Rep. Tony Cárdenas on his legacy and Latinos' electoral shift

WASHINGTON — Asked to list off some highlights from his 12 years in the House, Rep. Tony Cárdenas points to one that might not seem like a “big deal.”

“But I think it’s a big deal,” he said of Congress establishing the National Museum of the American Latino. “Not just for me, but for the Latino community. It’s going to educate a lot of other people about how amazing our contributions are.”

The California Democrat also cites his work on health care issues and his time spent “making sure that our bodies of elected officials look like America.”

Once a rising star in the party who led the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ fundraising efforts, he aimed to head the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2020 and 2022 but fell short. Now Cárdenas is closing out his final weeks on the Hill after deciding not to run for reelection.

“Our democracy is going to survive for many more years to come,” he said in an exit interview last month. “And right now, we’re going to be challenged more than ever before with President Trump and the likes of his antics, but I’m still going to miss the work that we do here.”

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Q: Why is now the time to leave Congress?

A: I was at home around my 60th birthday, and it was a quiet moment with my wife. I just looked at her and said, “I think I might be done.” After this very intense career for 28 years — in Sacramento and then [Los Angeles] City Hall and now here — I thought she would be elated. Instead, she really let me know that it’s not a light decision. She goes, “You better think about it. Because once you decide not to, that’s it.”

As the months went on, I felt better about it, and I told my chief of staff. And then one day, I went to see Luz Rivas, and I said, “So, are you ready to be a congresswoman?”

I met Luz when she was running a not-for-profit called DIY Girls in Pacoima, the neighborhood where we grew up, to teach little brown girls that they can be scientists like her. Sen. Alex Padilla and I had recruited her to run for the State Assembly about six years earlier, and I’d always had her in my mind as the perfect person I would like to support to replace me.

A: What do you see as your biggest accomplishments?

Q: I worked on a lot of health care issues. One is 988, which is now a real three-digit number that anybody can call anywhere in America and get mental health support immediately, just like we call 911 if you need the police or an ambulance.

Two terms ago, we got the Latino museum bill signed [to become part of the Smithsonian], and the women’s museum as well. Some people might not think that’s a big deal. But Latinos have been here for 500 years. We were here even before the country became a country, and we deserve to have our place and our space, and our history be properly told.

When I got elected to the State Assembly in 1996, I was the first Latino to get elected in the San Fernando Valley’s history. That district was 70 percent Latino, and we’d never had a person of color represent that mostly minority community.

And so one of my biggest accomplishments is focusing on making sure that our bodies of elected officials look like America. At the end of my freshman term [in Congress], I convinced my colleagues to elect me to be chair of the Hispanic Caucus BOLD PAC, and now all of the minority PACs are raising millions and millions of dollars, where we weren’t doing that before.

Q: Some Latino voters shifted away from Democrats this cycle. Why do you think that is?

A: Donald Trump tells people what they want to hear, and a lot of Latino voters, especially Latino men, bought those lies.

When people are addicted to QVC, they spend their hard-earned money, convinced that the product is going to be good for them, or they really need it. And I think that Donald Trump is just like that. He convinced a lot of people that they really need him, and he’s one of the most selfish people on the planet, and he’s not going to do the things that he promised people he would do.

Q: Some strategists say Republicans won over Latinos by treating them not as a minority group, but just as working-class voters. Do you think there’s any truth to that?

A: Early on [in the California State Assembly], I remember Speaker Cruz Bustamante having a press conference, and he said, “Let me tell you what Latinos care about. Latinos want good schools for their kids. They want a good-paying job, and they want a safe neighborhood.” Sounds like what every other American wants.

Now beyond that, if you’re going to communicate and the person doesn’t speak English, you should try to do it in their language, whatever that language is, and meet them where they’re at. And whenever you’re campaigning, it’s important that you not only ask, “Are these issues important to you?” but also ask, “What is important to you?” And I think people can win if they pay more attention to those basic tenets and actually practice them in their campaigns.

Q: What has changed since you came here?

A: Over the last 12 years, I’ve noticed that the people who get the most attention are the ones who scream at other colleagues or use profanity when they’re in committee or on the floor of the House.

People are crossing those lines more now than we’ve seen in any given 12-month period in the history of this institution. So I think it’s up to the leadership on both sides of the aisle to really remind people that there’s something good about being respectful when you disagree. You know, “What you did in committee today, it obviously was your prerogative, but can you please not do that again? Or can you go to the House floor and apologize?”

Q: What’s next for you?

A: When I was a real estate broker, I owned my own company, and I enjoyed the responsibility of making sure that the people who worked within my business were able to feed their families. So I’ll become a businessman again, not exactly sure what kind, but I’ll probably end up doing some kind of consulting. I haven’t decided yet, but I won’t be retiring and sitting on some beach somewhere.