My name is Harpreet Singh Chima. I am running to represent California’s 9th Congressional District.
Growing up, I watched my parents work hard and achieve the American Dream. As immigrants, they saved up to start their own business. And although there were difficulties along the way, eventually they achieved financial stability. They bought a home and raised their family.
After I graduated with a bachelor’s in Neurobiology from the University of California, Davis, I worked on progressive campaigns for City Council and District Attorney. I organized coalitions to support Green New Deal legislation and affordable student housing. I am also a member-at-large at my UPTE-CWA 9119 union local. I worked with my fellow union members to raise funds for our undocumented neighbors when our government failed to deliver them the first round of COVID-19 stimulus payments. And I am helping lead the effort for a non-police first responders program, CALL Stockton.
After years of progressive activism, I look at our community and see the lack of progress we have made. Today, there are fewer possibilities of reaching the same American Dream my parents achieved. The costs of education, of housing, of living have all skyrocketed. But wages have barely gone up. The middle class continues to shrink. Too many working people live on the brink of poverty. But our politicians are content to fix things around the edges. The sense of hurt, pain, and urgency we feel is not reflected in the actions of the people we elect to represent us.
I’m running for Congress because I believe our government should serve the people who do the actual work of keeping this country running. Join me, so we can work together to improve the lives of our families, friends, and neighbors.