The progressive group Justice Democrats, which focuses on primarying safe-seat Democrats in hopes of moving the party to the left, is throwing its weight behind Angela Gonzales-Torres, a challenger to incumbent Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez of California.
In a sign of the party fissures over the war in Gaza that could erupt in the race, Gonzales-Torres bashed Gomez in a new video over his financial support from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC. She also said “I am not taking a dime from AIPAC” and called the conflict in Gaza a “genocide.”
Justice Democrats, founded by alumni of Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign, is mounting an offensive campaign to grow the so-called Squad in Congress after retreating last year amid an onslaught of spending against the left. The group became well-known after helping elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in her 2018 upset.
The endorsement of Gonzales-Torres in California’s 34th Congressional District marks the second time the group has backed a candidate in the 2026 election cycle. In 2024, Justice Democrats did not endorse any challengers to sitting Democrats and instead worked to keep their preferred incumbents in office.
“Angela is exactly what Los Angeles needs in Congress right now: a working-class champion with the moral courage to not only fight back against the Trump administration’s cruelty with the urgency it demands but also take on the Democratic Party when the corporate establishment fails to fight for our communities,” Justice Democrats executive director Alexandra Rojas said in a statement.
Gomez has previously been targeted by challenges from the left but has repeatedly prevailed in his Los Angeles-based district.
Gonzales-Torres announced her bid in April. She supports defunding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and her campaign has highlighted the fact that her father was deported to Mexico when she was 15 years old. She previously served as president of the Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council.
