Former Chino Valley Unified School District board member Christina Gagnier has launched a bid for California’s 40th Congressional District in the 2026 election.
Gagnier, a technology attorney, said she’s running to push back against President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, a “special government employee” in the Trump administration who leads the so-called Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting initiative. Gagnier said she believes their proposed federal funding freezes and budget cuts are threatening the security of families and small businesses in her district.
“We really need someone in Congress standing up to these bullies and making sure that these harmful policies and actions and cuts don’t happen,” she said.
Gagnier pointed to the economy as what she considers the most pressing issue for California’s 40th Congressional District.
“In talking to the business owners … over the last couple of weeks, some of the longtime business owners who found their stride after a global recession and worked really hard to get their businesses back, they’re finding themselves looking at similar economic conditions now,” said Gagnier, who chairs the Chino Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Gagnier also positioned herself as a strong advocate for public education. Elected to the Chino Valley Unified School board in 2018, Gagnier led the opposition to the conservative members of the board, who gained control after she was ousted by Sonja Shaw in 2022.
Referring to the board’s decision last year to require school staff to inform parents if their child wanted to change their pronouns or gender — a policy that led to legal battles and was later blocked by a judge — Gagnier said education policy should focus on real issues, not “culture wars.”
“The kitchen table issues for public school parents are, ‘Do they have good quality teachers? Are there good programs at their schools? Are they getting college and career ready?’ These are the things that public school parents care about, and these are the things that are getting jeopardized with cuts to the Department of Education,” she said.
In 2023, Gagnier founded Our Schools USA, a nonprofit that encourages parental involvement in local school boards and works to elect candidates who oppose conservative policies. Gagnier also teaches about intellectual property as a lecturer at UC Irvine.
If Gagnier advances past the June primary, she faces a tough challenge in trying to unseat incumbent Rep. Young Kim, R-Anaheim Hills.
Democrats have targeted the 40th Congressional District since Kim was first reelected in 2022. In November, Kim won a third term by defeating Democrat Joe Kerr with 55.3% of the vote.
Gagnier has run for Congress before. In 2014, she ran against Rep. Norma Torres for California’s 35th District but lost by nearly 17,000 votes.
Kim is running for reelection in 2026. And art dealer Esther Kim Varet, a Democrat, has also announced a run for the district. Kerr in January also filed to run again for the seat.
The 40th District spans western San Bernardino and Riverside counties and eastern Orange County.
Republicans, according to the secretary of state’s latest tally of voter registration data from late October, make up 38.29% of registered voters, while Democrats are at 33.46% and 21.98% have no party preference.
