United States Representative, District 23

Jay Obernolte represents California's 23rd District. Before Congress he founded FarSight Studios, a video game company. He later served as Mayor of Big Bear Lake. He also served in the California State Assembly. He has a graduate degree in artificial intelligence. In Congress he chairs a bipartisan task force on AI policy with Democrat Ted Lieu.

He says his top job is making sure the High Desert and Inland Empire get a strong voice in Washington. In January 2021 he voted against counting Arizona's and Pennsylvania's electoral votes for president. He said in his own statement that courts and governors had changed election law in ways only state legislatures should, and called it not a partisan decision.

He promises to keep fighting to balance the federal budget. He wants lower taxes for small businesses and a bigger child tax credit. He says he has passed laws to hold fentanyl dealers accountable and to strengthen cybersecurity. He promises continued support for veterans and the military.

Tessa Lynn Hodge is a licensed clinical social worker and small business owner who lives in Victorville. Hodge has not held elected office before. They say their work as a social worker showed them how hard it is for people in the High Desert to get health care and afford basic needs.

Hodge decided to run because they say the district's current representative has stopped listening to regular people. They say he voted for a bill that cut health care funding. They say that put four local hospitals at risk of closing. They promise to protect access to health care if elected.

Hodge promises to fight to lower the cost of living. They promise to protect access to health care. On immigration, they want to build a new enforcement agency in place of ICE, which they say has become too corrupt to fix. They also want to bar members of Congress from trading individual stocks.