FEDERAL: 32nd Congressional District – 2026 Primary Election

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U.S. Representative – 32nd Congressional District – Vote for (1)

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We have endorsed Rep. Brad Sherman through years of voter guides.

However, this time, there is a younger and extremely competent Democratic challenger who’s gotten the enthusiastic endorsements of a number of young Democrat, Indivisible and environmental groups, along with the Malibu and Simi Valley Democratic Clubs in the heart of this district.

  • We set both men’s wildly different priorities side by side, and we invite you to scroll through them online as well.

We have no idea how many of Jake Levine’s fifteen priority issues he could enact if he were elected to Congress, but we were impressed by their range and specificity. The “Build the Train – Now” took us down the internet rabbit holes typical for large, complicated projects with very different constituencies, and we were happy to see that the Santa Susana mess was a featured priority as well.

Rep. Sherman has seven priority issues, two of which are directed towards issues in other countries.

Simi Valley residents – we know you’re worried about the spector of 81-year-old Larry “the Pant-less Octogenarian” Thompson somehow getting his mitts on this district. If after contrasting and comparing the two lists, you too might wonder if it were time for Rep. Sherman, who is 71, to consider if retirement plans are in his future.

Rep. Brad Sherman (D)

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RECOMMENDATION: No. After reading the two lists of priorities and comparing endorsements, we think that Jake might be the better choice.

Sample of endorsements:

CADEM
dem. party of san fernando
Los Angeles dem. PartyNorth valley dem
sierra club
Planned parenthood
NOW
equality CA
GUN SENSE CANDIDATE
Adam
Julia Brownley
Leiu
SALUD CARBAJAL
Leiu
GAVIN NEWSOM
Henry Stern
JACQUI IRWIN
Too many, see list
CA fed. of teachersCA Teachers association
UFCE 770
Ventura Co. Professional Firefighters

Two differing viewpoints for your consideration…

CON: (KNOCK-LA.com) Brad Sherman is one of Israel’s strongest supporters in Congress, receiving over $600,000 in campaign spending from AIPAC and its allies, slanderingpro-Palestine protesters as antisemitic terrorism supporters, and using his powerful position on the House Foreign Affairs Committee to increase military aid to Israel. He also voted for the dangerous HR 6090, which has censored and chilled speech critical of Israel on college campuses.

He also helped stall a subway line connecting the Valley and the West Side for years, catering to wealthy NIMBYs in his district at the expense of his working class constituents. [Indivisible Ventura – sources differ on this description.]

We recommend a vote for Christopher Ahuja, a labor-backed socialist whose extensive progressive platform includes supporting Medicare for All, abolishing ICE, enacting Federal renter protections, and ending US military support for Israel. [Indivisible Ventura – we don’t think he’s qualified.]

PRO: (cahighways.org) “According to his bio, Brad Sherman attended UCLA, and graduated from Harvard Law School. He worked as a CPA and Certified Tax Law Specialist, and headed up California’s Board of Equalization. He is one of only four CPAs serving in the House , and co-chairs the bipartisan CPA caucus. He was then elected to Congress in 1996, and has a whole list of accomplishments. For all of those progressive goals that the other candidates are just talking about, he has been involved in the legislation that has advanced them forward.

I read through his issues page. The overall impression that comes from it is that not only does Brad Sherman support relatively progressive causes, he is actively implementing them. He’s not fully progressive: there’s no mention of Medicare for all, or wealth taxes, and there are no pledges to reform Congress and not accept PAC money. But even at that, he has clearly been effective on moving the progressive needle forward. According to his congressional website, he has some significant committee assignements and caucus memberships.  His issues page on his congressional websitehas bit more information. He has been working to protect Medicare and Social Security. He is supporting alternative energy. He is working to simplify tax filing, and even under the 47 administration, has brought results to California.

Then there are the issues he doesn’t talk about. According to Google’s AI summary, Sherman consistently raises a significant portion of his campaign funds from Political Action Committees (PACs), with PAC contributions often accounting for over 40% of his total funds, frequently originating from industries like finance and defense. In the 2023-2024 cycle, 42.30% of his funds came from PACs. Quiver Quantitative has a list of his PAC donors here. According to YouTube, Sherman supports Medicare for All as a necessary, long-term solution to reform the U.S. health care system, arguing it is needed to address rising premium costs and coverage gaps. He advocates for this approach as a superior alternative to the limitations of the Affordable Care Act, aiming for a rational, universal system. The cyptocurrency folks hate Sherman. According to the Intercept, while many other Democrats have sought to chart a middle path, Sherman has in the past called for an outright ban of cryptocurrencies. According to a press release from during the Biden administration (i.e., BEFORE the issue became trendy),, Sherman has consistently supported strengthening rules against insider trading, including stricter regulations on financial activities for members of Congress. According to the Google AI, Sherman generally approaches wealth inequality by advocating for policies that support labor unions, increase taxes on corporations and high earners, and protect consumers from financial exploitation. He often emphasizes the need for a tax system that does not favor billionaires and large corporations.

In short, the impress I get on the issues is that he’s a realistic progressive. He broadly supports progressive goals, but isn’t as aggressive on going after them, and often compromises to move the needle forward. His attitude is to get something done, as opposed to waiting for perfection.

He has the bulk of endorsements, including broad union endorsement and Democratic organizations. He has the support of a large number of elected leaders and community folks.

In terms of negatives: There are accusations that he has had a toxic office environment, and some staffers (not Sherman) have been accused of misconduct. There was also the aforementioned viewing of scantily clad women incident, which he claims was due to the X algorithm. However, other than that one incident, there haven’t been other reports so there doesn’t seem to be a pattern of behavior there. That’s similarly true for the office environment issue: there doesn’t appear to be a pattern of problems. Isolated incidents happen to everyone: what’s key is a pattern of behavior. Lastly, the progressive folks don’t like him because of his acceptance of PAC money, and his strong support of Israel. They also don’t like his age.

ENDORSED Jake Levine (D) – National Security Official

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RECOMMENDATION: YES. We like his priority list, and that he has a lot of young Democratic and environmental organization support, as well as the endorsements of the two nearest Democratic clubs.

SIMI VALLEY DEM
California Young Democrats
LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS
DOLORES HUERTA
LOCAL AND NATIONAL LEADERSLOCAL AND NATIONAL LEADERS
Fmr. U.S. Congressman Howard BermanMayor Sheila Rossi, City of South Pasadena
Fmr. U.S. Congressman Henry WaxmanDavid Hochschild, California Energy Commission
Fmr. CA State Senator Fran PavleyFran Diamond, California Environmental Voters
Tracy Quinn, Heal the BayValeria Serna, Resilient Palisades
Dr. Manuel Pastor, USC Dornsife Equity Research InstituteMary Nichols, California Air Resources Board (CARB)
Phil Angelides, Fmr. CA State TreasurerJon Katz, Santa Monica Democratic Club
Wendy-Sue Rosen, California Environmental VotersSamantha Power, Former US Ambassador to the UN
Gina McCarthy, Former EPA AdministratorCarol Browner, Former EPA Administrator
Daleep Singh, Former Deputy National Security AdvisorNina Hachigian, Alliance for Local Leaders International
Georgia MercerMatthew Pauley

(cahighways.org) Jake Levine served as Chief Climate Officer of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, leading the agency’s climate team, with the responsibility for developing and implementing the DFC’s climate finance agenda. He worked with DFC’s Public Board agencies–the U.S. Departments of State, Treasury, Commerce, and the U.S. Agency for International Development–to coordinate administration policy in climate finance.  He served  in the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change, where he developed energy policies, including the most stringent fuel economy standards ever set and the first-ever greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and trucks. He also served as Senior Counsel to California State Senator Fran Pavley, where he led the successful campaigns to draft, design, and enact SB 32 (Pavley) and AB 197 (Garcia)—landmark California climate and
environmental justice legislation. He has also worked in clean power and energy industries, and was an advisor to the California Climate Action Corps, a statewide service corps focused on climate resilience in underserved communities. He holds a B.A. from Harvard College and a law degree from Harvard Law School. He is the son of former Rep. Mel Levine (who lived in the Palisades), and went to Harvard Westlake.

Reading through his positions: He appears to be progressive (supporting Medicare for All), but not to the level of Democratic Socialist progressive. I didn’t see discussions of attacking structural wealth disparity, for example. He is endorsed by J-Street, which is a more progressive Jewish PAC. I’ve read through his priorities, and they seem reasonable. In particular, he notes: “I support a two-state solution — a State of Israel and a Palestinian State — that guarantees the safety, peace, and equal right to self-determination for both Israelis and Palestinians, and an immediate end to the atrocities committed against civilians and the violations of international law. ” That pretty much agrees with my position.

He has a fair number of endorsements,  some of which are significant: Howard Berman (a former congresscritter), Henry Waxman (another former congresscritter), Fran Pavely (a former assemblycritter, who he worked for), and lots of conservation groups. No union endorsements.

I looked for an argument of why folks should vote for him instead of Brad Sherman. The only thing I could find were complaints about Sherman accepting PAC money. No seeming disagreements with Sherman’s record. I think, when looking for potentially relevant experience, he has the most real government experience so far.

Chris Ahuja (D) – Small Business Owner

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RECOMMENDATION: NO. Like many of this group of candidates, he needs to start at a lower office level and get more experience.

(cahighways) “Reading through his issues, I generally agree with them. Whether he has the ability to bring them to fruition is a different story. His background isn’t that heavily law based (and Congress writes laws): “Christopher earned his Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology with a concentration in Exercise Science. He later earned his Public Leadership Credential from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government”. That’s scant. He hasn’t held a significant elected position: “served on the Tarzana Neighborhood Council for three years, advancing sustainability initiatives and community projects that strengthen local neighborhoods. He also served as Chair of the Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance, Treasurer for Feel the Bern SFV, sat on the West Valley Warner Center Chamber of Commerce board, and joined the California Biodiversity Working Group”. He doesn’t have the experience of working in the state assembly or the state senate, so he’s a bit green.”

(knock-LA.com) Brad Sherman is one of Israel’s strongest supporters in Congress, receiving over $600,000 in campaign spending from AIPAC and its allies, slanderingpro-Palestine protesters as antisemitic terrorism supporters, and using his powerful position on the House Foreign Affairs Committee to increase military aid to Israel. He also voted for the dangerous HR 6090, which has censored and chilled speech critical of Israel on college campuses.

He also helped stall a subway line connecting the Valley and the West Side for years, catering to wealthy NIMBYs in his district at the expense of his working class constituents. 

We recommend a vote for Christopher Ahuja, a labor-backed socialist whose extensive progressive platform includes supporting Medicare for All, abolishing ICE, enacting Federal renter protections, and ending US military support for Israel.

Dory Benami (D) – Small Business Owner

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RECOMMENDATION: NO.

NO ENDORSEMENTS

Marena Lin (D) – Climate Scientist

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RECOMMENDATION: NO. Interesting website with charts (we LOVE charts), has absolutely no backing from anyone. Like many of this group of candidates, needs to start at a lower office level.

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(cahighways.org) Marena Lin seems to have much less of a political background, and more of a scientific one. According to her bio at Project Restore Us, she has training in data and climate science and understanding of food security systems. She completed her postdoctoral research at the University of California, San Diego researching climate change and human migration, with past work focused on climate change and food security. She was a 2013-2017 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, and she completed her Ph.D. at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. Prior to this, Lin completed a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she completed a thesis on perceptions of climate change, cropping decisions, and India’s Public Distribution System in the Uttarakhand Himalayas. She completed her undergraduate degree at Harvard College, and she is highly proficient in Urdu-Hindi and proficient in Spanish. Lin was previously a staff organizer with the Harvard Graduate Students Union – UAW. This is not a lot of political experience, and it seems very narrowly focused.

Josh Sautter (D) – Community Organizer

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RECOMMENDATION: NO. Like many of this group of candidates, needs to start at a lower office level.

NO ENDORSEMENTS

(cahighways.org) Investigating Sautter’s background from his page, here’s what I found: He is a twice elected member of the Encino Neighborhood Council, having served tenures as both President and Vice president of the Encino Council. He has also been elected to serve as delegate to the California Democratic Convention. He was born in Bloomington, Indiana, attended high school in Washington, DC, and college at Bard College in New York. In addition to serving on the Encino Neighborhood Council, Josh is a former stand-up and sketch comedian having appeared at comedy clubs in Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, DC. Currently, he works as a freelance writer. He does not appear to have legal experience or elected experience at the city, county, or state level.

Anna Wilding (D) – White House Correspondent

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RECOMMENDATION: NO. Why don’t you start as a city councilmember, or a county supervisor? Why does everyone want to start at the top?

“I’m not a career politician. I live in the district and grew up here. I’m a proven builder in business, in crisis leadership  and I’m running to deliver results for Californians.”

American Small Business LeagueHidden Pioneers EndorsementKids First
Olympic Medal Holder Rod Dixon’s Kid’s Marathon FoundationSubsea Sustainability Project (TM)Citadel Air Defense Systems

(cahighways.org) According to her IMDB page: “Anna Wilding is an American citizen and Running for Congress in 2026. Anna Wilding is a leading and award winning creator , director, producer, actress, writer in feature film, television, music video and still photography. Anna Wilding is cited in print media as “truly multi talented” and “iconic” for her work behind the lens and on screen and stage. Anna Wilding is an award-winning director, actress, writer, producer and still photographer.” Translation: She has no political experience. Excuse me, this is her political experience: “I have lived and worked on both coasts for more than three decades, including time in Washington, DC as a Senior White House Correspondent. I have driven the length and breadth of the United States four times.”

Her website looks to be designed by the same person that designed Larry Thompson (R)’s website. I read through her issues page. She seems to have mostly progressive positions, but does not seem to give specific solutions that might be achievable. She argues against Brad Sherman, but mostly that he’s been in office too long.

Larry A. Thompson (R) – Attorney/ Film Producer
Another old guy with ZERO public service experience and a walking advertisement for age limits.

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RECOMMENDATION: NO. God, not this pantless wonder again! We just forwarded what he did last time, but now he’s 2 years older, and according to his endorsements, just as right-wing and qualification-free!

Los Angeles County Young RepublicansCalifornia Young Republicans
SAN FERNANDO VALLEY REPUBLICAN ASSEMBLY

Larry gets an “A” rating
3-stars for the pantless “Sanity” candidate!

Meet Larry A. Thompson! AND THIS WAS TWO YEARS AGO!

Seriously! Not everything gets better with age. Two years ago, we were guessing that this was either a “NURSE! GRANDPA IS SUNDOWNING AGAIN!” moment, or maybe he was just used to doing crap like this as a “joke” and women laugh because they need a paycheck. Hard to say, but easy to say “EEEEW!” Link to watch this whole sorry video: https://x.com/ltbeverlyhills/status/1831746545374622206?s=12&t=LhTf92s61u3cXnSI9q2j7w

Anyway, he hasn’t really updated his website since 2024, so we’re going to be repeating some stuff as well.

So why does Pants-Optional-Larry think he’s qualified to be a congressman?

He’s just another old rich dude who, at 81 years old, has NEVER bothered to serve his community in any real capacity – like working with the public as a city councilmember, school board member or a dogcatcher. Stuffed to the gills with self-importance and bored, he’s decided he now deserves a retirement career in civil service, but only near the top – as a congressman.

He likes comparing himself to Brad Sherman, which we don’t think is as good a move for him as he does.

What else does he believe?

From his website…

(Paste)”This attitude shows how much contempt Republicans have for the very idea of government: they seem to think that you don’t have to know anything about government to run the government; hell, ANYONE can just walk in off the street and do it! This is because Republicans, in their heart of hearts, apparently don’t want America to have a government at all—or schools or taxes or health care or roads. The Republicans have been running for the past 36 years on a platform of anti-government rhetoric and worshipful veneration of the private sector; they act like this 21st Century high-tech Information Age nation should revert back to a feudal system of land barons and serfs, traveling via private toll roads, and paying tribute to whichever local church or warlord controls the biggest arsenal of AR-15 assault rifles.“

Here’s one of his great ideas!

One purpose of printing money, Larry, as opposed to monitoring how much should be in the economy – is to replace old money, which is increasingly getting replaced by electronic funds. Physical bills only last ±6.6 years. Also, the amount of physical currency that people actually use on a daily basis is small compared to the total money in a system. USE THE GOOGLE, LARRY!

Oh, and this…

So, back to Pants-Free-Larry…What else does he believe?

  • Well, this CATHOLIC candidate has some choice words for Jewish voters IN 2024!

Pantless-Larry is calling himself a “MODERATE” republican for a reason!

This is to trick the homophobes and xenophobes who realize that “real” Trumplicans are bad news, into voting for him. But he will be just another vote for whatever his Christofascist buddy Speaker Mike Johnson, or his heartthrob Musk is proposing, including nationwide abortion, contraception bans and all the other Project 2025’s oppressive proposals, no matter what his website says to the contrary.

ABORTION RIGHTS: Hahahaha, No. SERIOUSLY! WE DO NOT BELIEVE YOU!

Nor did we believe Trump’s last three SCOTUS pics who said the same damn thing, right before they nuked Roe v. Wade.

  • (ABCNews) Justice Neil Gorsuch: “That’s the law of the land [Roe v Wade], I accept the law of the land, senator. Yes,” Gorsuch replied.
  • Justice Brett Kavanaugh: “...I mean Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, been affirmed many times. Casey is precedent on precedent.”
  • Justice Amy Coney Barrett: “– who has described herself as a “faithful Catholic” — told senators that her “personal, moral religious views” won’t impact her judicial decision-making. “I have done that in my time on the 7th Circuit. If I stay there, I’ll continue to do that,” Barrett said. “If I’m confirmed to the Supreme Court, I will do that still.“
  • Larry A. Thompson: “I also do not believe in a federal law banning a woman’s right to choose.“

Larry, a Catholic dude, was a “Founding Member Enthusiast” of the Museum of The Bible in Washington, D.C., which has been described as “It’s not really a museum of the Bible, it’s a museum of American Protestantism. Their whole purpose is to show this country as a Christian country governed by Christian morality.” (i.e. Christian nationalism revisionism) See also “Hobby Lobby smuggling scandal.“

He was also knighted in Rome, Italy in 2017. Grand Prior, into the “prestigious Order of Saint Martin of Mount of the Beatitudes as a ‘Patron of the Arts and Protector of the Most Needy.'” though we see nothing in his bio justifying “Protector of the Most Needy.”

if we get another GOP House, the first time abortion and contraceptive bans come up, this guy will vote for them as fast as his pants his the floor.

Other views:
(cahighway.org) “This fellows website, unsurprisingly, raises a number of red flags. He starts out with “I am a Christian first. A Conservative second. A Centrist Republican third. I am a member of Stand With Crypto.” Stand With Crypto is a nonprofit advocating for clear, common-sense crypto regulations; in other words, he supports crypto. He states “I will always protect family values.” That’s coding for a anti-abortion, anti-women, and anti-LGBTQ+ agenda. His positions are across the board, but strongly conservative. He has the endorsement of the Republican party, and is the only Republican candidate. He does not mention Trump: either agreeing with him or disagreeing with him. He has no political background.

He does not understand what a congressman does, writing “Repairing the many potholes in our streets including Ventura Boulevard, Coldwater Canyon, Laurel Canyon, Benedict Canyon, Beverly Glen, and Topanga Canyon Boulevard”. City street repairs are the job of the city, not the Federal government. Department of Transportation funds do not go to pothole repair on city streets. He also writes: “Fight immediately for a futuristic, high-speed monorail service running alongside the 405 freeway with a beautiful view, connecting people traveling between the San Fernando Valley and the Westside of Los Angeles”. This ignores the fact that the studies have shown a monorail would be ineffective and not serve as many transit riders.  He also believes “addressing the homeless problem primarily as a mental health issue”, which aligns with Bianco’s mistaken views on addressing the unhoused.

His website is poorly designed and hard to navigate, and feels outdated.”

Doug Smith – Television Stage Manager

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  • Age: 62
  • City of residence: Malibu
  • Occupation: television stage manager, council member of Director’s Guild of America
  • Education: attended UCLA and Otis Parsons, no degrees listed
  • Funding: has received $0 as of 3/31/2026
  • Email: he can be contacted through the website
  • Campaign Website: https://dougsmithforcongress.com/
NO ENDORSEMENTS

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(Election Forum Questionnaire)

  1. What is your name and what office are you running for?
  2. To help California’s economy grow, do you support
    • Raising fees, (If so, which ones?)
    • Closing tax loopholes (If so, which ones?)
    • Raising income taxes (If so on whom?)
    • Raise the sales tax
    • Cutting spending (if so, what areas of the budget and by how much?)
  3. What is your view on Parental consent for a minor to get an abortion?
  4. Do you support or oppose the Covered California healthcare plan for Californians? Why or why not?
  5. California ranks in the bottom tier of educational excellence in the nation? What should change to increase the education level of our students which are our future workforce?
  6. Do you support or oppose the sanctuary state?
  7. Are we spending the right amount on K-12 Education in this state? Community colleges? The California University System?
  8. What solution do you have for the pension issue in California?
  9. Should taxpayers pay for abortions in California?
  10. Do you support or oppose the efforts to stop AB1266, the transgender bathroom/gym act?
  11. Do you support or oppose:
    • Homeschooling
    • Charter Schools
    • School Choice
  12. Do you favor or oppose a Religious Freedom Act in California?
  13. Do you believe in absolute truth? Why or why not? If you believe in absolute truth, what is the source of absolute truth? If you do not believe in absolute truth, how do you determine what is true?

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