Meet Catalina Lauf, 26-year-old Illinois Republican candidate for Congress billing herself as the anti-AOC
A 26-year-old Latina conservative from Illinois, who is running for Congress, is attempting to establish herself as the opposite of what popular freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stands for.
Republican Catalina Lauf, who is hoping to take a Democratic-held seat outside Chicago, is a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump and his border wall. She cites Ronald Reagan as her idol and is looking to be a counterweight to AOC's congressional "Squad" members, which includes Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Rep. Ilhan Omar, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley.
"I think it’s time that people step forward who want to unite the country and do it for the right reasons,” Lauf told The New York Post. If the congressional hopeful wins the seat, she would break Ocasio-Cortez's record of being the youngest woman in Congress in American history.
Lauf, in a campaign video released on Tuesday, announced that she is running in the state’s 14th Congressional District west of the Windy City, and will be contesting against incumbent Democrat Lauren Underwood.
The 26-year-old, who describes herself as a "lifelong conservative," is a former Trump adminsitration adviser from Woodstock, Illinois. Lauf also calls herself "Latina by heart, American first." She was reportedly born to a Guatemalan mother and an American father.
The aspiring politician, in her announcement video, suggested that AOC was among the "angry voices who seek to divide us" as her video showed pictures of the Congresswoman, her colleague Rashida Tlaib, and even presidential hopeful and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
"I think people like AOC and that group are focusing on an agenda that is so detrimental to our country,” Lauf told the outlet. "They are not being leaders. They are part of the problem."
Lauf while talking about President Trump said that she wanted strong borders and denied claims that the president was racist: "I’m the daughter of a legal immigrant. We’re for legal immigration. That’s not racism. You should be a law-abiding citizen."
She also said that she wants to against the stereotype of Republicans not being empathetic: "I want to break the stereotype that Republicans aren’t empathetic. Being Republican doesn’t mean I don’t care."
The 26-year-old also calls herself a proud capitalist as she grew up working in her entrepreneurial father’s multiple businesses. She reportedly became involved in the college Republican group while studying at Miami University of Ohio.
She went on to work for Uber in Chicago in community partnership and eventually became a special adviser to the Department of Commerce in 2018.