Christopher Riley (California)
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Christopher Riley (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent California's 8th Congressional District. He lost in the primary on June 7, 2022.
Riley completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Christopher Riley was born in Palo Alto, California. Riley earned a bachelor's degree in communications and digital media from Grand Canyon University in 2013 and a law degree from Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law in 2020. His career experience includes working as a high school math teacher.[1][2]
Elections
2022
See also: California's 8th Congressional District election, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. House California District 8
Incumbent John Garamendi defeated Rudy Recile in the general election for U.S. House California District 8 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | John Garamendi (D) | 75.7 | 145,501 |
 | Rudy Recile (R)  | 24.3 | 46,634 | |
| Total votes: 192,135 | |||
| = 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 8
The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 8 on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Garamendi (D) | 63.1 | 72,333 |
| ✔ | | Rudy Recile (R) | 20.5 | 23,518 |
 | Cheryl Sudduth (D) | 9.9 | 11,378 | |
 | Christopher Riley (D) | 3.4 | 3,926 | |
 | Edwin Rutsch (D) | 2.9 | 3,268 | |
| Demnlus Johnson (D) (Write-in) | 0.2 | 234 | ||
| Total votes: 114,657 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Christopher Riley completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Riley's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
I am a first generation college graduate and law school graduate. My mother is an immigrant from El Salvador and met my father when they were both serving in the US Army. I grew up in a lower middle class home, but my parents worked hard so that I could benefit from the American dream. I worked in public relations and marketing in San Francisco after college. During that time I learned that I wanted to do more for my community and I wanted to be a force for the positive change we need in our country. I left my career to attend law school where I focused on cyber security and information privacy law. In the lead up to the 2020 election, I produced a documentary streaming on Amazon that investigates the issues facing our elections in the United States like campaign finance and foreign interference. There is still much work to be done to ensure a better future for my generation and to preserve the promise of the American Dream. I believe in leadership through service and I want to be a leader that serves the people first. We can do better for all Americans and that is my goal in running for office, to improve the lives of all Americans, not just the lucky few.
- The inequality of wealth in this nation is reaching staggering new heights. Congress, the economy, wall street, and corporations have stacked the deck against every day Americans and the middle class is suffering. The accumulation of wealth at the top is driving the middle and working classes into debt and this will lead to catastrophic results in the future. One of the most important actions we can take to save the middle class is canceling the trillions of dollars in student loan debt. This one action would help millions of Americans become first time home owners and start families all while creating economic growth.
- Healthcare should be a right for all citizens in the wealthiest country on Earth. Medicare should be expanded to cover ALL Americans. The current health insurance system we have has turned the entire healthcare system into a giant emergency room that inflates costs and more importantly, costs more lives. A new healthcare for all system should emphasize preventative healthcare that catches cancer and other diseases earlier, saving lives and additionally being more cost effective. People shouldn't have to choose between medical debt and death, we must do better for all Americans.
- Climate change is an existential crisis that is looming in our not too distant future. California has been devastated by wildfires year after year as droughts become more drawn out and frequent. Rising sea levels threaten the Bay Area and many population areas in the United States. We cannot allow this conversation to be decided by those that care more about todays profits than they do the next generation's ability to live in a clean and healthy planet. We need creative solutions and funding for projects that can help transition our economy into an environmentally conscious powerhouse that grows the middle class without sacrificing our children's futures.
I am passionate about the policy issues that have been prevalent in my life and I believe in the lives of many Californians. I am the son of an immigrant that fled civil war in Central America. Today many are fleeing Central America due to gang violence. I believe we need to have a better system in place that is compassionate towards those seeking a better life, this nation was built on that idea, that promise of the American Dream.
My parents understood the importance of education in the pursuit of a better life. They worked hard and helped as much as they could. Yet, like millions of Americans, the only way for me to get that life changing education was to take out student loans. These loans can have outrageous interest rates and there are examples of people that make payments for decades and still owe more than the original cost of the loan. The education of our citizens is vital to our democracy and improves our workforce and economy. Yet, we punish those who cannot afford the education that would improve their lives and tuition for the poor becomes 2 or 3 times more expensive for the poor than for the wealthy. Not only do we need to cancel student debt, we need to rethink the way our nation does education. We cannot stay a global super power without an educated workforce. We need creative solutions so that more people have access to all kinds of education, including trade schools for other vital jobs to our economy. We cannot repeat the same mistakes that led us here.
My parents understood the importance of education in the pursuit of a better life. They worked hard and helped as much as they could. Yet, like millions of Americans, the only way for me to get that life changing education was to take out student loans. These loans can have outrageous interest rates and there are examples of people that make payments for decades and still owe more than the original cost of the loan. The education of our citizens is vital to our democracy and improves our workforce and economy. Yet, we punish those who cannot afford the education that would improve their lives and tuition for the poor becomes 2 or 3 times more expensive for the poor than for the wealthy. Not only do we need to cancel student debt, we need to rethink the way our nation does education. We cannot stay a global super power without an educated workforce. We need creative solutions so that more people have access to all kinds of education, including trade schools for other vital jobs to our economy. We cannot repeat the same mistakes that led us here.
I look up to my older sister who has been a great model for me. She graduated college, went to law school, and serves as an Air Force JAG Officer. She is relentless and works harder than anyone I know.
A politician that I look up to and would love to follow in the footsteps of is Bobby Kennedy. He valued service and felt it was his duty to serve others. He was also open to criticism and would change his stance if he needed to. He was compassionate and truly cared for people. He has sent a ripple of hope that has reached millions and I would like to follow his example and send forth another ripple of hope to all Americans.
A politician that I look up to and would love to follow in the footsteps of is Bobby Kennedy. He valued service and felt it was his duty to serve others. He was also open to criticism and would change his stance if he needed to. He was compassionate and truly cared for people. He has sent a ripple of hope that has reached millions and I would like to follow his example and send forth another ripple of hope to all Americans.
I believe the core responsibility is to listen to the people in your district. All of the people in your district. Too many politicians only care about their constituents in the same political party, but your job as a representative of the district is to represent everyone living in that district. The opinions and ideas of people that disagree with me are as important as the people who agree with me. No person should be ignored because of their political party or because of who they voted for in the last election. Representatives should not exploiting divisions or creating new divisions they should try always to unite.
I am a product of the American dream. I am the son of an immigrant and grew up in the lower middle class, first generation college grad and first generation lawyer. I was able to do these things because of the hard work of my parents and because of the promise of America that says you are not bound by your social or economic status. The most important legacy I could leave is making sure that the American Dream still exists for future generations. The American Dream is at risk and the middle class is shrinking. Upward mobility has become increasingly difficult and expensive. For new generations to move up the ladder, they will have to take on tens of thousands of dollars in student debt. Already, millions of Americans cannot fulfill their dream of buying a home or starting a family because they cannot afford it after they pay their college loans every month. My goal is to make the American Dream attainable for all. It doesn't matter who you are, who your parents are, where your family is from, everyone should have the opportunity to work hard and improve their lives. Not only should we strive to improve our lives, but more importantly, we should strive to improve the lives of our children. Let that be the legacy I leave, a better world and a better life for those that follow.
The first event that I can remember in depth is September 11. I was 11 years old and I was getting ready for class when my father came back to the house and told us to turn on the tv. I remember vividly the images of the towers on fire and then falling. I also remember the following days seeing great acts of humanity and patriotism, Sammy Sosa running on the field with the American flag, and the unity of the American people.
My first job was at a laser tag arena in Provo Utah when I was in High School. I worked there for about one year making pizzas and running the laser arenas.
My favorite book is the Silmarillion. Tolkien's work is incredibly detailed and has many stories that are exciting and suspenseful. The languages he created are fascinating, and it expands the world of The Lord of the Rings trilogy which were my favorite movies when I was a kid.
One of the biggest challenges will be how we handle the changes that come from a technological world that is advancing every day. Technology has already caused problems with our elections and how we apply the first amendment. The issue of disinformation in social media and social manipulation wreaked havoc on the 2016 and 2020 elections. This is not the end of advances in technology that will be difficult on our system of government. AI and autonomous vehicles pose ethical and philosophical questions, not to mention the seriousness of these questions when dealing with autonomous weapons systems. This is why we need a new generation of thinkers and leaders handling these difficult questions. The way we have considered and solved problems in the past will not be as effective for the problems of our future.
Science Space and Technology, Armed Services, Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs, Intelligence, Climate Crisis.
I believe our system of government has natural term limits that come from our citizens participating in the political process. If someone is not doing their job or is not representing the will of their constituents, then ideally they would be voted out by those constituents. In practice, this is less likely to happen because of low voter participation in primaries but also because the structure of the party systems that make it difficult for an incumbent to be challenged. I would rather this issue be resolved by free and fair elections, but term limits definitely warrant a discussion. I am running because I believe my generation is under represented and the current Congress has been in place for decades with very little change.
I believe disagreement is necessary for policy making. Having good, healthy, respectful disagreement causes us to think about issues differently and consider information we may not have considered on our own.
Compromise can be desirable, but the compromise of our current Congress leaves both sides dissatisfied because. We need more creative solutions that can achieve more for all sides without sacrificing the benefits for Americans. Half measures can be as detrimental as no action because it can create distrust and disbelief in our government.
Compromise can be desirable, but the compromise of our current Congress leaves both sides dissatisfied because. We need more creative solutions that can achieve more for all sides without sacrificing the benefits for Americans. Half measures can be as detrimental as no action because it can create distrust and disbelief in our government.
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
Riley's campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
Medicare for all Cancelling Student Loan Debt The Right to Free and Fair Elections Protecting our Environment[3] |
” |
| —Christopher Riley's campaign website (2022)[4] | ||
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on April 5, 2022
- ↑ Riley For California, "About," accessed May 27, 2022
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Riley For California, “Issues,” accessed May 19, 2022
Senators
Alex Padilla (D)
Adam Schiff (D)
Representatives
District 1
Doug LaMalfa (R)
District 2
Jared Huffman (D)
District 3
Kevin Kiley (R)
District 4
Mike Thompson (D)
District 5
Tom McClintock (R)
District 6
Ami Bera (D)
District 7
Doris Matsui (D)
District 8
John Garamendi (D)
District 9
Josh Harder (D)
District 10
Mark DeSaulnier (D)
District 11
Nancy Pelosi (D)
District 12
Lateefah Simon (D)
District 13
Adam Gray (D)
District 14
Eric Swalwell (D)
District 15
Kevin Mullin (D)
District 16
Sam Liccardo (D)
District 17
Ro Khanna (D)
District 18
Zoe Lofgren (D)
District 19
Jimmy Panetta (D)
District 20
Vince Fong (R)
District 21
Jim Costa (D)
District 22
David Valadao (R)
District 23
Jay Obernolte (R)
District 24
Salud Carbajal (D)
District 25
Raul Ruiz (D)
District 26
Julia Brownley (D)
District 27
District 28
Judy Chu (D)
District 29
Luz Rivas (D)
District 30
Laura Friedman (D)
District 31
Gil Cisneros (D)
District 32
Brad Sherman (D)
District 33
Pete Aguilar (D)
District 34
Jimmy Gomez (D)
District 35
Norma Torres (D)
District 36
Ted Lieu (D)
District 37
District 38
Linda Sánchez (D)
District 39
Mark Takano (D)
District 40
Young Kim (R)
District 41
Ken Calvert (R)
District 42
Robert Garcia (D)
District 43
Maxine Waters (D)
District 44
Nanette Barragán (D)
District 45
Derek Tran (D)
District 46
Lou Correa (D)
District 47
Dave Min (D)
District 48
Darrell Issa (R)
District 49
Mike Levin (D)
District 50
Scott Peters (D)
District 51
Sara Jacobs (D)
District 52
Juan Vargas (D)
Democratic Party (45)
Republican Party (9)
