My name is Cameron Tennyson, and I’m running for Congress!

I come from a working class family – my dad was in the Navy and my mom was an elementary school teacher, and I’m sick of our current leaders creating legislation that makes their lives harder.

Let’s back it up though – before I became a 28 year old Congressional Candidate running in one of the most populated districts in the country, I was just a typical kid. Well, that’s not entirely true: I was born with a rare congenital heart disease called “Shone’s Complex”. This disease meant both my childhood and adult life would look very different from most. By the time I was 7 years old, I had already had 4 open heart surgeries. 

Sitting in the hospital for a large percentage of your developmental years has a large impact on who you are as a person. It taught me empathy, and how every single person, even those who look healthy and happy on the outside, might be dealing with something nearly unbearable underneath the facade. And with this mindset, I pursued a life that was built on the foundations of being caring, helpful, kind, understanding, and patient.

Growing up, I volunteered for community service opportunity after opportunity: I fed the less fortunate at local churches, coached little league softball, tutored students with learning disabilities, learned ASL, and even mentored families who had kids with heart disease, showing them that while it would be hard, a fulfilling life was possible. My life truly feels fulfilled when I’m helping others, and running for Congress is one of the ultimate ways to help our community.

I must admit though, that I am not only running for Congress because I believe I would be a great representative – no, I’m running because I see the abysmal state our country is currently in. I see my neighbors and friends living in fear of being kidnapped from their homes. My partner, a Puerto Rican woman, is scared to speak Spanish in public because she knows ICE doesn’t actually care about immigration status, just the color of someone’s skin and what language comes out of their mouths. 

I see my district struggle with unbearable medical debt, and the unfairness of medical insurance in general. So many people come from around the country to join our creative community, but the reality of our current health system is that most people won’t even qualify for employer-provided health insurance until years of employment. Underrepresented communities, especially the disabled community, cannot afford to pursue their dreams because they require medical care and medicine that would cost hundreds of thousands without insurance (and sometimes even with). I myself came to LA with the dream of working in production, only to have that dream put out by the harsh reality that my health condition needed insurance that wouldn’t be provided by working my way up the production ladder.

I see how Generative AI is changing our world, and not in the positive way that these billion dollar corporations proclaim. If Gen AI becomes common place, where will our district’s jobs go? Where will the creative work go? What will become of actors, writers, directors, editors, and all the other people who have dedicated their lives to cinematic storytelling?Generative AI is made up of and trained on the (most of the time stolen) art created by human for humans. CEOs want to replace the people who created over a century of Hollywood magic with AI, and for what reason? Just so they can take home a bonus of 55 million instead of 45 million.

I cannot stand idly by while the country around us is overthrown by oligarchs who care only about themselves and not of the people who they are supposed to represent. Moderate Democrats like Laura Friedman aren’t doing nearly enough to stop this illegal regime, and I’m tired of calling her office waiting for the same answer I always get: “Congresswoman Friedman understands your concern”.

Well, my concern has turned into a congressional campaign, and with your help, we are going to win this thing.