John,

My name is Angela Gonzales-Torres. Like other families being terrorized by ICE in cities across America right now, when I was 15 one of my family’s worst nightmares came true – my father was deported and overnight my mom was left to raise me and my 3 sisters alone. Growing up, I lived in Section 8 housing, a one-bedroom apartment where I shared the bedroom with my 3 sisters, and even out of cars and shelters at times.

Today, living with that fear is increasingly the reality for many young people in Los Angeles under Donald Trump’s regime and hateful policies. We live with a broken economy and immigration system – one that places the preferences and interests of wealthy elites and xenophobes over the needs of working people in this country. And establishment politicians like my opponent have just sat back and watched as it happened.

Over the years, Rep. Jimmy Gomez thought he could accept millions in corporate PAC checks, and from lobbies like AIPAC — who align more with Trump and the GOP than the values he says he supports — and that our community wouldn’t notice.

He was wrong. I am Angela Gonzales-Torres, and I’m running to replace Rep. Jimmy Gomez in California’s 34th district. Our campaign has set in place a BIG goal for day one – an incredibly ambitious one – to put Gomez on notice. Will you become one of our founding donors?

I’ll be honest – our goal for today is huge, and we’re not sure we’ll get there. But I’ve seen the power of working people coming together my whole life – after my father's deportation when my teachers, neighbors and others stepped in to uplift me, my sisters, and my mom. When I led the Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council where our community came together to address housing displacement and public safety. And now as an education advocate supporting formerly incarcerated students at Pasadena Community College. People are ready to upend the status quo and bring in a new generation of leadership.

So today, we are putting our faith in community: community that is the backbone of my whole life, and the lifeblood of this campaign. We’re going to work hard, organize, and replace Rep. Jimmy Gomez. But we need your help to keep it up. Will you be one of our founding donors with a $5 contribution today?

I’m running against my incumbent Rep. Jimmy Gomez because he has left our community behind:

• Despite promising to stop taking corporate PAC money, he has continued to collect big checks from corporate PACs through his leadership PAC.
• He has voted to greenlight Donald Trump’s crypto corruption, allowing Trump and his family to continue to make billions of dollars off his Presidency.
• He is also one of the largest recipients of Israel lobby money from AIPAC. Even as Israel commits genocide against the Palestinian people, Gomez continues to vote to send billions of dollars of weapons overseas while working people in Los Angeles struggle to make ends meet.

For too long, our community has heard empty talk from corporate politicians like Jimmy Gomez, without action to back it up. I am proud to have the support of Justice Democrats and to join their slate of working-class champions. From AOC, Rashida Tlaib, and the rest of the Squad in 2018 to Summer Lee and Greg Casar in 2022, they have shown that you can do politics differently and win. That means not taking a dime of corporate PAC or lobbyist money and ruthlessly fighting for the working class day in and day out.

Now, I’m not going to lie to you. I know it’s going to take a lot to be taken seriously in this race. As a young Chicana woman going up against an establishment politician backed by AIPAC, I know that we have a long road ahead of us.

Pulling this off is going to take a lot of sweat, a whole lot of heart, and an incredible movement. But people across the district and country are tired of a system that puts profits above our interests, they’re tired of their leaders capitulating to Trump and the big corporations, and they’re tired of representatives who refuse to listen to our communities.

It’s time to get to work.

Will you join Justice Democrats and support our campaign with a day one donation of $10 today?

In solidarity,
Angela