Angelica Dueñas, a Democrat from Sun Valley, who challenged the established Tony Cárdenas (CA-29) in 2020 announced today that she will be running again in 2022. Cárdenas is noted for rejecting claims of sexual abuse from a former staffer.
In her announcement video, Dueñas said “From public health, to housing, to the environment, the people have been abandoned by both the Republicans and corporate-owned Democrats.” Dueñas highlights her 91,524 votes while spending $76,516, a ratio “unheard of at the Congressional level,” she noted.
A Congressional District is made up of around 700,000 people, only around half of whom are registered to votes. Dueñas said that her results in the 2020 election meant she felt “obligated to run again in 2022.”
The end-screen to Dueñas’ announcement says she is running to represent the San Fernando Valley in Congress in 2022, a nod to the imminent redistricting that may preserve most of the area covered by the 29th District—or carve it up. It is expected that California will lose at least one Congressional District, with most observers looking toward Southeast L.A. rather than the San Fernando Valley.
Dueñas pledged to “fight for our families and always put people first.” Political Life examined of her filings with the Federal Election Commission in 2020 and did not find a single contribution from corporate PACs. Her highest contribution appears to be $4,750 from Progressive Democrats of America, while the vast bulk of her campaign haul came from individual donors.
Dueñas' platform, which can be found on her website, https://www.angelica4congress.com/, includes Medicare for All, tuition-free public college, public housing, and more.
Dueñas can be reached at (818) 962-8392. Her announcement video was posted on Twitter at 10:30 AM, February 15th, 2021.