San Joaquin County Supervisor Tom Patti has entered the ring for Congress, announcing his candidacy for a north Central Valley district earlier this week.
In a video he posted to Twitter announcing his decision to enter the race, Patti took shots at current members of Congress.
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“I’ve never pulled punches, and I’m not going to start now,” Patti said in the video. “The truth is, those representing us in Washington D.C. have forgotten about us and our needs. That’s unacceptable.”
Since the California Redistricting Commission will not finalize the new Congressional districts until late December, the exact makeup of the district that Patti will run for is unclear.
Currently, most of San Joaquin County is covered by District 9 and Rep. Jerry McNerney (D–Stockton).
The draft maps that the redistricting commission submitted last week have the district remaining similar, keeping almost all of San Joaquin County whole.
Patti was elected to the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors in 2016 to represent District 3, which covers a wide swath of west San Joaquin County, Lathrop, Manteca and parts of north Stockton.
His agenda, according to a campaign announcement email, will be to prioritize vocational career education, encourage more parental involvement in children’s education and well-being and moving away from “the ‘cancel culture’ perpetuated by those in leadership right now and towards less divisive, common-sense solutions that put our community first.”
Patti is a local small business owner who has lived in San Joaquin County for more than 30 years.
In addition to his position on the board of supervisors, Patti also serves on the Board of Directors for the Child Abuse Prevention Council, March of Dimes and the Delta College Foundation, and he chairs the Equal Employment Opportunity Advisory Committee.
Patti is a former boxer and trained with former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, and the two remain friends to this day.
