Young Kim draws another Democratic challenger in California
Perry Meade joins a wide field of challengers running for the 40th District seat held by Kim, one of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's top targets in the state.
Kim won the seat by more than 10 percentage points in 2024. But the district has swung back and forth in recent years, with Joe Biden winning it in 2020 before Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris by more than two percentage points there in 2024.
Meade, the youngest member of the Democratic Party of Orange County's central committee, is making affordability the thrust of his campaign. In a campaign launch video, he asks, 'Can we just catch a fucking break?'
Meade, a labor organizer with UNITE HERE Local 11, said in an interview that he wants to see a Democratic Party in Congress that "unapologetically" fights for affordability, adding that he feels a responsibility to 'fight back.' He took aim at the Trump administration's deployment last month of the National Guard to immigration raid protests in Los Angeles, as well as recent crackdowns at farms and businesses.
'I think it's time that we have a new generation of leaders as well, and a new generation of leaders that has this lived experience and is willing to fight in the halls of Congress to deliver on these things that our community needs,' said Meade, the West Coast regional organizer at March For Our Lives.
The Rancho Santa Margarita native joins several Democrats eyeing California's 40th District, including Kim's 2024 challenger, Joe Kerr; former Chino Valley school board member and attorney Christina Gagnier; Los Angeles art dealer Esther Kim Varet; consultant Paula Swift; and entrepreneur and nonprofit leader Nina Linh.
Meade's support includes endorsements from Orange County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento and state Sens. Catherine Blakespear, Sasha Renee Perez and Maria Elena Durazo.
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Lawmakers Press FDA to Target Knockoff Weight-Loss Drugs
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'Undoubtedly, illegal counterfeit medications pose an increased risk to patient safety with sometimes fatal consequences.' The group — spearheaded by Representatives Richard Hudson of North Carolina and Herb Conaway of New Jersey — asked the agency to ramp up enforcement over illegally imported weight-loss drugs. They suggested issuing warning letters and better monitoring non-compliant online retailers and so-called compounding pharmacies that sell the medicines. The lawmakers also said the FDA should work in tandem with US Customs and Border Patrol agents to stop Chinese entities from shipping unsafe weight-loss drugs into the US. They requested an update on the FDA's efforts by July 30, given the 'urgency' of the situation. A spokesperson for the FDA said the agency will work with the US Department of Health and Human Services to provide a 'complete and thorough' response to the issues raised in the lawmakers' letter. 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Some patients are also purchasing ingredients directly from online sellers in an attempt to make the drugs themselves at home. In both cases, the medications don't go through the same rigorous approval process as brand-name drugs made by Novo and Lilly. Experts worry the lack of oversight is putting patients at risk. The FDA has said it's aware of hospitalizations potentially linked to the copycat drugs, but that adverse events are likely being underreported. 'We support the bi-partisan call for the FDA to crack down on counterfeit and illegally sold weight-loss drugs,' said a spokesperson for Hims & Hers Health Inc., one of the telehealth firms that sells compounded GLP-1s. 'We appreciate lawmakers' recognition that legitimate compounded medications dispensed by state-regulated pharmacies are not counterfeit. Patient safety must always come first.' 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