Cisneros is a Democrat and philanthropist. He was elected in 2018 to a single term in Congress for the 39th District, which mostly encompasses Orange County along with a portion of San Bernardino County and parts of Los Angeles County. Cisneros lost reelection to Young Kim, a Republican. Among the legislation he supported in Congress was a failed assault weapons ban, which he said he hopes to reintroduce. After his defeat, Cisneros was appointed in 2021 as undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness in the Biden administration. He left that position in September before announcing his bid for Congress.
Cisneros, who told The Times he was raised in a family of veterans, briefly served in the Navy after high school. He became a millionaire after winning a lottery jackpot in 2010. With more than $250 million in earnings, he went from working as a shipping and distribution manager for Frito-Lay to entering the political and philanthropic world. He has put $6 million into his current campaign, according to the most recent campaign filings.
Martinez is an attorney and former high school teacher from Monrovia who ran unsuccessfully against Napolitano in 2022. He described himself as a “weird politician” and said he is running because “America is dead” and can only rise again by “returning to the biblical values we have strayed from.” Martinez told The Times that his main interest in joining Congress is to support post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide mitigation for veterans, which was motivated by his father’s suicide in 2015.
He said he also believes in redirecting the billions spent in Ukraine toward improving education and healthcare services in local communities. He also has expressed concerns about the rising homeless population and the need for rapid expansion of live-in mental health facilities.