Why I Chose to Run for Congress as an Independent
Because different is good.
I’ve been an Independent voter for as long as I can remember. I’m a reliably blue voting progressive, but instead of registering as a Democrat I decided to go Independent. And I did so for a very specific reason.
When I studied politics I remember taking note of what my instructor called voting cues. Basically, it’s something that helps a voter make a decision on how to vote. It could be a trusted family member who one looks to for suggestions on who or what to vote for; it could be a publication’s or organization’s endorsement. Often though, major voting cue givers in this country are our two major political parties.
Now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with looking to your political party to help you decide how to vote. Just the opposite! Parties work to get out the vote, register voters, and ultimately motivate people to go to the polls.
Shortly after graduating college though, and a with a point-of-view that might seem somewhat annoying to me now, I decided that I wouldn’t look to voting cues to help decide how to vote. I vowed that I would research candidates and issues to form my own opinions, and would then decide how to cast my vote.
Cut to fifteen years later.
I recently decided to run for Congress. My top priority is hearing from, and working to speak up for the residents of California’s 6th district. Shoutout to my fellow Sacramento peeps!
However, one of my key ambitions is to build a coalition of Californians in the House of Representatives.
Look — Californians only have two members in the U.S. Senate. The same as states with a fraction of the population we have. But it’s fair because it’s constitutional.
We have 53 members in the House, however, and if all of those members formed a united coalition, we could bring Federal attention and resources to issues that are important to all Californians. Issues like wildfire prevention, because we all remember what last summer was like. Or support rebuilding from the pandemic, because we’re all still living and feeling the impact of how COVID-19 has changed our lives.
With this in mind, when I decided to file to become a candidate for Congress, I did so as an Independent, even though it could be argued that I’m essentially a Democrat. I’m advocating for progressive issues, and would caucus with Democrats in the House.
But I knew that I wanted to appeal to more than just Democrats. I’m going to work to get the votes of as many people in California’s 6th district as I can over the next year and a a half. Including Democrats, Republicans, my fellow Independents, and literally anyone else who I can convince to vote for me.
Additionally, given my goals of uniting all of California’s members of the House I hope to gain the support of people across this great state. I hope to be able to speak up for every Californian in Congress, and represent a new approach to federal politics.
By running as an Independent my goal is to help widen my coalition’s appeal, and to represent something different. There currently aren’t any Independent members of the House. So if elected in 2022, I could potentially be the only one.
And most importantly, I hope when my name appears on the upcoming ballot, that the people of my district vote for me not because of a letter listed next to my name, but because they believe in what I’m saying.
