In the March 5 Presidential Primary Election, attention is focused on the 24th Congressional District, encompassing Santa Barbara County, most of San Luis Obispo County, and part of Ventura County.
Incumbent Salud Carbajal, a Democrat, is seeking re-election for a fourth term.
“I'm running to continue to implement the laws that we were so fortunate to pass last term, laws that lift people up, that provide economic opportunities for Central Coast residents,” Rep. Carbajal said.
Carbajal says he’s proud of his work to pass laws like the bipartisan infrastructure law that he says has brought over $600 million for infrastructure projects to our local communities.
His priorities for another term include:
- Addressing the fentanyl crisis
- Passing the Energy and Carbon Dividend Act, which would incentivize corporations to reduce their emissions
- Tackling debt
“We really need to work in a bipartisan way to reform our tax code to make sure that the loopholes are reduced for large corporations like oil companies," Carbajal said.
One of his opponents, Democrat Helena Pasquarella, aims to bring an international perspective to the race.
“There's a lot of fear of violence, there's unhoused people," Pasquarella said. "We've gone by and there's not this social network, social net that other countries have.”
Some of Pasquarella’s goals if elected revolve around:
- Advocating for peace
- Addressing debt by making corporations pay their share in taxes
- Regenerative farming and addressing farm worker health
“Our system of economics is based on this racial, environmental race, racism, as they call it," Pasquarella said. "So when a farm worker dies… 'We got another one who's going to replace him or her.' Right? And that's sad when you look at the inhumanity of our economic system and how it preys on the poor.”
The third candidate is Republican Thomas Cole who also wants to tackle debt.
“It all ties together with debt, housing, nowhere to live, and the incredible influx of undocumented immigrants, aliens from 130 nations. It's not just Mexico. It's everywhere. So that's a big issue and it ties together with debt," Cole said.
Cole advocates for:
- Tackling immigration by closing borders
- Investing military money into veteran health care or housing
- Addressing parents’ concerns about transgender people in locker rooms
"I have many other issues that I have positions on, not that it's going to make a big difference because you have 435 Congresspeople, but they can look at me and you know and say, you know, those are the issues that I would like to have voted on,” Cole said.
Because this is a primary election, the two candidates who get the most votes on March 5 will face off again in November.
To learn more about the missions and goals of Carbajal, Pasquarella, or Cole, click on each of their names to visit their respective website.
