SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - On Friday, March 11, Jimmy Fremgen, a local teacher and former staffer for Congressman Elijah E. Cummings released the following statement following formally filing papers for candidacy for United States House of Representatives in the Seventh Congressional District of California:

When we elect the same politicians, we get the same results. At a time when Americans are more dissatisfied with the direction of the country than ever before, it's time for new energy. I’ve worked in Congress—including for Rep. Matsui—I know what we should expect from our representatives, and what we’re getting isn’t enough. 

The Sacramento Bee calls me an underdog because I’m focused on fighting for real people instead of courting big corporate donors, but I’m running because I saw working people struggle during the pandemic while big business flourished. While walking through my Midtown neighborhood, I often talk to struggling small-business owners, renters that worry about having a place to live next month, people experiencing homelessness desperate for a leg up, and others. I'm fighting for them.

We can’t wait for change any longer. I have seen the consequences of inaction: I graduated college with student debt during the Great Recession, lost my job and business in the pandemic, and witnessed endless war, school shootings, and climate change. 

As a member of Congress, I’ll demand accountability from opioid companies for the toll they’ve wrecked on our community instead of taking $125,000 in campaign donations from them as Rep. Matsui has. Voters deserve to be represented by someone who will work for them, not the corporate PACs that want to build an oligarchy in the United States.

As Senior Policy Advisor for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, I held government and corporations accountable for fraud and abuse against taxpayers.  If I were in Congress right now, I’d demand hearings into price gouging by big business that has people in our region struggling to pay for daily essentials while corporate profits rise.

When elected, I will pursue policies to end homelessness, promote universal healthcare, fight climate change, protect taxpayers from greedy corporations, and obtain federal money for our recovery from the pandemic. I will change the way we are represented by being accessible to our community. My office will be located in a high need community, and I will hold monthly town halls, visit a classroom once a day, and host at least four community workshops per year to provide direct support on housing, healthcare, homelessness, and education. 

Congressman Cummings taught me that to be an effective public servant, you need to hear directly from the people you work for, by being present and accessible. I look forward to showing our community what we can have when their representative lives here, not in Washington.

About Jimmy:

Jimmy Fremgen, age 33, is a local teacher, bartender, and heart disease survivor living in Sacramento. As a certificated-substitute teacher at Leroy Greene Academy, he has seen students struggle with the trauma of gun violence and the pandemic. He is a graduate of Moms Demand Action Against Gun Violence’s “Demand a Seat” candidate training program. He is the Chair of the Board of Directors for the United CORE Alliance, a Sacramento-based non-profit that serves disadvantaged communities affected by the War on Drugs and advises All My Friend’s Get Fed, where he helped create a jobs pipeline to the Sacramento hospitality industry for people experiencing homelessness. 

Fremgen was the principal California State Assembly committee staffer on Cannabis policy from 2016-2019 and specialized in education equity, gun violence prevention, veterans’ issues, foreign affairs, and worked on the House floor debate for the Iran Nuclear Agreement while serving on the staff of Congressman Elijah Cummings.