Meet Matt Jacobs, Congressional Candidate in California’s 26th District

CLAY: We are joined now by Matt Jacobs. He’s a congressional candidate in California’s 26th District. He’s a former assistant U.S. attorney, counterterrorism prosecutor. Very close race. Matt, tell us about what your district looks like, what people are discussing and what you need to bring this back home to a Republican district.

JACOBS:  Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. So, I have the pleasure of running in a very common sense, middle-of-the-road district. And I’ll tell you, it doesn’t matter what your political affiliation is here. People can’t stand what’s happening. We are seeing record high gas and grocery prices. We’re seeing soaring crime rates here. And I’ll tell you, while I’m out on the campaign trail, I see people, independents, even rational Democrats saying, hey, it’s time for a change. And I’ll tell you an analogy I love is that, you know, we’re all on an airplane together. Some of us are on the left side of the aisle. Some of us are on the right. But everyone knows that the people flying the plane are not doing a great job these days.

BUCK: So when people come up to you and there’s this recognition of what’s going on in California, I just I just have to wonder, have they not seen enough? I mean, if anyone is not sold yet, like, what are they waiting to see? When you’ve got a state that is hemorrhaging people, that has its cities in disrepair and massive increases in recent years in a whole and all manner of crime. And I saw some statistic about basically if you own a bicycle in San Francisco is like 50% chance it’s been stolen from you in the last couple of years. I mean, just crazy numbers that are going on. What else has to happen? I mean, I’m just wondering, what do independents do? They just are so used to voting maybe for Democrats that they’re worried about what it feels like to switch to the other side. I mean, just tell us.

JACOBS:  So, I think there’s a reckoning coming and the pendulum is going to swing 14 days from now, because here in California, we’ve seen the disaster that single-party Democrat rule has been in our state and now people nationwide are seeing that on on a national scale. And I’ll tell you, there are specific examples. San Francisco has (audio drop) under 10%, yet, they recalled the extreme radical D.A. a few months back. And I’ll tell you, you know, we are the richest state in the richest country in the world and we are not allowed to water our lawns anymore. We’re not allowed to use electricity between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. or we’re told to limit it. Look, these are third-world type things going on here. And I think people are realizing that there’s just total incompetence at the state level and they’re looking and they’re ready for a change.

CLAY:  I don’t think there’s any doubt. And, Matt, can you tell people out there where your district is? A lot of people know the L.A. area. I think you’re born and raised in the area that you’re running in. And what is it about this particular cycle that you think has got people in your region fired up?

JACOBS:  Absolutely. I’m I am running in Ventura County, which is the county north of L.A. Our district covers nearly all of Ventura County and a sliver of Los Angeles County as well. You know, like you said, I was born and raised here. I left for about ten years. I was a federal prosecutor. My job was to go after some of our country’s worst enemies and most dangerous criminals, including child sex traffickers, mafia bosses, drug traffickers and high level Al-Qaeda terrorists. I’ll tell you, I came back here. I’m living where I grew up with my wife and our three amazing children. And I started to sense what everyone here is feeling, that the far left was taking this community and this country in a very bad direction.

So, you know, I decided to throw my hat in the ring and my opponent is exactly the problem. She’s a 30-year career politician who votes 100% of the time with Pelosi and Biden. And I’ll tell you, Clay and Buck, she notices. She sees that people are being turned off. That’s why she’s pretending with her messaging to be a moderate. But voters aren’t that foolish. They understand what they’ve been getting from the far left. And like I said, they are ready for common sense change.

BUCK:  We’re speaking to Matt Jacobs, who’s running for Congress in California’s 26th, just north of Los Angeles. I’m curious about what is the messaging from your opponent? Is it just January 6th and abortion — it just feels like at this stage of the game, economy, crime, border, Democrats don’t even seem to have a counterargument to offer. They just yell about the insurrection and women’s bodies, not having the patriarchy in charge.

JACOBS:  You’re 100% right. And, look, when I was a prosecutor, we had an expression when the defense attorneys could not argue the facts and could not argue the law. Their strategy was to distract. And that is exactly what my opponent is doing. She is completely ignoring inflation and record high cost of living. That’s really hurting people. She’s completely ignoring the skyrocketing crime rates. She’s completely ignoring an open and lawless border that’s seeing, you know, a total influx, of dangerous fentanyl. She completely ignoring the learning loss that’s happened in our schools. And she’s focusing on these issues that appeal to her base.

And I’ll tell you, you know, to me, the Constitution is sacrosanct. I always wanted to serve this country. And when I’m out there, you know, I’m talking to everyone with the same message. This is about individual liberty and limited government. Free enterprise and equality of opportunity. And everyone deserves, you know, the opportunity to achieve their American Dream. And, sadly, that dream has become, has been put, far out of reach for many people because of Pelosi and Biden and politicians like my opponent.

BUCK:  Matt, if anyone wants to help out with your Matt Jacobs congressional campaign, where should they go?

JACOBS:  My website is MattJacobsForCongress.com. And I’ll tell you, you know we have out-raised the incumbent Democrat. Never happened before. We have a brand-new map. Polling shows a dead heat. She has the Pelosi machine coming in with the cavalry now. But our campaign is a grassroots operation. So every dollar matters, whether it’s it’s $5 or $10. Every cent will go to flipping this seat, firing Pelosi and getting our country back on track.

BUCK:  Matt Jacobs, everybody. Good luck to you, Matt. We’ll talk to you soon.

JACOBS:  Thank you.