Hunter Garcia Miranda doesn’t shy away from criticizing his own party.
The recent law school graduate — and new contender for California’s 47th Congressional District in 2026 — is part of a younger group of Democratic candidates across the country who want to challenge the establishment in the midterms.
And that includes going up against Democratic incumbents, like Miranda plans to do in the 47th District in 2026, where Rep. Dave Min says he will run for re-election.
“The (Democratic) Party and our government have veered away from championing these essentially key issues that average Americans need and are reliant on,” Miranda said, pointing specifically to cost of living and high taxes. “They have great slogans, but when it comes to implementing the changes that need to happen, they’ve failed.”
“If people genuinely think a status quo politician … is going to make the fundamental changes we need, then by all means, vote for that. But I’m excited for voters to be aware that there’s an alternative,” he said.
The 27-year-old was born and raised in Orange County, residing now in Rancho Santa Margarita after recently finishing up law school at American University in Washington, D.C.
He’s focused full-time on his campaign, he said, but is looking into doing some legal work on the side in immigration, an issue he said is particularly important as the Trump administration continues to ramp up enforcement operations in Southern California.
Sign up for Down Ballot, our Southern California politics email newsletter. Subscribe here.Miranda credits his family’s long history of service for one of the reasons he felt compelled to run for office. His grandfather served in World War II, his father in Vietnam and his brother in Iraq.
“Their dedication to the country really inspired me growing up,” said the UC Berkeley alumnus, “the importance of service and giving back to the country.”
California’s 47th Congressional District spans the coastline of Orange County and juts inland to include Costa Mesa and Irvine.
Min, a former state legislator, is in the midst of his first term representing the seat. He was elected in 2024, defeating Republican Scott Baugh in an open race after former Rep. Katie Porter opted to run for U.S. Senate instead.
So far, Min, who is also an attorney, has advocated for the cap on state and local tax deductions to be lifted, introduced legislation to track marine life along Southern California’s coastline and joined a bipartisan effort to boost wildfire mitigation efforts in shrubland ecosystems.
A spokesperson for Min’s reelection campaign declined to comment for this story.
Miranda said he’s part of the “groundswell of people stepping up and saying the party is no longer doing what it needs to be doing for people like us.”
In California’s 32nd Congressional District, which covers communities in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, Jake Rakov, a former staffer to Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, is running against his ex-boss in 2026. Rakov, 37, has said it’s time for a new generation of Democrats to lead in Congress.
While still relatively early in the 2026 cycle, the 47th Congressional District is considered to “lean Democrat” now, according to the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan site that analyzes elections.
Min raised more than $750,000 during the first quarter of 2025, according to FEC data.
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