Angela Gonzales-Torres, daughter of deportee in Los Angeles and pro-Palestine advocate, is running for US Congress

Angela Gonzales-Torres, the daughter of a deportee and a recent graduate who took part in a pro-Palestinian encampment, is running in the Democratic primary to challenge the incumbent in her Los Angeles district because she believes she can better represent regular people.

She got into the race in April, promising to focus on universal healthcare, the environment, and the high cost of housing.

Moreover, she is not accepting corporate or PAC (political action committee) financing, differentiating herself from California's District 34 Representative Jimmy Gomez, who has been a major recipient of donations from real estate developers, cryptocurrency companies and AIPAC (the Israel American Public Affairs Committee). Gomez has not publicly commented on his primary challenge.

"I know what it means to live with the consequences of the decisions made in Washington," Gonzales-Torres told The New Arab, while on a short break from one of her two jobs.

"I'm the daughter of a deportee and was raised by a single mum. That experience gave me a deep understanding of how broken our immigration system is and how urgently our government needs to be reimagined with humanity at its core," she said, pointing to her working-class upbringing, which arguably aligns more closely with residents of her district than with members of Congress.

This is her first race for the US Congress, encouraged by David Kim, a progressive who has previously run in the same district, but she is not new to politics. She served as president of her neighbourhood council in Highland Park, worked in the Los Angeles mayor's office, and was a regional representative on Metro's Public Safety Advisory Committee.

Gonzales-Torres, 30, is part of a new generation of politicians running on an economic populist platform and refusing significant donations. It is a break with the Democratic establishment, but largely popular with the public, according to surveys.

California's District 34, which is almost entirely in the northeast of Los Angeles, is majority-Latino and working-class. Though Gomez, the district’s current Congress member, shares this background, his critics, including Justice Democrats, who have endorsed Gonzales-Torres, say he "closed the door" once he got to Washington.

"There's a recurring theme that voters are waking up to – the absentee Congressperson. Many people don't realise it until there’s a crisis," Usamah Andrabi, communications director for Justice Democrats, told TNA. "The Democratic base has been clamouring for new leaders."

Though AIPAC has long held sway in US elections across both parties, it is increasingly seen as a pariah in the Democratic Party, including among some moderates, who have in recent months publicly declined funds from the lobby group. Its reputation as a bipartisan player took a hit in 2020, when the group supported dozens of candidates who denied the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump.

If this trend continues, Andrabi thinks AIPAC could go the way of the NRA (the National Rifle Association), which eventually became taboo for Democrats. However, that could still take some time.

Through its super-PAC, the United Democracy Project, AIPAC is the largest source of Republican funding in Democratic primaries, spending millions to support more conservative Democrats running against progressives who are often critical of Israel.

Gonzales-Torres is an example of a candidate who hasn't hesitated to speak out on Palestinian human rights.

While a student at the University of California, Los Angeles, she was part of a student-led encampment, which was violently attacked by counter-protesters in the spring of 2024.

"It's time for courage in a time of extreme cowardice," Gonzales-Torres said of her outspokenness on Palestinians.

"It was a weird time to be at UCLA," she recalled. "It was my dream school, and I was working for the vice chancellor's office. Everyone was doing what they could to organise a safe space to protest. I was there every day."

She vividly remembers when the police entered the encampment, as those who were gathered, comprised of students and professors, called parents to reassure them they were safe, even if they felt scared.

It was around this time that Gonzales-Torres asked herself why some of Trump's biggest donors were funding Gomez, and also decided that she wanted to be part of a different kind of politics focused on grassroots organising.

"It's been so beautiful to see Angelenos come together and keep their neighbours safe," she said, referring to immigration enforcement raids that have affected immigrants. "We have renewed energy in the city and organising in a way I’ve never seen."