Derek Tran
Bio
- The Secretary of State's certified list prints his name as Derek Tran with party preference Democratic and ballot designation Representative/Business Owner. The Orange County Registrar of Voters proof list prints DEREK TRAN, Democratic, ballot designation Representative/Business Owner, with a qualified date of August 7, 2026. Neither entry carries the incumbent asterisk the certified list uses for state offices, and the county proof list records 'No Incumbent' for the contest, while Ballotpedia and the Federal Election Commission record him as the incumbent.S1S3S14S30
- Ballotpedia records that he represents California's 45th Congressional District, assumed office on January 3, 2025, and that his current term ends on January 3, 2027.S14
- His official House biography says his father fled Vietnam after the 1975 fall of Saigon as one of the boat people, that the boat capsized and his father's wife and children died, that his father later met his mother and made a second and successful attempt to flee, that the family spent about a year in a refugee camp before reaching the United States in early 1980, and that he was born and raised in Los Angeles County. It says he enlisted in the United States Army Reserve when he turned 18, served eight years, completed his assignment at the Joint Forces Training Base at Los Alamitos, was activated for Operation Noble Eagle and Enduring Freedom before an honorable discharge, received a B.S. in Economics-Finance from Bentley University and a Juris Doctor from Glendale University College of Law, and moved to Orange County in 2012. It says he worked as an attorney for consumers and workers, served on the board of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles and California, worked on public safety policy for the Mayor of Los Angeles, was a traffic commissioner for the City of Orange, co-owns an independent pharmacy with his wife Michelle, and has three children, Bryson, Olivia and Landen.S17
- In the October 2026 questionnaire he gave his age as 45, his current job title as US Representative from California's 45th District, his party affiliation as Democratic, checked the incumbent question yes, answered not applicable for other political positions held, said he lives in Orange, and gave derektranforcongress.com as his campaign website. In the May 2026 primary questionnaire he gave the same age and city, listed service on the board of the Consumer Attorneys Association of America and his appointment as traffic commissioner for the city of Orange as other political positions held, and gave the same website.S6S8
- The Los Angeles Times describes him as an attorney and U.S. Army veteran who served in Operations Noble Eagle and Enduring Freedom, as the son of refugees who fled Vietnam and grew up in the San Gabriel Valley where he graduated from Rosemead High School, and as the owner with his wife Michelle of a pharmacy. It reports that his office said his first term included helping trim processing time in the Social Security system for small businesses and individuals and $5 million in small business loan payouts in 2026, and that he delivered $1 million to the city of Cypress for flood prevention infrastructure.S5
- Ballotpedia's biography field records that he was born in Los Angeles County, earned a bachelor's degree from Bentley University and a law degree from Glendale University, served eight years in the U.S. Army, and worked as a consumer rights attorney and small business owner. The Whittier Daily News description of him matches the official account of his family's escape from Vietnam after the fall of Saigon.S14S10
Record in office
- Committees and caucuses: his official page lists the House Committee on Small Business, where he is Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Regulations and a member of the Subcommittee on Contracting and Infrastructure, and the House Committee on Armed Services, where he sits on the Subcommittee on Readiness and the Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations. Among his caucus roles it lists Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Vietnam, Co-Chair of the House Democratic Caucus National Security Task Force, Co-Chair of the Lowering Costs Caucus, executive board member of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, the New Democrat Coalition with its Economic Growth and Cost of Living and Immigration and Border Security working groups, the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, the Congressional Dads Caucus, the Equality Caucus and the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. Ballotpedia's committee assignment table for him lists the same two committees and the same four subcommittees for 2025-2026.S18S14
- He was elected to the House in 2024. Ballotpedia's certified results for the November 5, 2024 general election in the 45th District show him defeating the incumbent Michelle Steel 158,264 votes, 50.1 percent, to 157,611 votes, 49.9 percent, a margin of 653 votes out of 315,875 votes cast. The Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register editorial board both describe the margin as a little more than or around 600 votes.S14S5S11
- Legislation: his office announced that he and Representative Don Bacon (R-Neb.) introduced the Small Business Innovation Research Foreign Interference Safeguard Act on July 25, 2025, which his office says strengthens small business due diligence programs against intellectual property theft by foreign entities, and that he announced the bill's advancement out of committee on September 16, 2026 with Representative Williams. In February 2025 his office praised the passage of H.R. 832, the bipartisan Small Business Advocacy Improvements Act, which he co-led with Representatives Maggie Goodlander, Roger Williams and Jeff Van Drew. He introduced the Protect Veteran Jobs Act in February 2025, which his office says would reinstate veterans removed from federal employment. On September 11, 2026 he introduced H.R. 10349, the Emergency Responders Mental Health Training Act, with Representatives John Rutherford, Mike Lawler and Don Davis. He co-sponsored H.R. 1314, the Tipped Income Protection and Support Act, announced September 22, 2026, which his office says would raise the maximum tip deduction for service workers from $25,000 to $112,500 of adjusted gross income and make the change permanent. In his questionnaires he says he helped introduce the No Getting Rich in Congress Act to ban members of Congress and their families from trading individual stocks, that he fought to pass the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act in June 2026, and that he voted for the HALT Fentanyl Act and for the National Defense Authorization Act of 2026. The Los Angeles Times also reports he championed the WARRIOR Act, which codifies a woman's ability to serve in combat in the Armed Forces.S19S20S6S8S5
- Key votes: Ballotpedia's tally of key votes in the 119th Congress, 2025, records him voting no on the reconciliation act H.R.1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act; no on the SAVE Act, H.R. 22; no on the fiscal 2025 budget resolution H.Con.Res.14; no on H.R.5371, the continuing appropriations act that ended the government shutdown that began October 1, 2025; no on H.R.1968, the full-year continuing appropriations act; no on the No Rogue Rulings Act, H.R.1526; no on H.R.875 on impaired driving and immigration; and no on the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, H.R. 28. It records him voting yes on the GENIUS Act, S.1582, on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, H.R.4405, and on the Laken Riley Act, S.5.S14
- Federal funding: his office announced on June 23, 2026 that he presented over $3 million in federal funding he secured to improve fire stations, school traffic signals and emergency operations in Brea, Los Alamitos and Fountain Valley, including $2 million for the Fountain Valley Fire Department to expand Fire Station 1, and on June 22, 2026 that he presented $1 million to the City of Garden Grove for Fire Station 84. In his May 2026 questionnaire he says he secured over $12 million for public safety projects in the district, including emergency operations centers and fire stations, and that his office helped Fullerton secure a $2.8 million federal grant to support hiring 12 new firefighters. In his October 2026 questionnaire he says he secured $250,000 in federal funding to build nearly 3,000 affordable housing units across Orange County and that he delivered $1 million to Cypress for flood prevention infrastructure, which the Los Angeles Times also reports. Those funding figures are as he and his office state them.S20S8S6S5
- Statements and letters in office: his office says he issued a statement on October 12, 2026 after the Orange County District Attorney's Office announced a $125 million settlement with GKN Aerospace over the May 2026 toxic chemical tank emergency, and on August 24, 2026 after GKN Aerospace announced a $100 million fund for families, small businesses and community members affected by the incident and evacuation. On September 1, 2026 he issued a statement after the House voted on House Resolution 1490 on condemning the communist regime of Vietnam. On August 5, 2026 he and Representatives Ami Bera and Salud Carbajal led 65 members in a letter urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to address restrictions on dual-use goods entering Gaza. On September 30, 2026 he joined Representative Lou Correa and a bipartisan group of lawmakers in a letter urging the Governor to ensure the California Department of Veterans Affairs accepts $10 million in federal funding for the Southern California Veterans Cemetery at Gypsum Canyon.S20S24S25
Positions
Taxes
- He says tax and spending policy should favor working families. In his October 2026 questionnaire he lists putting an end to what he calls costly tariffs with allied countries among the steps Congress should take to lower costs, and his campaign says he is working to cut taxes for middle-class families and small businesses. He says he joined the Lowering Costs Caucus to find common-sense solutions and that he voted against H.R.1, the 2025 reconciliation law he says cut Medicaid and food assistance, which Ballotpedia records as a no vote. In his interview with the Orange County Register editorial board he called for a commission to propose solutions to Social Security's potential insolvency rather than what the board described as a cut waste approach. He says he joined colleagues across the aisle on the Stop Inside Trading Act to ban congressional stock trading, and his May 2026 answer says he helped introduce the No Getting Rich in Congress Act. He does not state a position on income tax rates or brackets in the materials reviewed.S6S8S26S27S11S14
Housing
- He says housing continues to be too expensive for Southern California families and that the crisis has to be approached head on and systematically. In his October 2026 questionnaire he says he secured $250,000 in federal funding to build nearly 3,000 affordable housing units across Orange County, that in June he fought to pass the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which he says simplifies construction regulations, cuts government red tape and increases access to affordable housing loans for millions of families, and that he is working to make sure Southern California families receive the direct benefits. In his May 2026 questionnaire he says he co-sponsored a bill to give homeowners in disaster prone areas incentives to harden their properties against wildfires. The materials reviewed do not include a position from him on federal rental assistance programs or on the mortgage interest deduction.S6S8
Cost of living
- He calls the rising costs of gas, groceries and rent the single most important issue the district faces and says it cannot become the norm. His stated response is for Congress to pass legislation to expand affordable health care, protect food stamp benefits and end what he calls costly tariffs with allied countries, and he says he co-founded the Lowering Costs Caucus and joined its members in a May 2026 letter urging the administration to address rising prices. He says he co-sponsored the RELIEF Act to ease the burden of tariffs on businesses of all sizes and the Tipped Income Protection and Support Act so service workers can deduct tips. In his May 2026 questionnaire he says he spoke out against what he calls reckless tariffs that he says drove up the price of basic necessities including food, baby formula and school supplies, and that he voted against measures he says would raise utility costs for families.S6S8S19S26
Public safety
- He says every American deserves to feel safe in their community and that Flock Safety cameras have helped law enforcement agencies prosecute criminals across Southern California, but that he is concerned the technology could be abused in ways that infringe on privacy and used by ICE to harass and detain people, and that Congress must regulate these technologies so fundamental rights are protected. He says he has secured over $12 million for public safety projects in the district, including emergency operations centers and fire stations, that his office helped Fullerton secure $2.8 million for 12 new firefighters, and that he voted for the HALT Fentanyl Act. He says he supports increasing funding to hire more law enforcement officers, expand community policing, improve mental health services and reduce homelessness. On September 11, 2026 he introduced the Emergency Responders Mental Health Training Act with Republican and Democratic colleagues. His campaign says he has worked to put more police on the streets, supports common-sense gun safety laws including universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons, and has fought for investment in violence prevention and rehabilitation.S6S8S20S26S27
Education
- He says every American should have access to a high-quality education that puts them on a path to a good-paying job. His official page says that as a father of three children in public school he has worked to raise wages for teachers, invest in community public schools, support early childhood education and provide more vocational education and job training. In his May 2026 questionnaire he says he supports meaningful safeguards on how companies collect and use data from minors, stronger parental controls and holding platforms accountable for failing to protect young people, and that he supports continuing to evaluate whether broader measures such as age minimums or limits during the school day are necessary. He also says he co-sponsored legislation to increase mental health providers in schools. The materials reviewed do not include a position from him on federal school funding formulas, school choice or student loan programs.S22S27S8
Health care
- He says health care should be a right, not a privilege, and he and his wife own a local pharmacy. In his October 2026 questionnaire he says 22 million Americans will lose access to affordable health care, including over 250,000 people in the district alone, as a result of the reconciliation law he calls H.R.1, and that he co-sponsored H.R. 4849, the Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act, to restore Medicaid funding, extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits and keep hospitals open. He says he is focused on reversing what he calls the drastic cuts to affordable health care and on bringing down the cost of care. The Whittier Daily News reports that bill has not made it through a committee and has no Republican backing in the Republican controlled House. He says he has taken on insurance and pharmaceutical companies to rein in the cost of care and that he will continue to defend Medicare. The materials reviewed do not include a position from him on a single-payer system or on Medicare eligibility ages.S6S10S21S27
Homelessness
- In his May 2026 questionnaire answer on public safety he says he supports increasing funding to hire more law enforcement officers, enhance community policing initiatives, improve mental health services and reduce homelessness. The materials reviewed, including both questionnaires and his campaign and official pages, do not include a separate statement from him on federal homeless assistance grants, shelter funding or behavioral health funding for people who are already homeless.S8S6S27
Transportation
- He cites the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed under the previous administration, as an example of bipartisan work that invested in fixing roads, expanding passenger rail and strengthening supply chains, and he says he delivered $1 million to the city of Cypress for flood prevention infrastructure. The materials reviewed do not include positions from him on the federal gas tax, transit funding levels, high speed rail or transportation project selection.S8S5
Environment and energy
- He says he does not support the administration's push to expand offshore oil drilling and production in California, that he has co-sponsored several bills imposing restrictions on oil and gas exploration and leasing along the West Coast, and that the Huntington Beach and Santa Barbara oil spills cost local economies millions of dollars. He says he voted against measures he says would raise utility costs for families and pushed back against what he calls cuts to low-cost clean energy initiatives, and that he supports protecting natural resources while transitioning to cleaner energy. On data centers he says he co-sponsored the Energy Bills Relief Act to lower consumer energy costs and make data centers pay their own way, and that companies using data centers should be held accountable for paying their fair share of energy costs so those costs are not handed down to consumers and surrounding communities. He also says the amount of energy and water data centers use and the toll on communities must be taken into account and that transparency and common-sense environmental standards are critical. In his May 2026 answer he says stronger pollution protections and support for families and small businesses are not mutually exclusive and that he co-sponsored the RELIEF Act to ease the burden of tariffs on businesses of all sizes.S6S8S23S26
Immigration
- He says he is a product of the American dream, that his parents immigrated to escape persecution, that immigrants will always be part of what makes the country great, and that the system is badly in need of reform with a clear path to legal status for people who play by the rules and contribute to their communities. He says ICE must be held accountable so that enforcement does not target and separate law-abiding families and is conducted humanely and within the law. In his May 2026 questionnaire he says he demanded body cameras for ICE agents to ensure accountability and due process, called for the impeachment of former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and opposed additional Department of Homeland Security funding until meaningful oversight and reforms are in place. He says he supports strong border security to prevent the flow of fentanyl and illicit drugs and that he supports DACA, and he says he works with California State University, Fullerton, where he says cuts to research and development and attacks on international scholars place a painful burden on universities and students. On election rules tied to immigration he says he voted against the SAVE Act because he says requiring a passport or birth certificate would disenfranchise eligible voters, and he says he supports making Election Day a federal holiday, automatic voter registration through the DMV and expanded early voting and vote by mail.S6S8S27
Economy and jobs
- He says he is committed to standing with workers and that as a workers' rights attorney he went after corporations that put profits over the fair treatment of immigrants, survivors of sexual harassment and victims of workplace discrimination. He says he is fighting to make the minimum wage a living wage, to advocate for safer working conditions and to ensure all workers can afford housing and look forward to a secure retirement. The Orange County Register editorial board lists a higher federal minimum wage and the PRO Act among the areas where it disagrees with him, which records those as his positions. He says small businesses are the backbone of the economy, that he is working to cut taxes for middle-class families and small businesses and to bring back good-paying jobs in clean energy and advanced manufacturing, and he points to his work on the Small Business Committee for access to capital and contracts and to the Small Business Innovation Research Foreign Interference Safeguard Act he introduced with Representative Bacon. The materials reviewed do not include a position from him on overall business tax rates or on employment law beyond the minimum wage and the PRO Act.S26S27S11S19
Local services
- He says one of his priorities is bringing federal dollars back to the district and cites funding he says he secured for fire stations, emergency operations, school traffic signals, flood prevention infrastructure and, in Fullerton's case, a $2.8 million grant for 12 firefighters. He also says his office helped trim processing time in the Social Security system for small businesses and individuals and helped deliver $5 million in small business loan payouts in 2026. On data centers he says the energy and water they use and the toll on surrounding communities must be taken into account, and that transparency and common-sense environmental standards are critical so projects do not exploit the environment or consumers.S6S8S20S5
Water
- He discusses water in connection with data centers, saying the amount of energy and water they require and the toll that could take on communities needs to be taken into consideration and that common-sense environmental standards should apply. The materials reviewed do not include a stated position from him on water supply projects, groundwater management, drought policy or water rates. The office matters to water indirectly because a Representative votes on federal water policy and on the federal budget that funds water programs, and he also points to $1 million he says he delivered to Cypress for flood prevention infrastructure.S6S23S5
Other
- Election integrity: he says Republicans are obsessed with passing the SAVE Act, that the act would severely limit the ability of United States citizens to vote, especially women whose maiden names may differ from married names on government paperwork, and that he is deeply concerned by what he calls the president's misinformed rhetoric about the safety of elections and by discussions of stationing the military or ICE at polling places. Artificial intelligence in political advertising: he says artificial intelligence must be regulated at the federal level so it is not used to manipulate people into believing things that are not true, that the First Amendment right to expression matters, and that corporations and social media platforms that amplify false AI content must ensure it does not lead to political violence. War powers and Iran: he says any decision to go to war must be deliberate, limited and grounded in clear national security objectives, that the American public must be part of the debate and that Congress must exercise its constitutional responsibility to authorize military action, and he calls the conflict in Iran a war of choice whose defined mission, measurable objectives and exit strategy have been unclear; the Los Angeles Times reports he called for its immediate end. National security: he says he voted for the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act to strengthen readiness, raise troop pay and improve quality of life, and that the defense budget is already the largest in the world so new funding proposals need transparency and clear outcomes. Changing his mind: he says he signed on to the Block the Bombs Act after hearing from constituents, describing it as a starting point rather than a perfect bill. Term limits: asked in May 2026 whether he would advocate term limits, he says he is not a career politician, that the country is best served by people who have lived and worked in the real world, and that whether through term limits or through bringing more veterans, small business owners and people of color into office it is critical not to let the status quo paralyze the country; he gives no number of years. Technology: he says the country should lead in developing new technologies and that establishing clear regulations for blockchain and related systems would foster growth, safeguard consumers and enhance national security. Human rights and China: his campaign says his family fled a communist regime and that he has advocated for policies promoting democracy, human rights and freedom of expression, supported measures countering Chinese aggression and championed reduced reliance on Chinese supply chains. His hidden talent, he says, is cooking for a whole unit from his time as an Army cook.S6S8S27S5S24
Endorsements
- His campaign's endorsements page publishes quotes it attributes to the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, the California State Fraternal Order of Police, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the California Federation of Labor Unions and the Western States Regional Council of Carpenters, and to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. The same page lists elected officials from U.S. Senators Alex Padilla, Adam Schiff and Tammy Duckworth, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, more than 20 House colleagues, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, State Senator Tom Umberg and Assemblymembers Sharon Quirk-Silva and Avelino Valencia, Orange County Supervisors Vicente Sarmiento and Katrina Foley, Orange County Democratic Party Chair Ada Briceno and Fullerton Councilmember Shana Charles, and organizations including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's FRONTLINE program, the California Democratic Party, the California Federation of Labor Unions, the California Fraternal Order of Police, the California Teachers Association, the California Federation of Teachers, AFSCME, AFGE District 12, the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, IBEW locals 441, 11 and 47, the Orange County Professional Firefighters Association, the Orange County Labor Federation, the Teamsters Joint Council 42, the United Food and Commercial Workers, the Operating Engineers Local 12, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Sierra Club PAC, the League of Conservation Voters, the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, Equality California, the Human Rights Campaign PAC, VoteVets, the New Democrat Coalition Action Fund, the Orange County Business Council PAC, BOLD PAC, J Street PAC, the National Association of Letter Carriers, Moms Demand Action's gun safety candidate distinction and, in the press and media category it prints, the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register. The page's list of press and media endorsements includes those two newspapers as the campaign states them; the Orange County Register's editorial board endorsement was verified directly in this run and an editorial endorsement by the Los Angeles Times in this contest was not located in this run.S28S11
- Ballotpedia's endorsement table for this candidate attributes to him the Democratic Party of California, the California Federation of Labor Unions AFL-CIO, the California Teachers Association, the National Union of Healthcare Workers, California Environmental Voters, California Young Democrats, Democrats Work for America, Equality California, Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties' Community Action Fund and the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter, along with several Ballotpedia voting groups. For the 2024 election Ballotpedia attributes to him the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board and Reproductive Freedom For All.S14
- The Orange County Register's editorial board endorsed him on September 17, 2026 after interviewing both candidates. The board wrote that it had found him thoughtful, focused and conversant this time, that he spoke forcefully about ICE practices, what it called Congress' unsustainable deficit spending, the administration's foreign policy, the tariffs and the war it calls the president's costly war of choice in Iran, and that when asked about the debt and entitlements he called for a commission to propose solutions to Social Security's potential insolvency rather than a cut waste approach. The board also wrote that it disagrees with him on what it calls so-called assault weapons bans, a higher federal minimum wage and the PRO Act. This is the editorial board's own view and it is reported here as such. The same editorial describes the board's interview with the other candidate in this contest.S11S12
Funding
Total raised: $6,401,170 S34S32S30S13
Cash on hand: $3,247,643
As of: September 30, 2026
The total raised and the cash on hand here are what the candidate's own committee, DEREK TRAN FOR CONGRESS, Federal Election Commission committee ID C00851790, reported on its Form 3 for the period July 1 through September 30, 2026, filed October 15, 2026, under filing ID FEC-2027761: $6,401,169.67 in total receipts for the election cycle to date, made up of $5,449,471.30 in total contributions, including $4,145,747.22 from individuals of which $414,879.46 was itemized in this period and $126,605.97 unitemized in this period, $1,296,335.48 from other political committees and $7,388.60 from political party committees, together with $463,116.17 in transfers from other authorized committees, $9,820.09 in offsets to operating expenditures and $478,762.11 in other receipts; $3,038,248.04 in operating expenditures for the cycle to date; $3,247,642.60 in cash on hand at the close of the reporting period; and $27,418.14 in debts and obligations owed by the committee. No donor list is recorded for this candidate in this file: the Commission's itemized receipt schedules for this report could not be retrieved during this run, because the Commission's public API returned a rate limit error for the shared demonstration key in use and the Commission's document viewer returned an empty response for the itemized receipt schedules, so the top funders field is empty rather than incomplete, and the donor amounts that appear in the other candidate's entry were not needed to complete this one. Ballotpedia's table computed from Commission data, an earlier snapshot as of June 30, 2026, gives $4,981,277 in receipts and $3,257,398 in cash on hand, which is lower on receipts and slightly higher on cash than the committee's own third quarter report and reflects that the two figures come from different dates. Spending by separate committees that support or oppose candidates is reported on a different schedule and is not included in the committee totals above: Ballotpedia's compilation of that satellite spending for this race lists $6,644 in spending supporting this candidate and $4,552 opposing him, from the Orange County PAC at $5,642 supporting him and The Conservative Caucus, doing business as Americans for Constitutional Liberty, at $4,552 opposing him, with GiveGreen United Action at $669, Indigo PAC at $317, Sierra Club Independent Action at $10 and the Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties Community Action Fund PAC at $6 also spending in support.
What this could mean for your household
- Homeowners and renters: he says housing is too expensive for Southern California families and that he secured $250,000 in federal funding to build nearly 3,000 affordable housing units across Orange County, that he fought to pass the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act which he says cuts construction red tape and increases access to affordable housing loans, and that he co-sponsored a bill giving homeowners in disaster prone areas incentives to harden their homes against wildfires. He does not state a position on federal rental assistance or the mortgage interest deduction in the materials reviewed.S6S8
- Households worried about prices for groceries, fuel and other basics: he names rising costs of gas, groceries and rent as the single most important issue and lists ending tariffs with allied countries, expanding affordable health care and protecting food stamp benefits among his responses, and he says he co-sponsored the RELIEF Act to ease tariff burdens on businesses and the Tipped Income Protection and Support Act so service workers can deduct tips. He also says the war he attributes to the administration spiked pump prices, which the Los Angeles Times reports.S6S8S19S5
- Households paying electricity and water bills, including those near data centers: he says data centers should pay their own way on energy costs rather than passing them to consumers, that he co-sponsored the Energy Bills Relief Act to lower consumer energy costs, that the energy and water data centers consume and the toll on surrounding communities must be taken into account, and that transparency and common-sense environmental standards should apply. He also says he voted against measures he says would raise utility costs for families.S6S8S23
- Households with health coverage, including older adults and people on Medi-Cal: he says he would restore Medicaid funding and extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits through H.R. 4849, that he will continue to defend Medicare, that he wants to reverse the cuts he attributes to H.R.1, and that he has taken on insurance and pharmaceutical companies over the cost of care. He also told the Orange County Register editorial board he would create a commission to propose solutions to Social Security's potential insolvency.S6S21S11
- Households with federal tax obligations and workers paid by the hour or in tips: he says he would end tariffs with allied countries, extend the tip deduction for service workers to $112,500 of adjusted gross income and make it permanent, cut taxes for middle-class families and small businesses, and work to make the minimum wage a living wage. He does not state a position on income tax rates or brackets in the materials reviewed.S6S8S19S26
- Families with children in public schools: he says he has worked to raise teacher wages, invest in community public schools, support early childhood education and expand vocational education and job training, that he co-sponsored legislation to increase mental health providers in schools, and that he supports safeguards on how companies collect data from minors, stronger parental controls and holding platforms accountable.S22S8
- Small business owners and their employees: he says small businesses are the backbone of the economy, that he is working for access to capital and contracts through the Small Business Committee, that he introduced the Small Business Innovation Research Foreign Interference Safeguard Act with a Republican colleague to protect small firms' intellectual property, that he co-sponsored the RELIEF Act on tariff burdens and the TIPS Act for tipped workers, and he says his office helped deliver $5 million in small business loan payouts and trim Social Security processing time for small businesses in 2026.S19S26S5