Eps 170 Rhoda Nazanin

The Talk of Santa Clarita

This is episode 170 with guest Democratic candidate for the 25th Congressional District, Rhoda Nazanin Rhoda Nazanin is an immigrant, a citizen, a Christian, a former Pastor, and now, she is a Democratic candidate for the 25th Congressional District with hopes of defeating incumbent Mike Garcia. She was born in Iran, coming to the United States with her family when she was eight years old, due to the persecution her father was receiving as a Christian Pastor. She says that her family's journey helped her appreciate at an early age that this country represents the promise of opportunity and freedom for anyone willing to take a chance. Rhoda was the first of her family to attend a four year college. She later followed in her father's footsteps by becoming a Christian pastor. Although she says she loved being a Pastor, Rhoda was experiencing a struggle with her identity as a gay woman. She eventually stepped down and returned to college to complete her degree. She now works for a non-profit. And now she is running for Congress in the 25th District. Rhoda said she was increditly hit hard by the insurrection at our nation's capiltol on January 6th and after Biden's inauguration, she decided to get in the race. The 25th District Congressional Race is getting crowded quickly. There are more than four democratic candidates currently running to unseat Mike Garcia. All of them are vying for donations and attention and we are still almost a year away from the primary! I sat down with Rhoda on Juneteenth. It was an incredibly hot day so kudos to Rhoda coming dressed in a full suit. I was already melting by that point. It was so hot in fact that my recorder actually overheated! Fortunately, I did have a back up but as a forewarning there is about 3 minutes where we were forced to use the audio from the camera. I really enjoyed talking to Rhoda. She is incredibly charming and definitely has a sincere desire to do some good for this world, this country and this district. But with Garcia leading all of the candidates in donations, and with the other candidates in the race, it will be an uphill battle for her. She told me she knew that but was ready to take challenge head on. I really respected that about her and I wish her much luck in the race.