EDITORIAL: Matt Ortega, East Bay congressional candidate, answers Bay Area News Group's primary questionnaire

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Ahead of the June primary election, the Bay Area News Group compiled a list of questions to pose to the candidates for California's 14th Congressional District. You can find the full questionnaire below. Questionnaires may have been edited for spelling, grammar, length and clarity.

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Name: Matt OrtegaCurrent job title: FounderDate of birth: November 11, 1984

Political party affiliation: DemocratOther political positions held: NoneCity where you reside: San Leandro

What are the top three problems you're seeking to solve if elected?

1. Housing

2. Health care

3. Childcare

Why are you uniquely qualified to address the three problems you've identified above?

My wife and I work hard and homeownership remains beyond our reach. Our health insurance premiums nearly doubled in a single year. We have two sons. But the cost of childcare forced upon us a choice - one child went three days a week and the other stayed home. We knew they missed out but we hoped it would be enough. It is not enough. I believe that when the people we send to Washington have stood where we stand they do not need to be persuaded that these problems are real.

What differentiates you from your most serious competitors for this seat?

I am not a politician. But I have stood on the national stage - alongside labor, alongside environmental advocates, alongside those who fight for immigrant families - in some of the defining battles of the past 20 years. To walk into the U.S. Capitol in 2026 demands something different. Something harder. Not just conviction, but endurance. Not just principle, but the willingness to take a hit and get back up. I have never shrunk from a fight and I do not intend to start now.

What one congressional committee would you most like to chair, if given the opportunity? And how would that position serve your constituents?

I would like to chair the Education and Workforce Committee as it oversees federal programs for early childhood education, K-12 and higher education. I know what it means when the system works and when it doesn't. Both of my sons have autism. (My eldest) had teachers who refused to give up, a school that leaned in and a community with the resources to help. He has improved immensely. We know what free, universal childcare would cost. We also know that the Pentagon recently requested $200 billion to fund an illegal war in Iran. We have the money.

You're running to be a lawmaker. If you were going to be remembered for writing and passing one law, what would it be?

The mRNA technology that protected millions during a global pandemic has opened a door to the possibility of a cancer vaccine. I will fight for the federal investment necessary to develop that vaccine and to ensure that it does not belong only to those who can afford it. I would author that legislation gladly.

Since 1960, what one piece of federal legislation has benefited Americans the most?

Of all the landmark legislation this nation has produced, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 may be the most transformative. Not because it was the first, and not because it was the last, but because of the breadth of what it dared to cover: race, color, religion, sex, national origin. It did not create new American ideals. It redeemed ones we had long abandoned. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was America's reckoning with the distance between what we proclaimed and what we practiced. Between the republic we described and the one we actually built.

Why should renters vote for you? How will you make their lives more affordable?

As part of a broader federal housing initiative, I would seek to include measures targeting the rental sector. This includes tax incentives to landlords to keep rents low and stabilized, implementing anti-vacancy measures to ensure vacant units are pushed onto the market to increase supply and restricting short-term rentals and homeownership by private equity. Furthermore, Donald Trump's economic policies are driving us toward a significant recession. When the economy hits the wall, Congress must endeavor to keep people in their homes.

Why should first-time homebuyers support you?

I aim to champion a federal housing program to build millions of affordable and sustainable homes to tackle the estimated 2.8 million to 6.5 million housing inventory shortfall nationwide. The federal government can make affordable and sustainable housing investments that private builders, who seek the most profitable arrangement, would not or could not make. This program would incentivize private sellers to provide down payment assistance to first-time homebuyers. The migration of renters to homeownership will free up rental inventory and create a downward pressure on rents.

Explain how you would use your position to help tackle homelessness in your district.

Congress should explore increased funding directed towards the HOME Investment Partnerships Program and Community Development Block Grants as well as the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to support young people experiencing housing insecurity as it greatly impacts their ability to learn and their futures. I would aim to ensure my offices in the district provide constituent services, in-person and online, to bring stakeholders together and raise public awareness of programs available to them before it is too late.

Bay Area transit agencies are facing a fiscal cliff. Their solvency appears to depend on the passage of a proposed November sales tax. What's your position on that tax? What changes would you demand of Bay Area transit agencies, if any, in order to receive more federal funds?

For potential reforms, I typically disfavor the patchwork nature of the disparate transit agencies. Consolidation would be particularly complex and may require a number of years to implement. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission serves as a weak central government akin to the U.S. federal government under the Articles of Confederation which ultimately proved a failure. The solution may be to, over time, strengthen the MTC as a real parent body with authority over the individual transit agencies and consolidate operational structures, schedules and labor contracts upon expiration. The Clipper integration is a great example where it works and is improving.

What is your position on the California High Speed Rail project? Would you support appropriating more federal funds for it? If so, under what conditions, if any?

I strongly favor a national high-speed rail network. High-speed rail will create economic corridors, link major metropolitan areas and allow workers to live further away from job centers with reasonable commutes as employers increasingly return to in-office attendance. It is also a climate imperative. California's HSR line between San Francisco and Los Angeles has been plagued by a number of factors over many years, however, I would support additional federal funds to ensure its completion as I am committed to this climate, economic and national security imperative.

Joint Venture Silicon Valley estimates 400,000 Bay Area jobs are at risk of being replaced by AI. What legislation would you support, if any, to protect your district's workers and/or consumers from automation?

Of legislation currently under consideration, I would support the AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act which requires quarterly disclosures to the Labor Department on workers laid off primarily due to AI and positions that go unfilled as a result of AI. I would also support the "AI Workforce PREPARE Act" for improved forecasting of AI impacts on the workforce and strengthening the WARN Act to provide exposed workers greater timelines to prepare for potential AI-related layoffs. Restrictions must also be placed on employers, health insurance companies, government agencies and others from using AI to make decisions.

Would you support legislation to curb children's use of social media?

I do not support an outright ban, however, steps must be taken to require platforms to protect the mental health of their users of all ages, demonetize content created for young people, prohibit data collection on such users, and create a firm content firewall between platforms to prevent exposure to mature content. (YouTube Kids is a particularly good example. Parental controls that stop children from navigating outside of a child profile on a streaming service is also a useful parental tool to guard against unwanted access for their children.)

Wealth inequality has hit its widest gap in more than three decades. The top 1% of households own 31% of all U.S. wealth. What policies would you support, if any, to narrow the wealth gap?

We often hear that our nation is broke. It is not. It's our priorities that are poor. We can ensure every American has quality health care. That every child gets the best opportunity possible with early development programs. That every young person who wants to go to college can go without debt. It is our leaders who simply choose not to do so. We can once again lift half of all U.S. children out of poverty by making the Biden-era expanded Child Tax Credit permanent.

Explain your position on Donald Trump's military action against Iran. Would you support Rep. Ro Khanna's War Powers Resolution?

I am vehemently opposed to this illegal war of choice. It is a generational foreign policy blunder explicitly in violation of the U.S. Constitution and the U.N. Charter. U.S. leaders responsible for this war publicly admitted to war crimes for which they must stand trial. Every day this Congress fails to act to put a stop to this disaster, Americans will pay - in blood and treasure - for a war no one debated, no one authorized, and no one can justify.

Bay Area counties will lose billions in coming years as a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. These federal cuts, particularly to health care, are expected to hit Alameda and Santa Clara counties' residents hard. What actions, if any, would you support to protect the health care of these counties in light of these cuts?

There may be a possibility to restore at least some of the Medicaid cuts in addition to the restoration of the Affordable Care Act enhanced subsidies. With the majority, House Democrats would also play a significant role in shaping the political debate heading into the 2028 election. As a champion of Medicare for All, this fight to restore the enhanced ACA subsidies and restore Medicaid cuts underscores the need for the long-term goal of transitioning to a Medicare for All, single-payer health care system.

Beyond the threat of immediate cuts facing county budgets, what other health care challenges face your district's residents? What policies would you support to improve their health access and outcomes?

The person who is elected to this seat must defend the Alameda Health System from projected losses growing to $150 million by 2028. They must push for grants and health center funding to unincorporated areas for Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) designation. They must seek to reverse the greater restrictions on Medi-Cal eligibility for lawfully present immigrants. They must push support for outpatient mental health capacity in the Tri-Valley. I would seek to take up the banner of the Community Health Worker Access Act in the House to ensure a multilingual health workforce is available to serve diverse communities.

The federal government faces chronic deficits. It must either raise more revenue or cut more spending. Or both. Explain what policies you would support to raise more revenue and, if applicable, what spending you'd cut. Be specific.

Tax the billionaires. Go after the carried interest loophole and preferential capital gains rates. Abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and reallocate its budget. Roll back the $150 billion supplemental in the OBBBA. Stop Trump's request for an additional $500 billion a year for defense. Repeal Trump-era tax cuts from the OBBBA last year and the extended Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) from Trump's first term. Phase out subsidies for oil, gas and coal industries. Charge market-rate for access to public land and water on existing projects. Require companies to take over abandoned well cleanup.

A Bay Area News Group analysis shows that federal agents have recently increased the number of deportations of immigrants without prior criminal histories. This has affected immigrants in this specific district. Do you support the Trump administration's immigration policies? Describe the immigration policies you'd support.

I vehemently oppose this administration's immigration policies which are ultimately about demographics, not the law or anything else. It is a campaign of ethnic cleansing. I favor comprehensive immigration reform - as I fought for working with immigration groups during the Obama years - with a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants without a criminal record and the treatment of asylum seekers which comports with international law. We need to bring on more immigration judges. A properly funded immigration system could also ferret out fraud and should start with Elon Musk.

What do the biggest contributors to your campaign expect from you?

My largest contributors are three personal friends and former coworkers who each gave $1,000. I believe they expect me to be the same person they've known and worked with for the last 15 to 20 years.

Do all of your policy goals above depend on your party controlling Congress? If so, how will you achieve anything if your party doesn't control Congress? How do you plan to build bipartisan coalitions to pass legislation in a divided Congress?

There are areas where bipartisan agreement is possible and that possibility may deepen after 2026. I am a New Deal liberal. I believe in Medicare for All. I believe ICE must be abolished. I believe the wealthy must pay more than they do. I believe many Supreme Court decisions have done serious damage to this republic and require a constitutional remedy. I am not naive. I do not expect Republican support for my agenda. But I will fight for every inch gained to deliver for my constituents.

What else should we know about your capacity to directly improve the lives of this district's constituents?

We did not arrive at this moment by accident, nor will we leave it without a fight. Our institutions are strained, our rights imperiled, our families burdened by costs no honest day's work should fail to meet. History will record what was done in these years. It will also record what we did in response. This nation has faced dark hours before, and in each of them, it was not the powerful who saved it. It was the people. That task now falls to us.

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This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 5:43 PM.