Elected U.S. Legislators

Vince Fong was elected to serve in the United States House of Representatives on May 21, 2024, with great pride to serve the 20th Congressional District of California, which encompasses parts of Fresno, Kern, Kings, and Tulare counties, including Bakersfield, Clovis, Hanford, Lemoore, Ridgecrest, Rosamond, Springville, Taft, Tehachapi, Tulare, and Visalia.

Born in Bakersfield, Vince knew that he wanted to positively affect the region that he has always called home. Vince began his career in public policy with Congressman Bill Thomas, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, working on international trade policy to open up markets for our nation’s farmers and small businesses. After returning to Kern County, for nearly a decade, he served as the district director to House Majority Leader and Congressman Kevin McCarthy, where he managed public policy issues for the region, worked to promote local job creation, made commonsense reforms, and fought to improve the quality of life for our neighbors and families. He helped organize the Valley Fever Symposium, bringing the issue into the national spotlight and convincing leaders in healthcare to conduct research and find solutions to a growing problem.

In 2016, Vince was elected to the California State Assembly, where he served until earlier this year. In Sacramento, Vince helped to lead the conversation on energy independence in California, improving our transportation, infrastructure, and supply chains, and enhance job opportunities for local residents.

In Congress, Vince was appointed to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Science, Space, and Technology Committee. He will work on both committees to help advance further infrastructure investments in our region, especially to help strengthen the critical supply chain in the Central Valley – the breadbasket of America – that our farmers, ranchers, and local small businesses and workers rely on, as well as prioritize the technological advancements in aeronautics and commercial spaceflight in East Kern. He will also work to ensure that veterans have access to the benefits they earned, and that our military communities at China Lake, Edwards, and Lemoore have the resources and support they need to support America’s national defense.

Vince is a lifelong resident of Kern County. He earned a bachelor’s degree from UCLA and a master’s degree from Princeton University. When he is not in Washington, DC fighting for Central Valley priorities and values, he is home in Bakersfield with his wife, Amanda.

Congressman Salud Carbajal proudly represents the 24th Congressional District of California. The District includes the entirety of Santa Barbara County and portions of San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.
Prior to representing the Central Coast in Congress, Salud served as Santa Barbara County’s First District Supervisor for twelve years. As County Supervisor, Salud championed the development of the Blue Ribbon Budget Task Force to examine our county operations and budget process. He has also advocated for health and social service safety net programs for our most vulnerable residents, co-sponsoring an initiative to provide health insurance for all the County’s children and spearheading the creation of a job skills and mentorship program for at-risk youth throughout the County.

In Congress, Salud has demonstrated a strong commitment to protecting our natural environment and resources, enhancing public safety, creating economic opportunities, and working regionally to address our transportation, housing, and workforce challenges.

A long-time advocate for our environment, Salud’s first act in Congress was the California Clean Coast Act which bans future offshore oil and gas drilling on California’s coast. He also is a member of the bi-partisan Climate Solutions Caucus, which serves as a working group dedicated to advancing proposals that will mitigate and reduce climate change, while at the same time encouraging economic growth and job creation.

Salud sits on the House Committee on Armed Services, the House Committee on Agriculture, and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, where he serves as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation. The Congressman has used his role as the Vice Chair on the House Committee of Transportation and Infrastructure to create jobs by securing investments in the nation’s crumbling infrastructure and rebuilding areas damaged by natural disasters like the Montecito Debris Flow. As a member of the Armed Services Committee, Salud has offered amendments in the National Defense Authorization Act that would direct the Department of Defense to research the effects of climate change on military operations, develop educational partnerships between the Department of Defense and local colleges, and ensure female service members have adequate body armor suited to fit their needs.

Salud served eight years in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, including active duty service during the Gulf War in 1992 where he was mobilized to Jacksonville, North Carolina. As a veteran, Carbajal has worked to ensure the needs of our nations veterans are met.

Carbajal graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) and also holds a Master’s Degree in Organizational Management from the Fielding University.

Carbajal is married to Gina and they are proud parents of Natasha and Michael.

Congressman Andrew Clyde is a combat veteran, small business owner, and a proud Georgian. After earning his commission from the University of Notre Dame, he served as an U.S. Navy officer for 28 years, which included three combat deployments to Kuwait and Iraq. After receiving an honorable discharge, Congressman Clyde made his home in Athens, Georgia and earned a master’s degree in Corporate Finance and Entrepreneurship from the University of Georgia. He established Clyde Armory in 1991 and grew the company into a nationwide firearms business which currently operates two brick-and-mortar locations in Georgia. Congressman Clyde was first elected to serve Georgia’s Ninth Congressional District in the House of Representatives in November 2020. He currently serves on the House Appropriations Committee. The Congressman and his wife, Jennifer, are residents of Jackson County.

Congresswoman Young Kim is proud to represent California’s 40th District, which includes parts of Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, in the U.S. House of Representatives.

An immigrant, small business owner, community leader, mother and grandmother, Young is proud to be one of the first Korean American women ever to serve in Congress and help all Americans have the chance to achieve their dream just like she did.

As an immigrant to the United States, Young has dedicated her life to giving back to her community. She started her public service as Director of Community Relations and Asian Affairs for former Congressman Ed Royce, where she was a key liaison to the district and advisor on issues pertaining to the Asian-American community and foreign policy.

Prior to serving in Congress, Young was the first ever Korean American Republican woman to serve in the California State Assembly. As an Assemblywoman, Young fought to grow jobs, support small businesses, ensure public safety, promote educational opportunities, support veterans and protect victims of domestic violence.

Young is a small business owner, a long-time community leader and has been actively involved in numerous organizations throughout the 40th District and in Orange County. She and her husband Charles are the proud parents of four grown children – Christine, Kelly, Alvin and Hannah.

United States Representative Jimmy Panetta proudly serves California’s 19th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. His diverse and beautiful district stretches from south San Jose in Santa Clara County, over the hills into Santa Cruz County, down the coastline of Monterey County, and into northern San Luis Obispo County. First elected in 2016, he is serving his fourth term in Congress. He currently serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means, the House Committee on Armed Services, and House Committee on the Budget. He also serves as a Chief Deputy Whip in the 118th Congress.

Having grown up on the central coast of California, Representative Panetta understands the importance of giving back to the community and country that gave his Italian immigrant grandparents, his family, and him so much opportunity. He was instilled with a sense of public service and its importance to our communities and democracy and his work is reflective of the values of the people who entrusted him to be their voice in our nation’s capital.

During his time in Congress, Representative Panetta has fought for affordable housing, immigration reform, the continued protection of our pristine coastline and environment, accessible health care, our agriculture industry and its farmers and farmworkers, the reduction of gun violence, a fairer tax code, major infrastructure investment, sustainable conservation practices, our military installations that are an integral part in our community and our country’s security, and the deserved and promised benefits to our veterans.

Through policy implementation in Congress and service to constituents, Representative Panetta remains committed to being that bridge for the people of California’s 19th Congressional District to the federal government and its resources. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he secured $1.4 billion in relief for communities and families in California’s 19th Congressional District and ensured relief was available for schools, local small businesses, as well as farmers and farmworkers. He has passed into law legislation to promote clean energy, protect California’s forests and pollinators, support frontline health care workers, tackle hunger among military families, and provide legal services to homeless veterans and veterans at risk for homelessness.

Prior to Congress, Representative Panetta served his community as a prosecutor in Monterey and Alameda Counties and served our country as an Intelligence Officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve. In 2007, Congressman Panetta volunteered for active duty and was deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service. Upon returning home, he served as a board member of the Veterans Transition Center, helped open Monterey County’s first Veterans Treatment Court, and worked to establish the Central Coast Veterans Cemetery on the former Fort Ord.

Representative Panetta attended local public schools and Monterey Peninsula Community College. He graduated from the University of California, Davis with an undergraduate degree in International Relations and earned his law degree from Santa Clara University. His wife, Carrie Panetta, is a Superior Court judge in Monterey County, and they have two daughters who are being educated at the same local public schools attended by Representative Panetta.

U.S. Congressman Jay Obernolte proudly represents California’s 23rd District in the U.S. House of Representatives. A video game developer and business owner, Rep. Obernolte is dedicated to ensuring the High Desert, Eastern Sierras, and Inland Empire have a strong voice fighting for their interests in Congress.

In the 117th Congress, Rep. Obernolte served on the committees on Natural Resources, Budget, and Science, Space, and Technology and in a leadership role as the freshman class representative to the House Republican Policy Committee. He passed 6 bills, of which three were signed into law, to help protect our nation’s supply chain and improve our defense against cyberterrorism. He also authored and cosponsored an additional 55 bills to tackle inflation, lower energy prices, crack down on drug trafficking across the southern border, and work to prevent wildfires.

Previously, Rep. Obernolte served as a member of the California State Legislature representing the state’s 33rd Assembly District and as Mayor of the City of Big Bear Lake. He has also served on the boards of the Big Bear Lake Fire Protection District, the Mojave Desert and Mountain Integrated Waste Authority, the Mountain Regional Transit Authority, the League of California Cities Desert-Mountain Division, and the Big Bear City Airport District. In these positions he worked across partisan lines to pass legislation helping California’s hardworking families by lowering taxes, stopping government encroachment into privacy and personal liberties, and upholding law and order. He has also been a strong advocate for local veterans, defending funding for the Barstow Veterans Home and helping ensure California veterans receive the care and respect their service has earned.

Rep. Obernolte lives in Big Bear Lake with his wife, Heather. They have two sons, Hale and Troy. In addition to owning a videogame development studio, Rep. Obernolte is a certified flight instructor and a teacher of martial arts. He holds a B.S. in Engineering and Applied Science from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), an M.S. in Artificial Intelligence from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and a Doctorate in Public Administration from California Baptist University (CBU).

Zoe Lofgren has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1995. She represents the 18th District of California, which serves communities in Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties.
A lifelong Bay Area resident and the daughter of a truck driver and a cafeteria cook and, later, a secretary. Zoe attended public schools and attended Stanford University on a California State Scholarship, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1970. Prior to attending Stanford, Lofgren worked the night shift at the Eastman Kodak plant in Palo Alto to save money for non-tuition college expenses not covered by her scholarship. After graduating from Stanford, she attended Santa Clara University School of Law with the help of a scholarship, graduating cum laude in 1975. She served as a member of Congressman Don Edwards’ staff for eight years in both his San Jose and Washington DC offices from 1970 to 1978. She practiced and taught immigration law, and was a founder and first executive director of the nonprofit Community Housing Developers. She was first elected to the San Jose Evergreen Community College Board in 1979. In 1980, she was elected to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, where she served for 14 years. Following Congressman Don Edwards’ retirement in 1994 after 32 years in Congress, Zoe was elected to the House of Representatives.

She is currently the Ranking Member of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee and serves on the House Judiciary Committee. Zoe is also the elected Chair of the California Democratic Congressional Delegation. It is the most diverse delegation in the House and outnumbers all other state House delegations.