My heart truly resides with our community. My husband Kenny and I live in Agua Dulce and are both natives of the Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys. I graduated from all local schools – Highlands Elementary, Arroyo Seco Junior High, and Saugus High School, then CSUN for her undergraduate and again for my Master’s in Public Administration, which I obtained through the University Center at College of the Canyons while working full time.

With a track record of innovative leadership, public service, and lifelong community ties that extend throughout California’s 25^th District, I believe I am the right person to represent us in Washington. I am dedicated to the priorities and needs of our community, not special interests or divisive partisan politics.

Before stepping down to campaign full-time, I was the Executive Director and Deputy CEO of PATH, a not-for-profit corporation with the mission to end homelessness for individuals, families, and communities across California. In the last four years, PATH has helped more than 1,800 chronically homeless individuals, 2,100 veterans, and 2,600 families make it home into permanent housing.

From a young age, my family instilled in me that public service is the responsibility of every citizen. Every generation of my family has served in the military going back to the Revolutionary War and taking care of our veterans is a fundamental responsibility we share as a nation. While I have never served in the military, it’s important to me to fight for those who have fought for us. My work with PATH has focused on serving homeless veterans with the fundamental belief that no veteran should ever have to sleep on our streets.

My mother and both grandmothers are registered nurses, giving me lifelong insights into the ways our health system needs to be improved, the crucial role that nurses and other lines of staff play in caring for our most vulnerable, and the kind of supports they need to be able to do their jobs. Healthcare reform is unequivocally one of my top priorities in Congress.

I also have a unique point of view of the criminal justice system from both sides of the law. My father and father-in-law are both police officers, so I understand the fear of possibly losing a loved one to their dangerous job. Through my work in social services, I have seen the system fail time and time again. We need massive reform to provide the rehabilitation services and opportunities needed for people to reintegrate successfully into society. More funding needs to be invested in evidence-based interventions (drugs, gangs, education) than incarceration. The root social problems that cause people to commit crimes have to be dealt with at a systemic level, while still protecting our police and the public. I fundamentally believe it is possible to do both.

When it comes to the economy, we need to move away from the idea that old manufacturing jobs will never come back. We have to find innovative ways to build out new industries and create new, high paying jobs that are both economically and environmentally sustainable. In order to move our economy into the 21^st century and beyond, we need to invest in infrastructure at all levels — in small business, in the service economy, and in technology.

I understand my vision will require taxpayer investments. As someone who has had to develop and operate a lean, balanced budget for years while leading a large non-profit, I know it will require major tax reforms and the reallocation of resources. But the burden of critical investment should not be borne by working and middle class Americans. Corporations and the 1% should not get to pay a lower effective tax rate than the people of our district working hard to do their best for their families.

I am running for Congress to represent the community I love and can’t wait to represent us all in Washington.

Dysfunction in President Trump’s Washington hurts real people. We need leaders with the skills and experience to hold President Trump accountable.

I am the son of two public school teachers, graduated from UCLA and Yale Law School, and clerked for a United States federal judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. I've served subpoenas, put witnesses under oath, and reviewed evidence and testimony to protect the Constitution. I'll use my skills and experience to hold Trump accountable each and every time he breaks the law, and fight to stop his attacks on women, immigrants, and our environment. 

I’m sick and tired of seeing families struggle while Washington politicians stack the deck against us. I’m a proud pro-choice Planned Parenthood supporter. I’ll work to pass Medicare for All so every family has high-quality, affordable healthcare. I’ll protect Social Security and Medicare to keep the promises we’ve made to seniors. I’ll restore net neutrality and make corporations keep our private information confidential. And I’ll defend DREAMers to keep families together.

Rather than cater to special interests, I’m working to even the playing field. I refuse corporate donations, and I’ll fight back against President Trump’s plans to raise taxes on California homeowners and drill for dirty oil off California’s coast. We need our representatives to stand up to the corporate gun lobby and powerful pharmaceutical companies so that we can implement commonsense solutions to start saving lives.

I’m proud to be supported by groups representing thousands of working families, including nurses and aerospace workers, Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, and dozens of local officials in our community. It's time to start taking our country back, and I'm ready for the fight.

Jess Phoenix is Executive Director, Principal Investigator, and co-founder of revolutionary environmental scientific research organization Blueprint Earth. She is a volcanologist, a professional field scientist. She has worked on the world’s largest and most active volcanoes in Hawaii, piloted the Jason2 submersible to study an undersea volcano, and worked in the mines of the Australian Outback. Her mission is to inspire everyone to tap into their innate curiosity, igniting wonder about our planet and the world we live in. Jess believes science should be accessible to everyone, and that there are no limits to creative possibility. She is dedicated to enhancing scientific communication and public engagement with science at all levels, and without reservation.

In Congress, my training in the scientific method will be very valuable. This skillset shows us how to analyze all available evidence, and then use it to make truly informed decisions about complex problems. As a scientist, I am not afraid to admit when I do not know something, and I use all my research skills to become informed. I am also willing to change my mind when I receive new evidence. That will help me tremendously in Congress, since my efforts to gain buy-in from my colleagues will be based in fact. Additionally, I’ve worked all over the planet in life-threatening conditions. I know how to remain calm when the stakes are high, and how to get the best out of team members under duress.

I was born and raised in SoCal, but will happily live in DC to represent this district and nation. My husband and I will be celebrating our 23^rd anniversary together this upcoming July. We have two beautiful children, two pugs, two adopted cats and run a small business. I have 16 years of prior public service and elected governing experience and I have served proudly since 1998. I think we have come to see experience does matter.  I will continue serving in Congress with the same dedication, passion and commitment if elected.

I am a proud progressive, liberal candidate. I firmly believe in a political structure that builds from the bottom up, not top down. I uphold truth, honesty and integrity to be vital in our political system and believe the system should benefit all, not just the top 1%. And, the rule of law must always prevail in a democracy, or we fail as a democracy. Running for Congress is a calling to serve the public, and serve the country.  Fairness, decency and compassion should be the core of a candidates beliefs in order to serve the public, and what the public deserves