Today, I am announcing my candidacy for the Republican nomination for California’s 24th Congressional District. My family and I did not arrive at this decision lightly. Here are my top five reasons for running:
#1. I retired after 26 years of service in the U.S. Navy. I worked my way up from an enlisted recruit to a senior officer, serving in multiple combat deployments and collaborating with great Americans from all walks of life. After hanging up my uniform, I quickly realized I was not finished serving our country.
#2. I refuse to let our son grow up in an area that’s ten exits beyond normal. We can either leave California or work to improve it. Many people and businesses have chosen to leave California and go to other states. I’ve never been a quitter and prefer working toward common-sense solutions.
#3. We need to heal the extreme partisan divide in our politics. The decline of the middle class is a significant factor in the ongoing shift toward the extreme left and extreme right. Data shows that when the middle class is healthy, with financial security and home ownership, it positively impacts local public schools, civic engagement, and crime rates. We must heal this country and start communicating with one another. If we remain toxic, our representation will remain toxic as well.
#4. I directly experienced Congress’s ineffectiveness in Washington, D.C., particularly within the Department of Defense. It needs attention from leaders, problem solvers, and team builders willing to step up.
#5. The world faces numerous geopolitical issues today, and our Congress cannot afford to be ineffective. The 24th District owes it to our country to provide the most capable leadership possible, not career campaigners.
All constituents of the 24th District deserve representation. I will strive for genuine bipartisan solutions. Our incumbent representative has a 100% voting record aligned with Democratic leadership, yet he continuously speaks about bipartisanship. I have yet to hear Representative Carbajal make any substantial statements. He is in his fifth term and leads no committees in Congress. He has only authored one piece of legislation that has become law: changing the name of a post office in Santa Maria. He might be the most ineffective leader to ever serve in Congress. I’ve observed outstanding military and federal government leaders; he isn’t even close to that level. We are capable of more.
The 24th District is one of the worst environments for the middle class in America. The middle class is the fabric of our society. The 24th District now has the second-highest poverty rate in California. The median family income in Santa Barbara County is $107,000, yet the living wage for a family of four here is rated at $151,000. Middle-class families can no longer own a home, pay basic expenses, plan an annual family vacation, save the recommended amount each month for retirement, or save for their children’s college. These things are supposed to be the baseline, not luxuries for middle-class Americans.
Our elected officials here in coastal California almost exclusively serve the interests of the far-left wealthy elites. They pay lip service to blue-collar workers and Latino immigrants while upholding the status quo for the rich elites, private equity firms, and speculators who are buying up all the available properties in the area. They don’t want non-elites here, only gardeners and maids. They disregard our schools, sending their children to expensive private institutions. “Not in my backyard” is their battle cry. They oppose growth, affordable housing that could devalue their coastal mansions, and any affordable goods or gasoline, preferring only high-priced electric vehicles while they travel in private jets. These towns were built by middle-class workers, farmers, and Mexican immigrants seeking a better life for their families, not wealthy celebrities. If we fail to improve conditions for the middle class, we risk losing the American Dream and exacerbating the partisan divide.
We have single-mom teachers and nurses living over an hour away to afford housing, struggling to make ends meet each month. I wouldn’t trade a single nurse or teacher for a thousand celebrities in my neighborhood. Yet, our far-left elitist leadership here panders to wealthy elitists and promotes them everywhere to tell us how we should be better citizens.
Enough is enough. It’s time to reclaim our district for the middle class. We must promote home ownership, enhance public schools, and develop a future tech job market in the 24th District while preserving our agriculture and tourism industries. I will represent the people of this district with integrity, accountability, and leadership, just as I did while serving in the military. It’s time for a change in the 24th District. It’s time for authentic leadership! Thank you for your support!