Helena Pasquarella
Helena Pasquarella (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent California's 24th Congressional District. She lost in the primary on March 5, 2024.
Biography
Helena Pasquarella earned a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from the Diplomacy and World Affairs Studies program at Occidental College and an M.A. in Latin American studies from the University of California-Santa Barbara. Pasquarella's career experience includes working as a photojournalist for the Ventura County LA Times. She also became a teacher, teaching English as a second language and journalism at Santa Ana High School. In 2020, Pasquarella became the director at the U.S. Department of Peace based in Ojai, California.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: California's 24th Congressional District election, 2024
California's 24th Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 top-two primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House California District 24
Incumbent Salud Carbajal defeated Thomas Cole in the general election for U.S. House California District 24 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Salud Carbajal (D) | 62.7 | 214,724 |
 | Thomas Cole (R)  | 37.3 | 127,755 | |
| Total votes: 342,479 | |||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 24
Incumbent Salud Carbajal and Thomas Cole defeated Helena Pasquarella in the primary for U.S. House California District 24 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Salud Carbajal (D) | 53.7 | 102,516 |
| ✔ | | Thomas Cole (R) | 37.2 | 71,089 |
 | Helena Pasquarella (D) | 9.1 | 17,293 | |
| Total votes: 190,898 | |||
| = 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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Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Pasquarella in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Helena Pasquarella did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Pasquarella’s campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
Helena's Mission
The time for change is now and I want to be part of this change to make America a leader in peace. WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER Helena’s Priorities & Solutions Peace Presently, the U.S. military budget for 2024 is $884 billion, and the U.S. has 800 bases in 80 countries across the globe compared to Russia's 11 and China's 5, respectively. In 2019, the U.S. spent $732 billion compared to China's $229 billion and Russia's $65 billion. The US is the world aggressor regarding military spending, and we cannot continue with this policy of world domination at the expense of domestic wellbeing. Although the wars are not fought on U.S. soil, this violent war ideology can be seen in our communities, where people no longer feel safe. With 100 Americans dying from gun violence every day, it is evident that we need to address the underlying causes of violence and war, not just the symptoms. We also need to demand that our representatives sponsor H.R. 77, the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons. Economic Justice and Equality for All To end poverty, we need to address the following issues: raise the federal minimum wage to $25, ensure some form of universal rent control and prohibition of rental deposits, fund social housing to end homelessness, address prison reform, address voting rights issues, restrict the banking systems predatory practices, protect worker's rights and the right to unionize if they choose. Furthermore, we must ban the use of pesticides which are deadly to farmworkers and cause cancer to those living near fields (known as environmental racism). Also, place fair taxes on the wealthy and corporations and reduce taxes on the working class, explicitly repealing the 2017 tax breaks for the rich. Universal Single-Payer Healthcare for All Climate Action When I hear politicians saying that we need to continue investing in oil and bringing back coal to have a robust domestic economy, I realize that politics are being used to feed the companies that profit from a fossil fuel economy. We must transition from a dirty economy to a clean economy, learn to live with less and conserve more, invest in renewable energy such as solar and wind, move to regenerative farming practices, and transition away from fossil fuel economies that Washington has subsidized for far too long. Our youth realizes the dire situation at hand. Still, it is up to the adults to make the policy changes to save the planet from our continued negligence and shortsightedness of profits over the planet's health. Education Furthermore, we must forgive ALL federal and privately held student debt that individuals struggle to pay daily. We could do this and invest in ALL our educational systems, including universities and tradeschools, without spending billions on the military. Gun Violence I am a strong advocate for gun reform legislation, including expanding background checks, preventing people convicted of domestic abuse from owning a gun, allowing for the removal of guns from individuals who might be a threat to themselves or others, and making it a crime to own semi-automatic assault weapons or large-capacity ammunition feeding devices. These were the types of guns used in the Uvalde, Texas shooting, where an 18-year-old killed 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School. When the founding fathers included the “right to bear arms” in the Constitution, they never imagined that assault weapons would exist. We also need to provide more funds that support mental health issues along with conflict resolution skills to help prevent violence in our communities, starting in elementary schools. Foreign Policy The U.S. must also end trade sanctions and embargoes it has in place in Cuba, Iran, Syria, and Venezuela. These policies are ineffective in changing domestic policies and impose hardships on the civilians of those countries, who are already struggling to survive. In fact, in the case of Venezuela, the use of sanctions has completely backfired and forced the people to leave their homeland and come to the U.S. for asylum. In 2023 from January to July, some 472,000 Venezuelas crossed our borders from seeking asylum. The U.S. must have a foreign policy that focuses on human rights and peace and accounts for all of the war crimes and illegal interventions of the past. Campaign Finance The 2010 Supreme Court ruling for Citizens United changed the rules of the game, allowing corporations and unions to directly support candidates with NO LIMITS, under the protection of freedom of speech. According to Berkeley Professor Robert Reich, in the 2016 elections, congress members received $3.5 billion in campaign contributions or $5.9 million per member of Congress. There needs to be limits placed on campaign spending. It is criminal to spend so much money while there are so many pressing social needs in the U.S. Laws MUST be changed. We the people need to demand that the government be for the people, not just for the corporate interests who put profits over people. National Debt Reproductive Rights |
” |
| —Helena Pasquarella’s campaign website (2024)[3] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Pasquarella for Congress, "Meet Helena," accessed February 10, 2024
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Pasquarella for Congress, “Mission & Priorities,” accessed February 10, 2024
