, unlike her primary opponent, Pam Keith.

Floridians have mixed feelings on Trump. Among registered voters, 43 percent approve and 45 percent disapprove of Trump’s performance, according to a Florida Atlantic University poll released earlier this month.

Outside groups

Outside groups have paid close attention to the race.

Conservative donors have rallied behind Mast, including Republican mega-donor and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and members of the DeVos family.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, a PAC closely aligned with House Speaker Paul Ryan, has been in the district campaigning for Mast for several months.

A dark-money group affiliated with CLF, American Action Network, also has paid for ads applauding Mast's support for the tax plan.

After Baer won the Aug. 28 Democratic primary, party groups began rallying behind her, including Emily's List, a group supporting pro-choice women candidates, and Swing Left, an organization focused on flipping Republican House seats.

Republicans attack Baer for having not lived in the district full-time since high school. However, Mast moved to the district only months before announcing his run for Congress.

Critics also say she's too closely tied with high-level House Democrats, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who has contributed $14,000 to Baer's campaign through her campaign account and PAC.

National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Maddie Anderson has called Baer an "out-of-touch liberal" and Mast "a war hero who came to Congress to continue to serve his country.”

Democrats attack Mast for acting differently in the Capitol than he does at home. Mast's support for a ban on assault weapons is a clear example of that, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Cole Leiter said Wednesday.

Mast announced his support after the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where he lived before moving to the Treasure Coast.

But instead of signing on to a Democrat-sponsored bill that would have banned the sale of semi-automatic long guns, Mast filed a bill to create a 60-day sales moratorium.