Meet Matt Ortega, Candidate For California's 14th Congressional District

SAN LEANDRO, CA — Patch reached out with identical questions to all candidates to represent California's 14th Congressional District, which comprises Hayward, Pleasanton, Livermore, Union City, Castro Valley, and parts of Dublin and Fremont. It was represented by Eric Swalwell, but is currently vacant after he resigned in the midst of a sexual abuse scandal.

A special election to replace Swalwell until January 2027 will take place Aug. 18. To be included in that election, candidates must file separately and participate in a primary on June 16.

The primary for the permanent seat will take place June 2, as planned.

Here are the answers from Matt Ortega, Melissa Hernandez, a progressive organizer and digital strategist. Responses have not been edited.

Can you briefly describe your background, including your professional experience, public service, and connection to the district?

I'm a husband, father, small business owner, and union member. I grew up in Hayward, just off Harder and Mission. A few years after my mother passed away in 1992, my family moved to the Tri-Valley where my father remarried a public school teacher. I received a B.A. political science from the University of Arizona in 2006.

My first campaign out of college that year was with an environmental group based in Pleasanton off Main Street. We helped unseat one of the last remaining Republican members of Congress in the Bay Area in Richard Pombo. It likely still stands as the biggest electoral victory for the environmental community to date.

As a self-taught graphic designer and web developer since I was a teenager, I was fortunate enough to merge interests and soon began a twenty year career as a digital strategist. Over a nearly twenty year career, I worked alongside labor unions for better pay and better working conditions; with environmental groups on renewable energy and tackling the climate crisis; with immigration activists for fair, comprehensive immigration reform and protections for DREAMers. In my career, I've worked to elect two Democratic presidents and leaders up and down the ballot.

What makes you the best candidate for this seat?

The politicians failed and, as a result, our system is broken. The American people work hard and it feels like we are only treading water rather than getting ahead. The struggles of working families are not academic abstractions to me. It's a lived experience we share.

My wife and I both hold good-paying jobs and yet, like for many in the Bay Area, we are renters as homeownership is out of reach for us. We grew up in homes our parents owned. Her parents are Ethiopian refugees who secured the American dream. My family owned a home on just one income yet we are unable on two.

This year, our health care insurance premiums nearly doubled—and that makes us one of the luckier ones. Others saw theirs triple or quadruple, forcing many to forego insurance altogether.

We also have two young sons. The high cost of child care forced us to make a difficult decision: to send only one child part-time. The research on early childhood development is unambiguous. For every $1 invest, there are returns of $4 to $6, or higher, with benefits which last into adulthood. When those years pass, they are gone forever.

In the richest nation on earth, life should be easier than this.

I'm also the only candidate in this race with national political experience, taking on some of the biggest fights at the national level for the past 15 years. I've seen Republican radicalization up close and weathered their attacks on me since my early 20s. I'm a fighter for the American people and I'm not going to back down now.

What are the biggest challenges facing the 14th district, and how do you plan to address them?

Voters are concerned about the economy and the nation's future our children stand to inherit. To me, these issues are not exclusive but two sides of the same coin. It's about freedom—the freedom to live our lives in prosperity and peace.

Skyrocketing health insurance premiums. Grocery prices, energy bills, and gas prices are all way up because of this administration's erratic tariff regime, attacks on renewable energy to prop up fossil fuels, and disastrous war in Iran. Donald Trump ran on lowering costs but now that he's in power, he's called the affordability crisis a "hoax" and said housing costs should remain high. It's squeezing families with no end in sight.

The American people also understand Donald Trump poses an existential threat to the country. He didn't create the cracks in our democracy. He's merely exploiting them. Brazen violations of the Constitution—denial of due process, usurpation of the authority of Congress to declare war and its power of the purse. This is the most corruption administration in history. The president, his family, and inner circle are enriching themselves at taxpayer expense.

I approach these issues with the understanding that it requires short-term and long-term strategies. Under likely divided government these next two years, we must hold the line to protect the people, conduct vigorous oversight of this administration, and secure legislative victories where possible. A Democratic wave victory in 2026 may force Republicans to the table out of fear of additional losses in 2028.

In the long-term under a Democratic trifecta in 2029, we can free families and small businesses from skyrocketing premiums with Medicare for All. We can provide our children have the best possible chance at life with free child care. We can bring down housing costs with a federal program to build affordable and sustainable housing, prioritize first-time homebuyers with assistance, cut out private equity and anonymous LLCs from single family homes, and greater transparency in the rental market. We can strengthen our democracy for the future with a bold reform agenda to get money out of politics, ensure presidents can be held legally accountable, restrict the presidential pardon power, and make government more responsive to the people.

District 14 has recently made national headlines. What do you think voters are most concerned about, and how would your leadership address that?

We live in an era of elite impunity. It erodes the public's faith in our institutions. It's also a time when the material needs of the American people are not met. The same broken system that allowed a man like Eric Swalwell to reach the heights he did is the same broken system that allowed housing, health care, and child care to be out of reach for working families.

It will require a restoration of public trust. It starts with electing a new representative who shares the public's frustrations, is open and accessible, and works to deliver for them. I want voters to know they can reach out to me if they ever have a question, concern, or need help. I'm happy to talk policy but more importantly it is important to hear from them directly.

Do you plan to run in the special election?

I'm focused on earning one of the top two spots in the June 2 primary.

Outside of politics, what do you enjoy doing?

I'm active with my son's Little League. Sports used to be a much bigger part of my life until the Raiders and A's left. I'm a student of history and enjoy reading historical nonfiction when I have the time. It's also led me to the fulfilling experience of family history research. My great-great grandfather Jose Urbano Ortega served as a state legislator in New Mexico in the 1920s and 1930s. I am able to read his words fighting for the poor, seeking to expand education opportunities, and taking on corruption within his party. My great uncle Johnny Ortega was a national AAU Golden Gloves champion as a flyweight in 1949. He fought professionally in the Bay Area, often against much bigger opponents. I draw tremendous inspiration from them both.

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