As congressional candidate Aditya Pai does a “complete reset” of his campaign team, he said he’s looking for people who “don’t like politics and love service.”
Pai, one of several Democratic candidates vying for Rep. Michelle Steel’s congressional seat, made headlines when a now-former aide sent an email announcing he suspended his campaign. It wasn’t until eight hours later that his campaign sent another email correcting the error.
That staffer, along with everyone else except for a website manager and FEC compliance officer, is no longer with the campaign, Pai said, due to a “misalignment of values.”
“Everything else is just a blank canvas at this point,” Pai said. “I’ve been inundated with offers and proposals from both general consultants and political professionals.”
But individuals who “don’t like politics and love service” are difficult to come across, Pai said.
“The folks that are political professionals tend to like the game of politics and the folks that really enjoy service and helping people tend not to go into an environment that is this brutal and emotionally violent,” he said. “And that was the dilemma I personally was facing as well. I’m a public servant, not a politician.”
The 31-year-old Brea resident announced his campaign in early April, making him one of several Democratic candidates to try a hand at flipping the seat held by Steel, R-Seal Beach, in 2024.
Steel — who currently represents the 45th congressional district encompassing north Orange County communities and parts of Los Angeles County — has so far hauled in over $2 million. Pai has raised $139,061, loaning himself $16,917 of that, while UC Irvine Law grad Cheyenne Hunt has so far brought in $170,557.
Garden Grove Councilmember Kim Bernice Nguyen has raised $151,239, and Little Saigon attorney Jimmy Pham, who entered the race mid-June, has raised $13,485, loaning himself $8,500 of that.
The district is on the Democratic…
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