As ballots go out for the California primary, the candidates for the 25th Congressional District spoke in exclusive video interviews with The Signal.
Democratic challengers Katie Hill, Jess Phoenix and Bryan Caforio spoke to the Signal on their platforms. Current Congressman Steve Knight, R-Palmdale, did the same.
Knight has been in office since 2015. Previously, he represented California’s 21st Senate District from 2012-14 and California’s 36th State Assembly district from 2008-12, serving as assistant minority leader in the Assembly for the last two years of that term.
He is a former Los Angeles Police Department officer and Palmdale City Councilman.
“I’m the local guy, I’m the local Congressman,” he told the Signal this week. “We work on the local issues. I did 70 trips cross country last year, so I’m in the district as much as I possibly can. And we work on the local issues, from Cemex to veterans to bringing more women’s centers. I think that’s what people will take away from me and I hope that’s what we portray.”
Caforio was previously the Democratic pick for the general election in November 2016. He was beat by Knight 53 percent to 47 percent. Caforio announced his intention to run again in May 2017.
The attorney has lived in the district since 2015.
“I want voters to know I am here fighting for this community,” he told the Signal in May. “I think what is happening right now in Washington with the dysfunction has real effects here locally. We need someone in office who is going to stand up and represent this community and defend us from the attacks being launched on California right now by this administration.”
Santa Clarita native Hill, who entered the race in March 2017, is the executive director and deputy CEO of PATH, a nonprofit organization that works to end homelessness.
“I don’t need polling to tell me what (our needs) are,” Hill told the Signal in May. “I’ve experienced them myself. I believe our community deserves representation that is truly by and for the people, not sold out to special interest groups and corporations.”
Volcanologist Jess Phoenix announced her candidacy in April 2017.
“If people really want a different sort of person in office, someone who makes decisions based on facts and evidence rather than opinion, I’m the candidate for that,” Phoenix told the Signal in May. “I want to bring my scientific training, background and real world experience to Congress to make laws that are going to help people from a factual basis.”
Phoenix was born in New Jersey and lived in Virginia and Colorado throughout her childhood, moving to California in 2007 for work. She moved to the district in 2014 and has lived in Acton full time since 2017.
The primary is June 5.
