Young Kim draws another Democratic challenger in California

A 26-year-old Democratic labor organizer calling for a “new generation” of leadership in Washington will announce his campaign Monday to unseat GOP Rep. Young Kim in California’s Orange County.

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, a former 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.

CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this report misstated Meade's role at March For Our Lives.