Los Angeles TV anchor Christina Pascucci announces Democratic bid for California Senate

The crowded race for California’s Senate seat in 2024 has a new Democratic contender: Christina Pascucci, an Emmy Award-winning television news reporter in Los Angeles.

Pascucci, 38, spent more than 10 years as an anchor and reporter for KTLA in Los Angeles and joined Fox 11 last year before leaving this week. In an exclusive interview with Politico in announcing her candidacy on Wednesday, Pascucci said she would bring her journalist skills as a “truth-seeker” to the legislative process.

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“I’ve been covering the most pressing issues of California for the past 15 years and watching this race closely, as well as covering it and interviewing some of the candidates,” Pascucci said. “And the more I watched it, the more closely I studied it, I honestly felt dismayed by how it was shaping up. I spoke to a lot of others who felt the same way. Like, this is our future — more of the same.”

She said she would pay more attention to California’s Latino voters, who are shifting in the Republican direction on a national level — but still vote largely with Democrats in the Golden State. Pascucci is fluent in Spanish, earning a bachelor of arts in journalism with a minor in Spanish and international business in 2007 from the University of Southern California.

The heated race for Senate was shaken in September after Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) died at 90. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) selected longtime Democratic operative Laphonza Butler as interim senator, but it is unclear whether she’ll launch a bid to keep the role permanently.

Pascucci praised Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and the late Feinstein as models for the role by focusing on bipartisanship, noting that she grew up in a conservative household.

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“I spent my life and my upbringing learning to speak the language of people who disagree with me,” Pascucci said. “A lot of times, people don’t even try, and they just say, ‘They’re extreme.’ That is the worst thing you can do. That is the intent of disinformation: to polarize us. The only way to combat that is by going in, sitting down, and talking it out. And that’s what I’ve been trained to do as a journalist.”

Pascucci is joining the packed field of high-profile Democrats, including Reps. Katie Porter (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Barbara Lee (D-CA). Former tech executive Lexi Reese launched her candidacy in June. Across the aisle, former MLB player Steve Garvey announced his bid as a Republican last week.