A 22 Year Old Girl's Campaign for State Assembly

For a little background on who I am, my name is Cheyenne Kenney, and I grew up in Oakland California, in a little one bedroom apartment above Grocery Outlet. My Dad worked a blue collar job and my Mom chose to be a stay at home Mother and homeschool me. I had a blessed upbringing, one where I was surrounded by all people of all different walks of life, and one where I was always encouraged to follow my passions and study my interests. I'd been interested in politics since I was about twelve, but it really became a passion In the last few years.

During the lockdowns, I started attending protests, and I noticed that California lawmakers were trying to pass laws that were completely draconian in comparison to other states. SB866 was especially concerning to me as it lowered the age of consent for vaccinations to as young as twelve. I started attending hearings up in Sacramento at what is called the "swing building," and I learned all about lobbying from people like the Freedom Angels, Nicole Pearson, and Erin Friday. As the laws surrounding the vaccines and mandates started to die down, laws surrounding gender ideology and the grooming of children became more prevalent. I remember after I had attended the Riley Gaines event at SF State, I noticed these laws become more and more extreme, almost as a slap in the face to those who have been harmed by this ideology. One such example of these anti-parent laws is AB665, which would allow children as young as twelve to emancipate themselves without proof of abuse. Overall, there has been an ongoing theme of attacking parental rights within our state government, and all the while my "representative," Mia Bonta, has been supporting these types of bills. Bonta voted for AB1078, which would make it to where parents would not be notified if there is pornographic material in their children's curriculum, and she also voted for AB665. Unfortunately, both of those bills passed. I had been wanting to run against Mia Bonta ever since I got involved with state politics, but I always thought it was best to wait until I was older, after I was finished with college.

Last year there was a bill called SB14. This bill would make it to where child trafficking would be a three strikes law, and after three strikes, it would become a violent felony. This bill, for the most part, had bipartisan support, which is a rare thing in the California State Assembly. However, there were six representatives who voted no and essentially blocked the bill from passing. One of them was my assembly member, Mia Bonta. Thankfully the bill did eventually get revoted on and passed, but the corruption of some of our government officials was appalling. So now it was no longer a question as to when the right time was; I had no choice, I had to run against her and fight for our children and our people. Honestly, there really is no such thing as the right time. If you're a young person and you're politically active, there's going to be leftists and maybe even Republicans who tell you to just wait, that you're too young and still have lessons to learn. I'm gonna tell you something right now; the time is when you decide that you want to stand up for good. You do not need anyone's permission to create a better future for yourself and for the next generation.

What I did is something that anyone can do and I highly encourage young people to do especially, because if we are left with problems created by the previous generations, our voices take priority. We have a moral duty to use our voices and shape the world into what we want it to be. One of the coolest experiences I had when running for office was getting endorsed by former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. About a month before Turning Point USA's AmericaFest, I saw that Vivek was going to be a speaker. I told my father that I was going to get Vivek Ramaswamy's endorsement. I think he thought I might've been joking or something, but I was determined to make this happen. The day that Vivek spoke, my friends helped me find the seats that were closest to the Q&A line. I thanked Vivek for representing Generation Z in his foreign policy, told him about my campaign, and asked if I had his endorsement. When he confirmed that I did have his endorsement, it was one of the proudest moments of my life. It's not everyday that you can say you got the endorsement of one of your biggest political heroes, so I am immensely honored and grateful for it. Turning Point in general has been an anchor for me, and has not only provided incredible experiences, but has also been the place where I have made so many friends who have stood by me throughout my political journey.

Oftentimes when I encourage others to run for office, the biggest concern is the fear of social repercussions. Something that I learned when I was out campaigning is just how open minded people are. I would be knocking doors and telling democrats about the story of Chloe Cole and Erin Friday's protect kid's ballot initiative. These democrats would tell me that I won their vote after I informed them of the harm that the medical industry and public education system are inflicting on our youth. Even at UC Berkeley, I've found that when I share my political ideology, people are completely open to civil discussion, and a lot of the friendships I've made at school developed through those discussions. I remember when I finally had the pleasure of meeting Vivek, I told him about how open minded I found everyone to be. He told me that people crave new ideas and to not hold back. There is this concept that Californians are radically progressive, but this simply isn't true. In reality, the politicians are the problem, and they pass these radical bills right under peoples' noses because the average person doesn't have the time to keep an eye on every law that is being proposed. This is why it is so important to get involved with politics and share as much information with your community as you can, so that they too will be activated.

In the end, I didn't win the primary, but this was an experience that could not be replicated, and one that I wouldn't trade in for anything. I have gone from living in a one bedroom apartment and thinking I wouldn't graduate high school, to running for state assembly, being endorsed by one of my heroes, and managing my campaign while I was studying at UC Berkeley, all when I was twenty-two years old. I was lucky enough to have incredible friends and family who always cheered me on. I was able to have some really unforgettable experiences, but I think what was the most important thing was that I was able to spread awareness of the causes that are important to me. To anyone reading this, if you are considering running for office, you will face obstacles and you will receive accolades, but above all of this, you will have the privilege of advocating for the people of your community.