Washington, Feb 23 (EFE).- Arturo Carmona, one of the Democratic aspirants for the House seat for California’s 34th District, wants to become a “national leader” on immigration matters if he wins the April special election, being held due to the departure of former lawmaker Xavier Becerra.
The son of Mexicans, Carmona worked as policy director for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, who won the Democratic primary in California’s Los Angeles district, which Carmona wants to represent in Congress.
Carmona told EFE in an interview that he wants to be a strong, courageous voice opposing what he called the failed policies of President Donald Trump, adding that the country needs leaders with strong values who are not all talk.
The candidate is among the favorites to win the seat Becera vacated to become the state’s attorney general, and he said that public education and ensuring access to dignified housing are among his priorities.
He said that California is the sixth largest economy in the world with a great tech industry and a thriving entertainment industry based in Hollywood, but it’s also one of the country’s most unequal states in terms of income with 33 percent of the population living below the poverty line.
Carmona insisted that California is unable to deal with people’s problems such as the disproportionate increase in housing prices, which is forcing many members of the 34th District’s Latino community to move elsewhere.
Motivated by his experience working with Sanders’ campaign around the country and cognizant of the crucial moment the US is experiencing under the Trump administration, Carmona decided to throw his hat into the ring for the legislative seat.
Among his greatest concerns, as the senator discussed during his presidential run, Carmona says that college is too expensive in the US, and so he will push for programs to make higher education free.
He said that California has much to do in this area, given that the state is in 48th place in the US in terms of investing in public education.
He also noted the precarious situation in which the Democratic Party finds itself, adding that it must become aware of its mistakes.
Having Trump as president is not due only to the Republicans, Carmona insisted, but also to an historic failure by Democrats, who need to recreate their party to ensure that it doesn’t put the interests of big corporations above those of the middle class and workers.
He said that Sanders’ big contribution was making things much more difficult than expected for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries, thus demonstrating that the country is “ready” for a fresh political approach.
Carmona said that the people must take back the Democratic Party from the elites shortly before expressing his support for Minnesota Congressmen Keith Ellison, the most progressive voice among the candidates to head the Democratic National Committee, which will hold its leadership election on the weekend in Atlanta.
The party’s commitment must be to the people, he insisted.