Ryan Duckett
Candidate, U.S. House California District 37
Elections and appointments
Education
Personal
Ryan Duckett (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent California's 37th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the general election scheduled on November 3, 2026.[source]
Duckett completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Ryan Duckett was born in Houston, Texas. He earned a high school diploma from Beverly Hills High School. He earned a bachelor's degree from Cornell University in 2003 and a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2007. Duckett's career experience includes working as an attorney. [1]
Duckett has been affiliated with the following organizations:[1]
- Los Angeles Police Department
- California Minority Counsel Program
- California Business Lawyers Association
- Los Angeles Unified School District - Advisory Council
- Cornell University Alumni Association
Elections
2026
Endorsements
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2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Ryan Duckett completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Duckett's responses.
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Business and Labor & Employment Attorney. Los Angeles City Commissioner, 5-year chairperson for the Police Permit Review Commission for Hospitality and Night Life & Entertainment. Also, I sit on the Business Advisory Council for the Los Angeles Unified School District's Superintendent. I advocate for Affordable Housing, Education & Increased Enrollment, Immigration Rights, Social Awareness, Mental Health Programs for the Homeless, Community Events, Government Due Process Rights, and Increased Benefits for Disabilities.
Raised in Los Angeles, living from Bel Air, to the South of Los Angeles, to Beverly Hills and then to Hollywood. I am a true Angeleno. I have also lived in NY, NY, TX and NC, and internationally. I salute our Firefighters and Police Officers. Thank you to all First Responders.
Affordable Housing, Education, Immigration Rights, Mental Health Programs for the Homeless
Martin Luther King, Jr. He advocated for everyone to have all their rights, without further delay. His voice and messages were so powerful and influential. And to think that he accomplished everything that he did for America by the time he died at only 39 years old, shows the remarkable brilliance of that young man.
It is very important for that official to be from and know the community they represent i.e. to actually have been raised in that city or that district.
Additionally: Listening to the community; Having drive; Having a successful track-record; and Having goals plus ways to reach those goals.
Creating and passing federal laws; Conducting investigations; Serving as a representative for the community that elected me; Engaging in civic discourse; Bridging the community together; Keeping the community informed on recent affairs and events.
Perhaps leaving behind a recreation center in my name that assists homeless with securing jobs, teaches public safety, and provides free extracurricular activities such as sports, art and dancing for students.
I remember the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. I was still in elementary school in Los Angeles.
I was a legal intern for Miramax Film's Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs for a summer before applying for law school.
Rene Decartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy,” because it helped shape our criminal justice system about people being presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Paul Atreides from Dune, also known universally as Muad'Dib with a secret name Usul.
Unfortunately, society sometimes has a natural tendency to oppress minorities like me. I have since learned to overcome it, but it started off as an initial struggle in life as a kid trying to navigate through honors and magnet schools, while keeping my mind focused on religion, sports and education.
The US House of Representatives stands out because of its proportional representation system. It gives more populous states more influence in the legislative process. It provides a more direct line of communications and connection to the individual people, therefore allowing for more immediate results and proactively reshaping and enhancing society per the people's goals.
Certainly, experience can help some representatives. New faces and new ideologies helps, too. It is important to recognize that experience can come from many different channels that are offered in life, such as through education, public engagement, community organizations and other real-world experiences.
Take me for instance, I will serve as a well qualified representative, without already being a politician because: (i) I am a Los Angeles City Commissioner, and have been for 5 years and sat as Chairperson for 4 years; (ii) I am on the panel for the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA); (iii) I sit on the Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) Advisory Council for the Superintendent; (iv) I am General Counsel for the Los Angeles County Fire Department – Stentorians; and (v) I have served outside General Counsel for the Los Angeles City Fire Department – Stentorians. These accolades among others make mee suitable, if not better, as a representative without having previously served.
Further, it depends where you have lived, and if you know the community you want to represent. Personally, I was raised in Los Angeles. I have lived in Bel Air, Beverly Hills, the South Side of Los Angeles and Hollywood. I navigated as a student through Los Angeles Unified School District in honors and magnet programs, and ultimately succeeded to Cornell University, an Ivy League School, and finished with a law degree. Additionally, I was a teacher through the Physics Master Program as Cal State University of Long Beach.
After Cornell and law school, I always came right back to Los Angeles where I was raised, because I am a part of this society. This experience cannot be learned while being a representative, but rather as being a person from the society from which you want to represent. The United States’ biggest challenges over the next decade definitely have to do with tackling some of our biggest key items. There are consistent issues such as education, homelessness, immigration, global warming, taxes, transportation, healthcare and other issues that have not fully been addressed. Issues not being addressed is clearly seen through the recent government shut down for big key topics such as healthcare and Medicaid benefits.
Looking at the government shut down, we notice a big divide in political parties—namely, the Republicans and Democrats. We need to bridge the bipartisan relationship. We need to bring them together. As U.S. Supreme Court Justice Kennedy said, we need to have a civil discourse on both sides of the table to where we can grow as one and seek workable solutions. No one glove fits all, nor should it.
Diversity creates exceptional building through creativity and expansive growth in a society. We need to listen to one another, including those with opposing positions, otherwise quintessential conversations never take place. Accordingly, one of the biggest problems that we need to tackle in the United States over the next several years is figuring out how to bridge the gap between Democrats, Republicans and Independents, so we can bring in a more colorful and meaningful dialogue for more fruitful discourse to succeed as a society at large. I think two years is a perfect term for representatives. It addresses and captures where the people are at the time and it also gives society a chance to associate themselves and align themselves with candidates that are more politically in tune with where their political disposition is now. After four years, several things can change. More specifically, it gives representatives enough time to understand necessary changes and gives them an opportunity to make a difference. If no change has been made, then it opens up the seat for another potential representative to take over.
The term limits are acceptable as every two years for Congress. It allows contemporary transitions by allowing voters voice where the public stands on certain political events and affairs. For instance, the last year has had a high change in the political climate throughout California, and throughout the nation. Having an interim vote between the presidential elections allows the people’s voice to carry loudly more contemporaneously tied to the changing events, making the two-year term suitable for the benefit of the public and society.
Modeling myself after someone is an interesting question. The society that the District 37 covers is different entirely from any other congressional district in California, let alone the United States. I really find myself akin to, such as Obama, as being a young black male and also in the face of a lot of oppression. I feel like I do live under a microscope that allows me actually to set the stage of being an example for others that would like to follow.
I also say Bill Clinton who was really big on being an entrepreneur in the early 90s, especially at a time when society was facing a lot of changes, such as the internet and phones, starting to become more popular technology.
Also Mayor Garcetti, not just because he appointed me as Los Angeles City Commissioner, but the way that he holds himself as an Angelino being truly from the city. If I were ever able to consider myself even somewhat similar to a Barack Obama or Bill Clinton or Eric Garcetti, I would be honored to even be able to consider myself amongst that group of great people. Yes this touches on a lot of issues. A young man I know was born with a very significant severe heart condition that required him to have open heart surgery after being born as a twin. By the time he was 12, had four open-heart surgeries and to see 18 was just a dream now this young man now is in his late 30s and has his second child. God bless and God-willing.
Now he is facing work issues due to his medical and physician disability, but California Fair Employment Housing Act needs more support and protection for the employees. Therefore, he is losing pay, and was forced to leave Los Angeles.
Also, the California Fair Medical Leave Act needs more expansion so in this young man would not be forced to go back to work now with the second baby child and not able to even work light duties. He was put into a position where he could barely walk. That sent h8im to the emergency room, despite him telling his employer that he should not be up and walking around. His children were born in Los Angeles, but are now going to be raised elsewhere because Los Angeles didn’t have enough protections for him and this is why I want to step in as congress. I want to help the legislature, and help the affordable housing, employee benefits, and increase the public school enrollment. We have to work together and I want to help your voice. As a litigation attorney, I have a specialization in early resolution for complex commercial disputes, involving business disputes, labor and employment cases, real estate issues, and more.
When given the chance to compromise, it gives the people a chance to take matters into their own hands. On the other hand, if you are not willing to compromise, you may lose the chance to succeed at obtaining any of your goals, allowing the opposing party to succeed to your detriment. It is the same concept as “every vote counts.” It is not only your vote counts. Your vote definitely counts. Everybody’s vote counts, including that person with a different opinion next to you.
Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to compromise because that is one of the key solutions to moving the needle, progressing and moving forward. At the same time, you earn the trust and respect from your adversary.
The second part of the question: Is it desirable for compromise? In short, yes.
Unfortunately, many people take the position that that they are right and it is their way or no way, but that is not the way that we are supposed to function as a society—which is why we have a democratic society where people could come together and vote., Likewise, more politicians can come together and discuss their differences in policies and learn to compromise for the benefit of society. All bills for raising revenue must originate from the house. This is important. It needs to be prioritized because it’s a very sensitive power and a very delicate power and but it’s a very high power. We have to understand what the impressions are when we actually do issue a cost bill or spending bill. We also have to look towards not just spending, but we have to look towards areas of raising money and then one thing we have to prioritize but partition where the money is going go when it comes to say drug and research of course that’s with high priority. We have to put in towards drug research one of the key components behind drug and research on drug analysis is by putting money towards education because those researchers are going to be coming from educational fields and so the more you invest in education the more you’re actually investing indirectly into research so it’s really just for thinking on where we’re going to ultimate with the goal ultimately is and then that way we can be very efficient with the spending. Now how would that factor into my priorities or my priorities are going be for the congressional district, which I serve granted at large? I will look towards the United States and how we can help the goals of the 37th District echo throughout the United States and by all means I am going to have a diligent eye looking directly at the goals of the 37th Congressional District here throughout Los Angeles when it comes to spending and how to prioritize more funds should go.
I believe the house needs more investigative powers to make sure that the money that we are raising the money that we’re collecting from the state or from the people of the state when we say we’re going put a project together is being used for that project.
Look at the LA County Sheriffs' Department. There are so many employees even probationary officers or probationary firefighters that aren’t even being given a fair chance of being let go before they even get to the point of getting that full-time position they’re being cut off before they even finish the probationary period yet they’re so few that even making it to the probationary class by itself.
We don’t have a good enough investigation committee assigned to protecting our government employees and also government probationary and I would like to see the house representatives, especially my congressional district especially in this congressional district take a close eye and a close look at what’s happening and how these government employees are being treated and how they’re their job protection is being asserted because there is a constitutional right to due process that a lot of employees are not being afforded. Our California State and United States’ Constitutions should be upheld and protected and honored, and I believe that we need to do a better job at protecting that therefore an investigative committee should be should be ignited in order to make sure that those government employees and California citizens are getting their protections. Los Angeles County Fire Department - Stentorians
Everyone's story has incredible significance. One more recently involves a breast cancer survivor after a life-threatening procedure.
I would like to hear more people's stories, and this position will give me the chance to hear more.
I am proud that I am able to stand here today and honestly say that I am the best candidate to be the next United States 37th Congressional District's House of Representative.
The emerging growth of AI has opened pathways and avenues for Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs). The United States should take advantage of all those brilliant minds exploring the developments and software capabilities of AI. Now, more than ever, big commercial entities such as Google and Microsoft are partnering with the SMBs to not only advance the SMBs' goals but to further develop their own capabilities. Therefore, the United States can issue incentives for SMBs, as well as incentives for the major enterprises partnering with the SMBs.
I have volunteered at the voting polls for the last 4 years, through Election Protection, a non-partisan voter protection group. I think it is important to put our political position aside and let everyone freely vote. Therefore, legislation would deal with furthering safe, comfortable, and honorable voting rights and facilities. I am a firm believer, that if you show up at the poll, then you should not be turned away. You should have the right to vote, even if it is with a provisional ballot that can later be verified. It is not worth turning someone around, expecting they will come back to the polls that day again. I want to increase a fair voting structure with more advocate groups like Election Protection.
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Campaign finance summary
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See also
External links
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on November 20, 2025
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