While still a student at UC Irvine School of Law, Cheyenne Hunt clerked for Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, working on the Judiciary Committee and witnessing firsthand the first impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.
It was that “unforgettable” experience, she said, that cemented her desire to run for office. And that means Hunt, a Fullerton resident and TikTok influencer, is the latest to announce her candidacy for California’s 45th congressional district represented by GOP Rep. Michelle Steel — a race that’s heating up fast.
Hunt found while working in Washington, D.C., she said, that not everybody is motivated by the issues that are keeping people in her community up at night.
“Working on (Capitol) Hill showed me the ways in which our system is designed to prioritize justice and to treat nobody as if they are above the law,” said Hunt, who works in tech policy for Public Citizen, a progressive advocacy group.
“But it also showed me the ways in which our lawmakers are not necessarily always reflecting the interests of their constituents. And I think that a lot of us are looking for somebody who’s really going to be a champion for working families, and that’s why I’m running right now.”
Related: Garden Grove Councilmember Kim Bernice Nguyen launches CA-45 campaign
A progressive Democrat, Hunt hopes to be the first Gen Z — anyone born from 1997 to the early 2010s — woman elected to Congress. Members of the U.S. House must be at least 25 years old; Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost became the first Gen Z person elected to Congress last year.
Hunt has amassed over 60,000 followers and 3 million likes on her TikTok, @cheyennehuntca, where she posts political commentary, various event footage and the occasional “day in my life.”
And as someone who lobbies for big tech accountability for a living, Hunt has a lot to say about TikTok and talks in Congress about banning the Chinese-owned social media app.
“I think there’s…
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