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Michael Ortega
Michael Ortega (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent California's 46th Congressional District. He lost in the primary on June 7, 2022.
Ortega completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Michael Ortega was born in Chicago, Illinois, and lives in Anaheim, California. Ortega earned a degree from the University of Southern California in 2013. His career experience includes working as a biomedical engineer and educator. Ortega has been associated with the Orange County Democratic Socialists of America.[1][2]
Elections
2022
See also: California's 46th Congressional District election, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. House California District 46
Incumbent Lou Correa defeated Christopher Gonzales in the general election for U.S. House California District 46 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Lou Correa (D) | 61.8 | 78,041 |
 | Christopher Gonzales (R) | 38.2 | 48,257 | |
| Total votes: 126,298 | |||
 = 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 46
The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 46 on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lou Correa (D) | 49.1 | 37,311 |
| ✔ | | Christopher Gonzales (R) | 15.6 | 11,823 |
 | Michael Ortega (D) | 12.3 | 9,311 | |
 | Mike Nguyen (R) | 12.1 | 9,162 | |
 | Felix Rocha (R) | 9.3 | 7,084 | |
 | Ed Rushman (Independent) | 1.7 | 1,264 | |
| Total votes: 75,955 | |||
| = 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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jesus Ruvalcaba (D)
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Michael Ortega completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ortega's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Mike, the youngest of 8, was born to immigrant parents from Ecuador and Puerto Rico. They struggled to get by, but his parents took care to provide him with every opportunity. From their perseverance and sacrifice, Mike learned how to fight for a better world in his schools, workplaces, and country.
Mike now lives in Anaheim with his wife and soon-to-be firstborn son. Through his organizing career, he has mentored underprivileged students, championed efforts to unionize, and led campaigns to protect our undocumented workers. He is running now to act on the issues that matter most to his community that can't wait for tomorrow: affordable housing, Medicare for All, protecting our immigrant neighbors, and enacting a Green New Deal.
- Today, Lou Correa, the Democrat representing our district, fights to keep prescription drug prices high. Every year we send Lou to Washington to focus on the profits of the pharmaceutical industry that funds his campaigns...and every year more and more people are exploited by price gouging. It's clear to me that our district deserves better than this level of conservatism and self-serving opportunism.
- There is no time to wait for a hero to save us. Impending crises like climate change will wait for no one. We have to work together in our communities, on the ground, to battle big monied interests. My district - the people of Anaheim, Santa Ana, and Orange - are ready for change, today. we need: Medicare for All, affordable housing, a strengthened education system, and to abolish ICE. We need a Green New Deal to bring sustainable union jobs to Orange County - making our district a hub where we can learn the skills necessary to protect our planet. We understand the stakes, and are ready to work to turn the tide right here in our hometowns. Because when we work together, we win.
- Today, Lou Correa, the Democrat representing our district, fights to keep prescription drug prices high. Every year we send Lou to Washington to focus on the profits of the pharmaceutical industry that funds his campaigns...and every year more and more people are exploited by price gouging. It's clear to me that our district deserves better than this level of conservatism and self-serving opportunism.
A Green New Deal resolution and Civilian Climate Corps to combat the climate emergency before us. This includes union jobs and retraining programs to bolster the American working force with good-paying jobs.
Amnesty for all undocumented workers to stop deportations. Abolish ICE to stop the immoral cruelty towards our immigrant neighbors. Provide a path to citizenship with less red tape.
Strengthen our education system through federal programs to provide funding. We know our children and teachers deserve the best, so let's do everything we can do deliver.
Create a federal program for students to attend college tuition-free, expand access to trade schools and apprenticeship programs.
Strengthen the American family through programs like Universal Child Care and Pre-K,
Institute a federal National Rent Control program.
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
Ortega's campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
Housing The majority of CA-46 rents their home - more than any surrounding district. Over 100,000 households in our district, or nearly 1 in 3 of our neighbors are severely rent burdened. If we’re going to provide the life we want for our families, we cannot task them to pay over 50% of monthly income just to keep a roof over their heads. We need to create a fair federal rent control program while expanding benefits for low-income housing.
Southern California’s polluted air puts our children at risk, and our communities face increasingly severe wildfires every year. Our district’s current leadership argues that the cost is too high to do what is necessary for our homes and families. If elected, I will fight to ensure that our district leads the transition to sustainable, Green New Deal union jobs – making Orange County a beacon of learning new skills.
Amnesty Now - families that come to America for security and prosperity should be treated with dignity and respect. We must put a stop to the criminalization of our undocumented neighbors wanting what’s best for their children. Abolish ICE - the department is focused on brutality towards our immigrant neighbors across the county, and I believe we’re better than as a nation. We must immediately protect DREAMers, strengthen immigrant labor rights, and expand access to public services.
The people of Orange County believe that we should do everything we can to ensure that our children attain the best education possible. Our state’s laws make it so only wealthier neighborhoods have access to a decent education, and growing up my family and I saw the effects of similar policies all over the country. I know what it’s like to attend schools in repurposed buildings that were crumbling. We need to make up for lost time and regressive federal policies by funding schools nationwide.
The United States leads the world in advancements in health technology, and I have seen my work in the field save lives. I have also seen this technology be available only to those that can afford it, while every year more and more Americans are afraid to go bankrupt in order to get basic care for their families. Hospital costs, premiums, and deductibles continue to go up, while wages stay the same. If we’re going to provide our families with the care they need while saving money for the future, we need Medicare for All.
Southern California has grown in the past several years, but CA-46 has not seen their piece of the pie. We need leadership that will fight for our share of California’s growth and prosperity, which requires political courage. By making our district the home of new jobs centered around cleaner air and sustainable energy, decreasing the costs of health care, and providing federal grants to small businesses, we will bring our communities the prosperity that we deserve.
Having seen my family devastated by growing up in rough neighborhoods, I know the importance of keeping loved ones safe. We need to have universal standards that are safe and prevent discrimination so that all working people can exercise their right to self-defense. Still, too many families are ripped apart by gun violence, as well as unjust practices of law enforcement. I will fight for universal background checks on guns, and more robust public safety programs that include behavioral health services. In order to see the healthy and connected communities that we dream of, we need to root our intentions in compassion.
Our campaign’s vision for America’s foreign policy prioritizes diplomacy over war. We have to repeal the AUMF. We must cease further funding of our war machine and audit the massive spending that is in place to reduce is over the next decade. The values of our district show that this money would be better served in our communities. Furthermore, we must end US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, and support peace and security for all Palestinians. Our involvement in trade agreements worldwide must be focused on providing dignity for all people, not exploitation and disinvestment.[3] |
” |
| —Michael Ortega's campaign website (2022)[4] | ||
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 24, 2021
- ↑ Ortega for CA-46, "About," accessed May 28, 2022
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ortega for CA-46, “Issues,” accessed May 23, 2022
