WITH 2024 being the year of a variety of elections from the state to the whole country, it is hard to narrow down who we would like to represent us, our wants, and especially our needs. Asian Journal had the chance to sit down and talk with one of the Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate, Christina Pascucci. She is running to represent the people of California, who she has worked alongside with for two decades now as an Emmy Award winning journalist.
Pascucci has an array of achievements, ranging from serving as a war correspondent to interviewing world leaders. She has also had the chance to visit more than a hundred countries, where Pascucci had the chance to interview all walks of life, thousands of Californians included in this number. “But aside from that, perhaps what I’m most proud of is just my work in the community. Since I was a kid, I’ve been involved in a lot of philanthropic efforts and my entire adult life, I’ve worked with foster youth, homeless families and underserved communities,” Pascucci described.
“This isn’t something I just try to do to get people to vote for me. It’s in my heart and I truly care about the people. That’s why I sacrificed my own career as a journalist and am running seven and a half months pregnant, because I think that fighting for the people over politics is so important,” she added, highlighting her complete dedication to her campaign.
“I am a daughter of an immigrant. I grew up in the San Fernando Valley and I am very passionate about the state of California and its people,” Pascucci introduced herself, emphasizing how a huge part of what pushed her for running for U.S. Senate was her own experiences.
“I want to raise awareness for and address the issues that I’m fighting for,” Pascucci expressed, detailing her passion in helping foster youth. She sees how this issue is something that also connects with other very well-known issues within our state, such as the homelessness crisis, mental health crisis, and the situations regarding criminal justice.
“A big part of what really pushed me into this was my family experience,” Pascucci said, describing how she dealt with a family member who suffered from substance abuse and mental health issues. As a young child, she saw a lot of the issues that our state still faces today. “It really made me curious about people and how they get to where they are and building compassion around understanding the shoes someone else walks in,” she explained.
While she is aware of these ongoing issues, Pascucci also demonstrated her knowledge as to how deeply impactful they truly are. “Half of the homeless population was impacted by the foster care system. 70% of people who are incarcerated were in the foster care system and around 60% of those trafficked were foster youth,” she communicated.
“Looking at these statistics, it’s impossible to ignore the importance of revamping that system and making sure that this population has all the support that they need,” Pascucci expressed, highlighting her deep concern.
Another issue that Pascucci hopes to address is California’s border concerns. “I’m speaking as the daughter of an immigrant. I think immigrants are what make America amazing. We are built on immigrants, so I fully support people coming here and having a path to citizenship and looking for a better life, like my mother did about 50 years ago,” she passionately stated, detailing how we need to have policies in place that therefore encourage legal migration, which is still not happening.
A major reason as to why Pascucci is passionate about these issues are because she has seen them firsthand through her career in journalism. “I think everyone running for and in office should have field experience. They need to be in the trenches, with the people, seeing firsthand how policies impact everyday people, seeing what they’re struggling with, what they’re worries and needs are, and hearing directly from them,” she explained, emphasizing how this firsthand experience ties into creating policy that will truly impact the people.
As Filipinos, we have a strong sense of community and immense pride in our culture and existence. While speaking with Pascucci, she emphasized how she is very well aware of many of the things the Filipino and overall, the AAPI community face within California.
One of the most prominent issues that our community faces is mental health. “I think it’s been stigmatized, where it’s harder for people to talk about,” Pascucci expressed, making it clear she wants to ensure that those experiencing mental health issues within our community are safe and have the care they need.
“The older generations just want to assimilate into American culture but now there’s almost this rediscovery of FIlipino food and culture. I would like to honor that and highlight it because there’s so much to be proud of,” Pascucci said, speaking about the importance of October, which is Filipino-American history month.
Pascucci is therefore dedicated to working with the Filipino community in honoring our rich culture and heritage that we bring to the state. She also brought up another issue that has been affecting the community, which is affordable housing.
“Some activists have recently brought up that there have been higher rates of people from the Filipino community unhoused, which hasn’t been seen much in the past,” she declared, where as a part of her campaign, she aims to bring these costs down.
As she has worked with communities, including the AAPI (Asian-American Pacific Islander) community, for two decades now, she has also covered and done many stories that surround the various issues we face. One of the most recent ones is the rise in hate towards Asians in the time during and after the pandemic.
“We saw the rise in Anti-Asian hate crimes for a while and I think it’s important to keep that conversation going and making sure that we honor the AAPI community and all of the incredible contributions they have brought to our society,” Pascucci added.
“We want to live in a place where we’re honoring and celebrating our differences and coming together and being stronger for the differences we bring to table,” she emphasized, detailing how if elected she could be a leader that the people have been wanting.
“I’m a different kind of candidate and voters have a choice between how things have been done or how they can be. I’m someone who offers a fresh vision. I’m a mother-to-be, a lifelong Californian, daughter of an immigrant, and first-generation college graduate who cares deeply for people and I will fight for them and their needs and always listen,” Pascucci added, highlighting how her campaign is for the people.
For a more detailed look on Christina Pascucci’s campaign and the different policies that she addresses, you can visit her website at https://christinaforcalifornia.com. n