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Aarika Rhodes
Aarika Rhodes (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent California's 32nd Congressional District. She lost in the primary on June 7, 2022.
Rhodes completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Aarika Rhodes was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. Rhodes earned a bachelor's degree and graduate degree from California State University at Northridge in 2011 and 2015, respectively. Her career experience includes working as an elementary school teacher.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: California's 32nd Congressional District election, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. House California District 32
Incumbent Brad Sherman defeated Lucie Volotzky in the general election for U.S. House California District 32 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Brad Sherman (D) | 69.2 | 167,411 |
 | Lucie Volotzky (R) | 30.8 | 74,618 | |
| Total votes: 242,029 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 32
The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 32 on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Brad Sherman (D) | 53.7 | 88,063 |
| ✔ | | Lucie Volotzky (R) | 19.7 | 32,342 |
 | Shervin Aazami (D) | 9.2 | 15,036 | |
 | Melissa Toomim (R) | 8.5 | 13,926 | |
 | Aarika Rhodes (D) | 5.3 | 8,744 | |
 | Jason Potell (D) | 1.8 | 2,943 | |
 | Raji Rab (D) | 1.8 | 2,938 | |
| Total votes: 163,992 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Mumin Khan (D)
Campaign themes
2022
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released February 3, 2021 |
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Aarika Rhodes completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Rhodes' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
- The Economy
- Education Reform
- Social Justice and Equality
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign website
Rhodes' campaign website stated the following:
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SUPPORTING THE UNHOUSED There are over 8,000 people experiencing homelessness in the San Fernando Valley. Our communities are not whole until everyone has a home. Thousands of our neighbors are living on the streets. Kids in our communities are trying to attend school while living in cars. This is not who we are supposed to be. It is time to act. Homelessness is a complex problem. There are as many reasons for homelessness as there are people experiencing homelessness. While the problem is significant, we know where to start. Aarika will work closely with local officials to create more temporary shelters. Those experiencing homelessness who also suffer from other problems need access to medical, mental health, and drug rehabilitation services. We need to work toward long term solutions by improving educational opportunities, creating jobs by stimulating the local economy, and working towards affordable housing to prevent our residents from becoming homeless in the first place. Aarika will work for:
A changing 21st-century economy demands a 21st-century education. The jobs of today require collaborative workers who can create innovative solutions to problems. The old model of education, based on memorization and rote learning, is outdated. As a teacher, Aarika is passionate about creating an educational system that prepares every child for success in a 21st century economy. While at school, kids should have the opportunity to participate in real-world experiences and leave the classroom inspired every day. Our current educational system is filled with disparities that prevent every child from receiving the quality education they deserve. The COVID-19 Pandemic has made these educational inequalities even more glaring. Our struggling and underserved students have fallen even further behind during online instruction. Many of our most vulnerable students have been struggling to learn online without a stable internet connection or a reliable computer. This is an injustice. We need to meet this moment with robust, innovative legislation to rebuild our educational system. In Congress, Aarika will support universal preschool, reduce the emphasis on standardized testing, preserve art and music programs, advocate for vocational schools, and support college debt forgiveness programs. Aarika will work for:
Small businesses are the gems of our local community. COVID-19 has devastated small businesses which are the foundation of our local economy. We need to act to help them survive this pandemic. We need to act to help our small businesses rebuild to become even stronger. A strong local economy provides job opportunities and pathways to success for our residents. Locally owned shops, restaurants, and cafes serve as the focal point for our vibrant community life. In Congress, Aarika will work for tax credits and incentives to make it easier to start and run a small business. She will fight to end policies that give large corporations a competitive advantage. She will work to pass Universal Basic Income and Medicare for All to put more spending power in the hands of CA-32 residents and remove the burden of health care costs from business owners. Together we can support our small businesses and bring prosperity to CA-32. Aarika will work for:
Police brutality must end. For too many years we have watched the murder of unarmed black Americans like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police officers who ultimately escape responsibility. We are frustrated but we cannot get discouraged. We are in the majority. Millions of Americans have marched in protest with Black Lives Matter. Tens of thousands of honest police officers are ashamed of law enforcement regulations that exist to protect guilty police officers. We need to create a new relationship between police and communities based on trust and respect. We can do this by creating national standards on police escalation of force protocols and by increasing transparency standards during investigations of misconduct. We need to support police officers with quality training in these new tactics. We need to hire more trained mental health professionals to respond to situations that do not require direct law enforcement intervention. When we restore trust between police and communities, everyone benefits. Aarika will work for:
End for-profit prisons and promote restorative justice. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world but we are not the world's safest country. American prisons are filled with inmates guilty of minor infractions and non violent drug offenses. California spends $80,000 annually to lock up each prisoner (more than five times what we spend per K-12 pupil). Many of these inmates could safely pay for their crimes without serving jail time. Most criminals who deserve jail time can work toward redemption. Our goal is to create a criminal justice system where punishments fit the crimes and rehabilitation is possible. The only goal private for profit prisons have is to make money which they can only do by filling jail cells. Private prisons predictably lobby for all of the worst crime legislation that increases incarceration without improving public safety. We need to reform minimum sentencing laws and end the war on drugs which criminalizes a mental health problem. We need to create educational and job training opportunities within correctional facilities to offer prisoners meaningful pathways to reform. We need to reform bail regulations and improve court appointed representation. Thousands of Americans each year serve days or weeks in jail because they cannot afford bail and thousands more enter guilty plea deals for crimes they are innocent of because they cannot afford a lawyer. We need to create an America where nobody profits from prisons and where justice does not cost money. Aarika will work for:
When children are set on the path to success, students, educators, and communities win. Too many adults who end up in the criminal justice system were failed by their schools as children. Our most vulnerable students -- those with special needs, histories of abuse, and who are growing up in poverty -- are more likely to be disciplined than supported. Young students already begin the process of being institutionalized into separate programs for kids with behavioral issues where the focus shifts from education to control. This is a precursor for many students who become incarcerated later. Locking up an inmate in prison costs California more than five times what it spends educating each public school student annually. Our students deserve better. We cannot afford to waste all of this potential. We have to provide a quality education, and mental health and counseling services for every child. We need to end the zero-tolerance policies, school disturbance laws, and the over-policing of schools that are leading to kids being treated like criminals. Aarika will work for:
Every American deserves to live with dignity. According to the Federal Reserve, nearly 40% of Americans would struggle to cover an unexpected $400 expense. Every day across CA-32, people are forced to make difficult financial decisions. Families are forced to choose between meeting an unexpected car repair bill and ensuring their children have food and clothing. Parents have to choose between pursuing a career or staying home to avoid paying for childcare. Financial burdens force people to delay important life goals such as having children and buying homes. Universal Basic Income (UBI) provides every American citizen a basic guaranteed living stipend once they turn 18. This idea is as old as America. It has been championed by Thomas Paine and Martin Luther King Jr. UBI respects the right of every American to live a decent life. What could you and your family do with an extra $1,000 a month? Universal Basic Income (UBI):
No one should go without health care. Americans spend more than any other wealthy country on health care yet our health care system is inefficient and unequal. Sick patients who need immediate care cannot negotiate or shop around for lower prices. Hospitals and drug companies negotiate with a patchwork of multiple different insurance companies. The result is price gouging and dismaying surprises. People suddenly find that a medicine which used to cost $10 now costs $400 or that a formerly in-network doctor is now out. The system is inefficient for everyone and devastating for those who cannot afford full access. African-American, Native American and Alaska Native women, for example, are about three times more likely to die from complications during pregnancy. The COVID-19 Pandemic has shown the weakness of an employer based health insurance system. As hundreds of thousands of Americans have died, millions more have lost employer-based insurance as their jobs shut down. Medicare for All solves these problems by providing universal health care based on an expanded version of the highly successful Medicare program for seniors. Every American will receive quality health insurance with no premiums, no co-pays, no deductibles, no out of network doctors, and no surprise billing. Expanded coverage will include dental, hearing, mental health, and substance abuse services. A single-payer system cuts out inefficiency and price gouging, lowering national healthcare costs. In Congress, Aarika will support the Medicare for All Act of 2019 and any legislation that will expand coverage for Americans. Medicare for All creates an efficient healthcare system based in justice and equality. Every American has a right to be healthy. Medicare for All:
We need to rethink our relationship with the environment. Climate change is a defining threat of our times. The people of the San Fernando Valley understand better than most the threat of rising temperatures, drought, and wildfires. We understand the frustration of living with gas leaks that harm the health of our communities and take months to fix. Together, we can work to reduce carbon emissions, support renewable energy, and invest in carbon capturing technologies to reverse the effects of climate change. We need to limit fracking and extracting operations on federal lands and increase safety standards for gas and oil pipelines. In Congress, Aarika will co-sponsor the Green New Deal to build a clean, efficient energy infrastructure system. We can create thousands of high paying jobs and achieve energy independence while protecting the environment. We have a responsibility to act now to ensure a healthy planet for generations to come. Aarika will work to:
We are stronger together. This country was created as a land where everyone can be free and equal. We have never fully realized this vision but we have also never failed as a country to become better with each generation. We continue this work. Everyone deserves respect and equality regardless of gender, race, class, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or sexual orientation. In Congress, Aarika will be a voice for everyone. She will work for full equality for Americans with disabilities by ensuring healthcare access and offering incentives for employers to hire disabled workers. Aarika will stand with the LGBTQ+ community. She will fight hiring and housing discrimination. She will work to pass Medicare for All and UBI to guarantee that the most vulnerable Americans have healthcare access and a basic safety net. Aarika will be a champion for everyone treated unfairly anywhere. Aarika will work to:
We need to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. Every day in America teachers stop their lessons to run active shooter drills. Instead of focusing on their education, students focus on how to stay alive if someone walks into school with a gun. This has become an unacceptable “new normal.” Students deserve to feel safe and protected at schools. Parents deserve to know that when they drop their kids off they will be safe until pick up. Everyone deserves to be able to go to a movie theater or a music festival without being afraid of a mass shooting. Sensible gun reforms are not a threat to the millions of responsible gun owning Americans. We need universal background checks which would close the gun show loophole and we need national standards around disqualifications for gun ownership. People convicted of violent crimes, domestic abuse, and those with a history of mental illness connected with violence or thoughts of self harm should not own guns. Together we can create a safer America. We need to partner with groups such as Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety to stop the crisis of gun violence. Aarika will work to:
Immigration is the story of America. Our strength is our diversity. It allows us to innovate, create, and prosper. Immigrants are more likely to start small businesses and less likely to commit crimes than Americans born in the U.S. They strengthen our communities and revitalize our economy. We need immigration but our current immigration laws are dysfunctional. All across this country, our chronically labor short agricultural industry needs immigrant workers but U.S. immigration law makes it difficult for workers to legally immigrate to perform this work. The result is that our agricultural industry rests on the backs of workers who are both vital and treated like criminals. This is not just and it is not what is best for America. We need to increase immigration quotas for workers that our economy needs. We need to create a pathway to citizenship for long term, law abiding undocumented residents and protect our DREAMers. We need to invest in 21st century technologies to combat drug cartels and smuggling operations to keep criminals from crossing our borders. We can create a system that keeps us safe, respects immigrants, and makes America stronger. Aarika will work to:
We have a responsibility to serve those who serve this country. When Americans join the military they take an oath of service. Members of the military have the dedication to complete any mission given to them. They have the courage to go into harm's way if America calls on them. They have made a commitment to us and we need to fulfill our commitment to them. We need to give our veterans the resources they need to help them transition out of the military and into civilian life. We need to provide housing for homeless veterans. We need to improve VA care for injured veterans. We need to make mental health services available to end the crisis of veteran suicide. As the official motto of the VA states, we need “to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.” Aarika will work to:
Every child deserves a chance. Los Angeles County alone has over 33,000 foster youth who have experienced abuse, neglect or abandonment. Foster children are more likely to experience mental illness, anxiety, and depression. They are more likely to face poverty, suicide, and sex trafficking when they age out of the system. We have an obligation as a country to protect our most vulnerable children. We need to properly fund programs providing educational and mental health resources for our foster youth and we need to invest in transition programs for youth aging out of the system. Too many foster children enter into homelessness when they turn eighteen and exit the program because they lack resources and career and life readiness skills. We need to fulfill our obligations to our foster youth. Aarika will work to:
Animals deserve humane treatment. Animals are a valued part of our community and make our lives richer. They deserve to be cared for and protected. We need to fully fund our local animal shelters to end kill shelters and help every pet find a home. We need to outlaw puppy mills. We need to pass the SAFE Act to strengthen protection for horses. Animals raised for food deserve to live without cruelty. Factory farmed chickens, pigs, and cows live in appalling conditions. We need to offer restaurants incentives to use cruelty free meat. Protecting wildlife is a crucial part of environmental protection because animals are part of a healthy ecosystem. We need to protect our national parks to preserve habitats and we need to increase protections for endangered animals. Aarika will work to:
Voters should be able to cast their ballot for who they believe in without fear of “wasting” their vote. Most voters end up casting their ballots for a candidate they like who has a good shot of winning instead of the candidate they actually prefer. This makes sense. In our current system, any vote for a candidate that does not end up in the top two usually helps a candidate that voter prefers the least. A successful third party liberal candidate usually takes votes from the Democrat. A successful third party conservative usually takes votes from the Republican. It does not have to be this way. Ranked choice voting solves this problem. In a Ranked Voting system, voters list their top three preferred candidates in order on their ballot. Once all the ballots are cast, the candidate in the race who received the fewest first-choice votes is removed. For anyone who voted for the now disqualified candidate, their vote goes to their second choice. Ballots are tallied again and then the candidate remaining who now has the fewest votes is eliminated and anyone who voted for that candidate has their vote given to their next choice. This process is repeated until one candidate has a majority vote and is declared the winner. Ranked choice voting makes the voice of the electorate heard and ensures that the winning candidate actually has the most support. Ranked Choice Voting:
You should not have to be wealthy for your voice to be heard in America. $6.5 billion were spent on the 2016 Congressional and Presidential elections. Most of this money came from corporations and the wealthy. How much money came from cashiers and crossing guards, teachers and firefighters, students and retired Americans living on a pension? We have a system stacked in favor of the wealthy because politicians are beholden to big money. Elections are expensive and politicians who stand up to big business risk losing their jobs. Democracy Dollars solves this problem by putting more than $20 billion in the hands of regular Americans. Every eligible voter will receive a $100 voucher per election cycle which they can only use for a campaign contribution. When regular Americans become the largest source of campaign contributions, politicians will start working for the teachers and the crossing guards. Democracy Dollars:
Local journalism is a public good. Local news is an essential part of CA-32. It keeps us informed about community events. It defends our democracy. Whenever there is a scandal involving abuse of power at the state or local level, it is usually a local journalist whose investigation uncovered the corruption. In our district, we have been confronted with wildfires and the Coronavirus Pandemic. In a crisis, we need immediate, on the ground information to keep us safe. The economy is changing and local news organizations everywhere are struggling to stay in business. Local journalism is a public good. In situations where local news companies cannot afford to stay in business, they should be subsidized by the federal government. The cost of allowing local journalism to fail is more than we can afford. Local journalism:
What is Bitcoin? Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency. It uses blockchain technology to process secure transactions from user to user. Bitcoin and Our Campaign We are pleased to announce our campaign now accepts Bitcoin contributions up to $100 in value. Aarika believes in the right of every individual to manage their own finances and investments as they see fit. In Congress, Aarika will oppose any attempts to ban this emerging technology. Aarika is also a strong advocate for making sure financial literacy is taught in schools and for people being aware of the environmental impact of their investments.[2] |
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| —Aarika Rhodes' campaign website (2022)[3] | ||
See also
2022 Elections
External links
|
Candidate U.S. House California District 32 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 1, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Aarika Rhodes for Congress, “Policies,” accessed May 25, 2022
