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James Peters (California)

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James Peters
Image of James Peters

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments
Last election

June 7, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

University of California, Santa Barbara, 2013

Graduate

Universität Hamburg, 2014

Personal
Birthplace
Fremont, Calif.
Religion
Secular humanist
Profession
Waiter
Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Campaign YouTube

James Peters (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent California's 14th Congressional District. He lost in the primary on June 7, 2022.

Peters completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

James Peters was born in Fremont, California. Peters earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 2013 and a graduate degree from the Universität Hamburg in 2014. His career experience includes working in recruiting operations and as a waiter, an actor, and a bartender.[1]

Elections

2022

See also: California's 14th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House California District 14

Incumbent Eric Swalwell defeated Alison Hayden in the general election for U.S. House California District 14 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Eric Swalwell
Eric Swalwell (D)
 
69.3
 
137,612
Image of Alison Hayden
Alison Hayden (R)
 
30.7
 
60,852

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 198,464
Candidate Connection = 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.

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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 14

The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 14 on June 7, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Eric Swalwell
Eric Swalwell (D)
 
63.6
 
77,120
✔
Image of Alison Hayden
Alison Hayden (R)
 
10.3
 
12,503
Image of Tom Wong
Tom Wong (R) Candidate Connection
 
9.4
 
11,406
Image of Steve Iyer
Steve Iyer (R) Candidate Connection
 
8.9
 
10,829
Image of James Peters
James Peters (D) Candidate Connection
 
5.1
 
6,216
Image of Major Singh
Major Singh (Independent)
 
2.1
 
2,495
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Liam Miguel Simard (Independent)
 
0.5
 
657

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 121,226
Candidate Connection = 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

Candidate Connection

James Peters completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Peters' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

James is dedicated to calling all American's who are unhappy with a tax system that favors the rich and powerful, unhappy with a predatory student loan and healthcare system that leaves people in crippling debt, and Americans who demand accountability on the climate crisis to arms to fight for our future. I am a native son of California's 14th congressional district, the son of a middle class family, and an advocate for equal rights and opportunities for all Americans regardless of where you started in life.

By joining the fight for our future, you are joining a movement that prioritizes the human rights and civil liberties of all Americans regardless of skin color, gender, sexual orientation, or age. Together, we will fight to regain control of our own American Dream: free from the taint of corporate greed, free from the fear of the planet becoming unlivable, and free from the fear of the erosion of our democracy. By standing united, the agency of our voices cannot be denied and the fight for our future is a fight we can win.

My name is James Andrew Peters and I am a gay millennial running for office to fight for a pragmatic and progressive solution to the challenges facing our country. I am a grassroots candidate who will not accept dark money. There is too much at stake for our people, our democracy, our economy, and our planet. We need action now from politicians ready to do the hard work. Will you join the fight for our future? 
  • It's time to invest in the American people. We need to cancel student loan and medical debt. The system is rigged against middle- and working-class America and I want to lead the fight to give all American's a shot at the American Dream. America needs to invest in the Human Capital of this country, that means educating the next generation of innovators, artists, and leaders while keeping our workers healthy. Student debt is an artificial construct that widens the wealth gap, stops first time owners from buying homes, inhibits the start of new businesses, and delays retirement. We need to invest in the wellbeing of our workers. That means investing in Medicare-for-All and limiting the cost of prescription drugs.
  • We need to strengthen the foundations of our democratic institutions and Republic. That means restoring the public trust in the federal government, and I have a plan for getting there. We need term limits that cap the number of terms in the House at nine and the Senate at three; 18 years per chamber. We need to restore the Fairness Doctrine to break the echo-chambers polarizing the country. Next, we need to shore up the Voting Rights Act, introduce public financing of federal elections, and introduce more democratic methods of counting votes fairly. I support a change to multi-member districts with proportional representation voting, rank-choice voting for statewide and presidential elections, and universal voter registration at 18.
  • I am going to fight for the future of California and America by voting to pass a Green New Deal paid for by passing a wealth tax and taxing the profits of large companies like Amazon that pay next to nothing in taxes. I represent the American's who are angry with a system that gives Jeff Bezos a tax break while slashing tax write-offs that many middle-class Americans depend on to lower their federal tax bill. By reforming the tax system, we can invest in a Green New Deal that will create thousands of new jobs. We can invest in desalination for California and put federal dollars behind a nationwide High Speed Electric Rail system. There is no Planet B. We must take action on climate change now to protect tomorrow.
I am most passionate about fighting for the future of America. That means passing Medicare for all, forgiving student debt, expanding the right to vote, getting dark money out of politics, rooting out corruption in Washington, and restoring the American peoples' faith in our democratic system of self-governance. In order to fight for the future of America, we need to act now to solve for many of the issues facing us today.

Equality - All Americans deserve a chance to pursue the American dream. But when we saddle people with thousands of dollars in student debt instead of investing in the human capital of the country, or when we force families to choose between live saving medicines or the mortgage, we are failing as a country. I am passionate about investing in American workers to ensure that all Americans have the chance to buy houses, start businesses, and keep the best jobs in the world here in America.

Accountability - Democracy only works when the people believe it does. It's time for term limits in Congress, making sure every voter feels like their vote counted despite their district's or state's partisan lean. That means proportional representation and rank-choice voting. We also need to heal the polarization of the country, and the first step to healing the divide is to re-instate the Fairness Doctrine, stop demonizing the other side, and electing leaders who put their country before their party. Our experiment in democracy will only last if we can keep it.
I look up to the trail blazers who were the firsts so that an openly gay candidate would have a chance at running for office in California's 14th Congressional District. I look up to the powerful women in history who have made waves of change in a world mostly controlled by men. I look up to the heroes who have fought for more equality, for more democracy, and for those who cannot stand up for themselves.

Some specific people would be Sophie Scholl, Susan B Anthony, Harriet Tubman, Martha P Johnson, Harvey Milk, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Angela Merkel, Elizabeth Warren and Franklin D Rosevelt.

Sophie Scholl stood up to Hitler in Nazi Germany to fight for an end to WWII and for a restoration of German democracy. At 21 years old she joined the resistance group the White Rose and stood up to the Nazi propaganda machine. Like Antigone, she stood up for what was right despite the consequences and was subsequently executed. Her commitment to fighting for a democratic society is mirrored in the bravery of the Ukrainians fighting Russia today.

I will fight with Sophie's bravery for women, workers, and people of all races like Susan and Harriet. I will fight for LGBTQ rights like Martha and Harvey. I will demand justice and dissent in the face of injustice like Ruth. I will lead with confidence like Angela. I will have a plan and fight like Elizabeth. And, I want to make an impact on behalf of all working class and middle class American's like Franklin's New Deal.

"Die Sonne Scheint Noch" (the sun still shines), were some of the last words spoken by Sophie Scholl. While there is still strength left in me, while the sun still shines, I will fight for a fairer, freer, and better America for all.
My belief in doing the right thing no matter what is heavily rooted in the Greek Tragedy Antigone and by the real life story of the student resistance group in Nazi Germany called the White Rose.
Integrity, compassion, empathy, and courage.
I am somebody who grew up as a gay man in the closet. I don't think many people can understand the strength of character and courage it takes for a little gay boy to find his voice, speak his truth, and live as authentically as he can for the first time.

But when he does, that opens up a whole new world of empathy, a sense of protectiveness for the weak who need somebody to be strong, and a sense of self so strong it's impossible to tear him down or force him back into the closet ever again.

All of those qualities have helped me become a people leader in my day-to-day job.

I also have the benefit of having had many conservative and libertarian friends growing up. I feel confident in my ability to reach out to people from a completely different political philosophy and belief system than my own and have an actual productive conversation instead of a dead-end disagreement. We need more leaders in Congress who can do that, and care more about getting the job done than scoring cheap political points.
The core responsibilities of for someone elected to the US House of Representatives is to use their power, platform and agency to advocate for all the people of their district. Not the corporations who donated to their campaign funds, and not only the people who voted for them. We need leaders who will heal the partisanship ripping through the country right now and not those who would stoke its flame to ensure their electability.
I want to leave more than just the legacy of being the first openly gay man elected from my district to the US House of Representatives. I want my legacy to be: the person who fought for term limits and won; who fought for proportional representation and won; the guy who fought for the LGBT community, for women, for people of color, for those living in poverty, for the homeless, and for the next generation of Americans and won.
While I lived through the impeachment of Bill Clinton, I think I was too young to really register that or the election of Bush. I knew that Gore was the good guy to go for in the election, and I knew that it was controversial at the time, but I didn't understand the full implications until later in life.

The first major historical event I can still replay in my head to this day was the morning of the September 11 terrorist attack. I was in the 5th grade, and I remember my dad listening to coverage of the attack on the radio on his way to drop me off at school. I still remember not realizing the depth of what had happened until I got to class and my teacher had the news on. She did her best to explain what was happening to a group of 5th graders.
My very first job was a summer job as a lifeguard for my local community pool. I swam competitively for the pool's swim-team every summer until I aged out at 18. That job taught me to keep an eye out for everybody, especially kids, seniors, and the people most likely to be hurt in an accident. That philosophy greatly informs my approach to politics. We are all in this together as one American people on one planet earth. We have to look out for the most vulnerable in our society and make sure they are safe.
My favorite book is The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman. Even as an adult, I still think it's one of the best books I have ever read. Without giving away too much, it's themes on growing up, on the importance of self-determination vs destiny, and the struggle for freedom versus a dictatorship are themes that live deep in my bones.
Coming out as a gay man in 2008 at a time when you would see Obama and Yes on 8 yard signs in the same yard was a huge struggle. Just accepting my identity and feeling comfortable enough, feeling safe enough in my surroundings, to live as my authentic self has been one of the biggest mountains I have had to climb.
The US House of Representatives is unique in that it can initiate the impeachment and removal from office of officers in other branches of government. The two year term means that we should be able to hold members more accountable too. With term limits enacted, the House will take on an even more dynamic role.
No, in fact, people who have been in power too long can become disconnected from their districts and. care more about building their own political careers outside of their districts instead of focusing on the needs of the district.
One of the greatest existential threats facing the United States over the next decade is the metastization of illiberalism that has taken root in one of America's two major political parties. The dangerous misinformation, the Big Lie, and the steady campaign to replace county board of elections supervisors and Secretaries of State around the country with officials who will not recognize the will of the voters is taking America perilously close to the edge of authoritarianism. We need federal election reform, we need to restore the fairness doctrine, we need to double down on democratization by moving away from first past the post elections and replace that with proportional representation, and we need to replace the dark money in politics with federally funded congressional elections.

The cancer tearing through the Republican Party is capitalizing on the anger felt by GOP voters that the system does not work for them, and it doesn't. We need to have leaders elected in both parties that are held accountable by term limits and by their voters instead of powerful pacs and corporations.
The Ethics Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, the Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth, and the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. Some of the caucuses I would also want to join include the Progressive Caucus, High Speed Rail Caucus, International Exchange and Study Caucus, and LGBT Equality Caucus among others.
Yes.
Term limits are tantamount to restoring the American public's faith back in our democratic process.

I support a term limit of nine terms elected to the US House of Representatives and three terms to the US Senate. That equates to 18 years per citizen per chamber. That gives members and Senators a total of nine sessions of Congress to sponsor bills, earn leadership positions in committees and drive change while at the same time putting a timer on how long they can serve.
I would like to be able to capture the national spotlight like AOC. Her win was historic, and mine would be too.
Absolutely.

We need to rebuild an America where everybody is making decisions based off of the same set of facts. Right now, cable news and social media have created echo-chambers with competing sets of reality that makes compromise impossible. We have to restore the Fairness Doctrine to break-up the echo-chambers. We need to find a way to de-escalate the current toxic levels of partisan tribalism and return to an America where 80 to 90 Senators in the US Senate would vote to confirm federal nominations regardless of the party of the president.

To get to those levels of compromise we need a 21st Century Fairness Doctrine and we need to create multi-member House Districts that count election results via proportional representation.
This power would play a huge role in my priorities for cancelling student debt, evolving the current student loan system to become a "post-Secondary Education for All" fund that would invest in all of American's untapped human capital potential, and I would immediately sponsor a reform to the tax code to role back Trump's "tax cut" and replace it with a tax code that favors the 99%.

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

Peters' campaign website stated the following:

“

Voting Rights

All Americans should have access to the right to vote, period. That means automatic voter registration when American's come of age, universal mail in ballots, and rank choice voting.


Green New Deal

One of the most pressing fights that endangers our future is the climate crisis. Join me in the fight to pass the Green New Deal. James supports a transition away from fossil fuels towards clean energy.


Worker's Bill Of Rights

The Worker's Bill of Rights will guarantee 4 weeks of paid sick leave, 6 weeks of PTO, and 18 months of paid family leave for all Americans working full time. All workers will be empowered to work remote or in the office.


Equality Act

America's LGBT community is endangered by state governments passing laws to take away the agency and personhood of LGBT people around the country. James supports the Equality Act.


Student Loans

Access to higher education is a human right for individuals, and a public good for the country. James has a pragmatic plan to cancel student loan debt, and ensure all Americans cost-free access to higher education.


Medicare for All

Healthcare is a Human Right. No family should be forced to choose between life-saving medicine and paying the mortgage. It's time for America to have a public option for all of it's people.[2]

”
—James Peters' campaign website (2022)[3]

See also

2022 Elections

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External links

Candidate

U.S. House California District 14
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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on April 5, 2022
    2. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
    3. ↑ Peters For Congress, “Issues,” accessed May 11, 2022


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