U.S. House of RepresentativesCandidate for District 24

First elected to Congress in 2016, Salud Carbajal has a proven track record of standing up for Central Coast values and building stronger communities. He’s running for Congress to continue fighting for opportunity and security for middle-class families, and to protect the environment, economy and unique needs of our region.

Salud and his family lived in a small copper mining town in Arizona, after immigrating from Moroleón, Guanajuato, Mexico when Salud was five. His father worked in the mines while his mother maintained the home for their eight children. When the mine closed, the family moved to Oxnard where Salud’s father became a farmworker and Salud spent summers working with his father in the fields. Attending junior high and high school in Oxnard, Salud applied himself and focused on his education.

Salud earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara and his master’s degree in organizational management from the Fielding University. He served eight years in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, including active duty service during the 1991 Gulf War, where he was mobilized to Jacksonville, North Carolina.

In 2004, Salud was elected to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. In his tenure, he demonstrated a commitment to protecting our environment, promoting sustainability, strengthening our schools, and enhancing the health and safety of our community.

A leader in protecting our scenic views and open spaces, he stood up against developments on the Gaviota Coast that threatened preservation efforts and has opposed new offshore oil development along our coastline. Salud worked to implement a Climate Action Plan for Santa Barbara county and made solar energy an affordable, efficient option for homeowners. He promoted innovative solutions to addressing environmental stewardship and sustainability, and advocated for job creation in this emerging industry.

Drawing upon his own childhood experiences growing up in an economically disadvantaged neighborhood, Salud shares a passion for improving the lives of at-risk youth. He found innovative ways to strengthen our schools by creating a job skills and mentorship program for at-risk youth and providing summer programming for our kids. He has been an advocate for health programs that help our children and seniors receive the care they need, co-sponsoring an initiative that provided health insurance for all of Santa Barbara County’s children.

Throughout his time serving California’s 24th Congressional District in Congress, Salud’s life experiences have helped him advocate for the needs of our community.  In Congress, he has fought for bold environmental protections, strong services for our nation’s veterans, initiatives that serve working families, and robust infrastructure and education policies that help uplift all students, especially the most vulnerable. In 2019 alone, Salud introduced 20 bills that work to protect farmworkers, address the climate crisis, create affordable housing for veterans and more.

Salud is married to his wife, Gina, and has two children, Natasha and Michael.

My philosophy comes down to the idea that we are elected to serve the public, work in the best interests of our constituents, and be sure our community’s values are heard and reflected in the policies we put forward. I’ve built my record on standing up for our Central Coast values and working across the aisle whenever possible.

This past year alone, my team and I helped constituents get back more than $752,600 through casework assistance with federal agencies. With coronavirus relief, I helped secure more than one billion dollars in PPP loans that helped save over 2,000 local businesses and over 158,000 jobs. I worked across the aisle with members of both parties to secure wins for the Central Coast.

More than half of the bills I’ve cosponsored are bipartisan, I am part of a number of bipartisan working groups and I have helped bring to fruition bills that have even been signed into law. I believe there is power in uniting when we can to make an impact, and I am committed to ensuring we don’t allow that to be overshadowed by political posturing and punditry. Together, we’ve worked to stop the impacts of climate change, curb the gun violence epidemic, invest in strong infrastructure, boost our economy and agriculture industry, stand up for veterans and improve our Central Coast.

Of course, we cannot always see eye-to-eye with those across the aisle, and I know that my job is equal parts collaboration and advancing the values that our community cares about. That’s why I have always staunchly stood up to support reproductive justice and robust health funding, why I opposed the GOP tax breaks for only the wealthiest among us and why I will continue to put myself on the line to defend our healthcare. I serve our community and our values, first and foremost.

But in collaborating among Republicans and Democrats, we have scored wins that many wouldn’t think possible. We worked across the aisle to pass two bipartisan gun background check bills, and I introduced my own bipartisan ‘red flag’ gun safety bill that is ready for a vote on the House floor. We took a bipartisan vote to pass three of my environmental bills to ban offshore drilling, preserve public lands and protect coastal communities from climate disasters. I helped pass the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act to which was signed into law by the president, as well as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that has historic worker protections and mechanisms to lower prescription drug costs.

My political philosophy is reflected in my proven track record of working across the aisle to get things done for our community. Each day, with this goal in mind, I continue advocating for the issues that impact our district most. I am proud of the successes we’ve had so far, and I know there is more to come. I’ll never stop fighting for the folks living on the Central Coast.