Democratic incumbent Ted Lieu and six challengers are running for California\u2019s 36th congressional district, which encompasses UCLA and parts of West Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Voters will choose the top two candidates for District 36 during the June 2 California primary election. The top two candidates will then move on to the November general election \u2013 regardless of political party affiliation.<\/p>\n
Lieu has represented in Congress for more than a decade. Marc Cevasco, who has been Lieu\u2019s chief of staff and campaign manager throughout his tenure, said the campaign\u2019s goal is getting Democrats from other districts into office rather than solely focusing on Lieu\u2019s re-election.<\/p>\n
\u201cTed\u2019s main focus in this election cycle is Democrats taking back the House (of Representatives),\u201d Cevasco said. \u201cHe believes it\u2019s a really important check on the President that Democrats control the House next term, so it\u2019s less about phone banking in Santa Monica.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are seven total candidates on the ballot for the District 36 primary. The race includes four Democrats, two Republicans and one candidate with no party preference.<\/p>\n
Marianne Shamma, a nursing student at California State University, Northridge, is a Democrat running for Lieu\u2019s seat. Shamma said she believes what Lieu says and what he does do not match up, which damages his credibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe says a lot of cool stuff that everybody agrees with that we want to put into policy, but he does not follow through,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Shamma said, if elected, she would focus on government accountability and human rights protections.<\/p>\n
Democrat Rustin Knudtson said he believes Lieu\u2019s background as a mainstream Democrat makes him problematic. Democrat Frederick Reardon and unaffiliated candidate Claire Anderson said they are different from Lieu because they are not career politicians.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not running as a career politician,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cI\u2019m running as someone who spent years listening to people who feel increasingly unheard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anderson, a Santa Monica business owner, said she wants to address the homelessness crisis and affordability issues.<\/p>\n
Reardon said in a written statement that his top priority in Congress would be addressing foreign conflicts.<\/p>\n
Knudtson, who described himself as a Democratic socialist, has critiqued Lieu for receiving financial support from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobbying organization.<\/p>\n
Republicans Melissa Toomim \u2013 Lieu\u2019s opposition in the 2024 general election \u2013 and Houston Brignano did not respond to requests for an interview or comment.<\/p>\n
Adam Peddie, the external vice president for Bruin Democrats, said he understands the Democratic candidates\u2019 decisions to run against Lieu if they are frustrated with his performance in Congress. However, he added that he believes Lieu\u2019s leadership experience makes him a strong candidate.<\/p>\n
Candidates in this race should push for affordability, a key issue for young voters, Peddie added. Cevasco said Lieu\u2019s platform includes affordability, as well as caring for the environment, supporting women\u2019s bodily autonomy and voting rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been a strong advocate for a lot of very important issues \u2013 when it comes to, especially, AI, Veterans Affairs, the environment,\u201d said Peddie, a third-year history student.<\/p>\n
Anderson said she believes affordability is a key issue, and Shamma said there is an ongoing war against the working class.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe homelessness issue has gone on forever. Affordability has gone on forever,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cIt seems like we have problems that aren\u2019t getting fixed, even though we throw a lot of money at them. And there may be good intentions, but good intentions aren\u2019t enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cevasco said UCLA students are impacted by unaffordable housing, college debt and expensive healthcare, which he believes Lieu would address.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to send somebody to Washington who is going to be relentlessly working for you, Ted Lieu is your guy,\u201d he said. \u201cI would challenge anybody to find a harder-working member of Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shamma said she would fight for loan forgiveness and free education to combat affordability issues faced by college students.<\/p>\n
Peddie said UCLA students should read about the candidates\u2019 platforms as they decide how to cast their vote. He added that voters should research the organizations and politicians that have endorsed the candidates.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always thought the most important little tab on their websites was always the policies,\u201d Peddie said. \u201cI\u2019ve grown to now believe that a lot more it\u2019s the endorsements. Somebody can talk the talk, but a lot of the elected officials across the country will know whether or not you\u2019re going to walk the walk.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Democratic incumbent Ted Lieu and six challengers are running for California\u2019s 36th congressional district, which encompasses UCLA and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-336446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}