Kamlager wins 37th congressional district


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Sydney Kamlager graduated from USC with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 2014. Before graduating, she took a break from her studies to pursue a career in public service. (Photo courtesy of Sydney Kamlager via USC News)

Sydney Kamlager won the election for the U.S. Representative of California’s 37th congressional district, which includes the area surrounding USC. The Los Angeles Times, the San Diego Union-Tribune and the New York Times called the race around noon Thursday — 40 hours after the polls in California had closed on Election Day. Kamlager defeated fellow Democrat Jan Perry in a “top two” general election by winning approximately 61.4% of the district vote, though at time of publication, only 44% of votes had been tallied. 

Kamlager, a USC alumna and member of California’s State Senate who has represented its 30th district since March 2021. Before her term in the State Senate — from 2018 to 2021 — she was a member of the State Assembly and represented its 54th district after winning a special election for the seat. In both positions, Kamlager served on many committees, including the Rules and Public Safety Committees in the State Assembly and the Appropriations and Human Services Committees in the State Senate. 

In this election, Kamlager was endorsed by U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (a Los Angeles mayoral candidate who currently holds the 37th district house seat), recently re-elected Senator Alex Padilla, Rep. Adam Schiff and the California Democratic Party.

Ariela Moel, a freshman majoring in legal studies, voted in the 37th district this election and was pleased with the results. 

“I’m so excited to see that the person I voted for won,” she said. 

Cristian Cardona, a freshman majoring in philosophy, politics and economics, did not vote for Kamlager. He said that while he was a little disappointed, he was not devastated over Perry’s loss. 

“I don’t feel too horrible about the outcome because I know Kamlager is also a pretty solid candidate,” he said. “Can’t really complain.”

Kamlager’s office did not respond to the Daily Trojan’s request for comment. Her Twitter account posted in celebration Thursday, referencing the Associated Press calling the race. 

“This just popped up on my feed…” the account wrote. “Looks like the Associated Press has called the race for CA’s 37th Congressional District. We have a [check mark emoji], y’all… and are headed to Congress!”