Angelica has challenged Cardenas every year since 2018 and continues her tradition in this cycle by challenging Luz Rivas. Dueñas, is a Bernie to Jill Stein 2016 progressive activist. After losing in the primary in 2018 as a Green, Dueñas switched to the Democrat ballot line and peaked with 43% against Cárdenas in 2020 and 2022, running on a Berniecrat platform that led with Medicare for All and incorporated various other left movement demands around racial justice, canceling student debt, Green New Deal, before falling back to a 24% vote share against Rivas after the Primary election. With under $37k raised and no meaningful endorsements, Dueñas is a protest vote, but one worth taking.

Angela Gonzales-Torres is a lifelong Angeleno, a champion for working families, a democratic socialist, and an advocate for justice who has worked to protect renters and small businesses, help people transition from prison into universities, and fight for immigrant rights. Angela is the first Congressional candidate endorsed by DSA-LA, with 84.7% of the chapter voting to endorse her earlier this year. If elected, she would become the 8th member of the growing democratic socialist caucus in the House of Representatives. DSA-LA is proud to endorse Angela Gonzales-Torres for CA-34.

She faces another Democratic candidate Samantha Mota, who received an impressive 11.7% of the vote in the primary despite under $1,000 in reported fundraising. In the General, she reports a little over $9,000 in fundraising. Mota’s left platform on Medicare for All, and Arms Embargo, and the abolition of ICE earned her a recommendation in our primary voter guide, and that position hasn’t changed for the general election. CA-37 should have a rep that will stand up to special interests and the war machine. Based on the fundraising and name recognition differential, we don’t think it’s likely to be this year, but you should still vote for Samantha Mota.

Jane Kim, the former San Francisco supervisor and former executive director of the California Working Families Party, has a long history as a prominent figure on the California left. She won office in San Francisco against the Democratic machine, served as California political director for Bernie Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign, and has spent years organizing around working-class economic issues. Kim has clearly distinguished herself as the progressive in this race. She is running on aggressively regulating the insurance industry and creating a public Disaster Insurance for All program. She is endorsed by Bernie Sanders and has significant support from organized labor, including major teachers’ unions, nurses, and other unions. We recommend Jane Kim for California Insurance Commissioner.

During her first term, Caroline Menjivar has sponsored legislation to add specialized mental health crisis services for LGBTQ+ youth on the 988 Crisis Hotline, fought to keep our undocumented neighbors on Medi-Cal in the face of Gavin Newsom’s cuts, and introduced legislation that would permanently ban ICE officials from being police officers in the state of California. Menjivar has built a legislative record aligned with working class, immigrant communities, and LGBTQ+ issues, with backing from labor and progressive organizations like the Working Families Party. Given her incumbency and broad coalition support, she’s not at real risk of losing, but her terms so far have been good enough for you to vote for Caroline Menjivar.

In the progressive lane is John Erickson, current West Hollywood city councilmember, long time operative and advocate on gender equity and LGBTQ+ issues. Erickson has already earned support from the California Federation of Labor and other labor organizations, and has raised over $300,000, enough to be competitive in a crowded field. On policy, Erickson has built a record on promoting housing production while still safeguarding housing affordability, tenant protections, and local climate action. He touts himself as a potential leader in healthcare access and public education investment. We recommend you vote for John Erickson, the clear progressive choice.

Electoral newcomer Sarah Rascón has taken a progressive angle in the race. An El Sereno native, Rascón’s career spans community organizing, state legislative work, Latino civic participation initiatives, and most recently environmental equity at the Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority. Though she has worked for various Status Quo Coalition politicians including a brief term in the Bass administration, she is running a clean-money campaign. Her platform rejects “corporate PACs” and “PACs representing foreign governments”, alongside calling for “the full liberation of Palestine.” In more state-government-specific items, she supports single-payer healthcare via CalCare, repealing the Ellis and Costa-Hawkins Acts, and reforming Proposition 13. The choice is clear: vote for Sarah Rascón.

Chair of the Senate labor committee, she’s been a reliable champion of pro-labor legislation in the State Senate, putting forward bills to require employers to report use of surveillance tools on their workers, strengthen enforcement for price gouging, creating regulations on large grocery store chains in replacing workers with self checkouts. Smallwood-Cuevas has been a reliable cross-endorser of our socialists in office and Shake Up City Hall slate, and is a member of the South LA Working Families Party-endorsed squad in the California legislature. A reliable representative of the left-labor movement in the CA State Legislature, we recommend you vote for Lola Smallwood-Cuevas for another term.

He’s running on some solid points, such as renter protections, ensuring corporations pay their fair share of taxes, and holding polluters accountable. In other words, Putz is not a total putz. Even a middling Democrat would be better than his Republican opponent, vote for Randall Putz.

Schiavo’s donations reflect the backing of the Southern California class of state legislature incumbents and labor unions. During her first term in office, she fought to shut down the Aliso Canyon gas facility in the face of the utility commission’s approval to ramp up its production, fought against anti-abortion practices in the state, and has supported pro-worker,social housing, and CalCare bills in the Assembly. It’s likely that Schiavo will once again win this race by the same 4-6 points she won in 2024, but this one is close. Close enough that despite our disappointment with the way she’s moderated, you shouldn’t stay out of this one. Vote for Pilar Schiavo.

Schultz is current chair of the Assembly Public Safety Committee and is running on an affordability agenda, universal healthcare, and protecting renters. He’s worked with criminal justice reform organizations such as Initiate Justice while on the Public Safety Committee. He’s fought against ICE in the levels of state government, including the ban on ICE wearing face masks, and supported ending AI from hiring decisions in the workforce. He’s worked closely with DSA-LA Socialist in Office Konstantine Anthony while he was on the Burbank City Council and supports our endorsed candidates. A progressive left vote in the Assembly, he’s endorsed by every big labor union in the state. Schultz is going to coast to re-election, and he’s been decent in Assembly - we recommend you vote for him.

Democratic Socialist Colin Hernandez is the only candidate running from Zbur’s left. A 9th-generation Californian, Hernandez’ platform includes CalCare, Housing for All, walkable cities, climate justice, and taxing the rich. His platform prioritizes building social housing and the repeal of the Costa-Hawkins and Ellis Acts, clearly naming private equity and corporate landlords as our class enemies. Colin calls for a “California that is against imperialism and Colonialism,” drawing a clear distinction between anti-Zionism and antisemitism, and opposes AB715. With an unquestionably Democratic Socialist platform, vote for Colin Hernandez.