Sophie Sam
WHY VOTE FOR SOPHIA EDUM-A-SAM
Press releases, speeches, endorsements, and campaign updates.
I'm not a career politician or an insider with big PAC money. I'm Sophia Edum-A-Sam, a young Nigerian immigrant raised by a single mother, former Division 1 athlete at Cornell and Ohio State, and someone who's lived the struggles Californians face every day. I have high emotional intelligence and deep empathy. As a one-woman campaign for most of this journey, I personally met every single person who nominated me, listened to their real concerns about rent, healthcare, jobs, and mental health, and researched solutions right away. Because I'm building this mostly alone, I've relied heavily on AI to scale outreach, analyze data, and draft policy, but I never lose sight that AI is a tool, not a replacement for human connection.
WHAT MAKES ME DIFFERENT
My opponents are insiders with decades in the broken system. I bring lived experience they can't match: immigrant roots, single-parent household, personal mental health struggle, relentless perseverance. I don't give up easily, and practical fluency with AI as a young leader. No one else combines that outsider authenticity, genuine empathy, youthful energy, and forward-looking tech understanding.
WHY THIS SEAT & THIS MOMENT
I'm running for Governor because this office has the executive power to shape budgets, appoint leaders in health, housing, and innovation, and set direction on affordability, healthcare, wages, and the AI future. I'm choosing this exact moment because AI, robotics, and automation are about to transform jobs and economies more dramatically than anything we've seen. California is the national testbed, where these technologies are piloted and scaled first. The decisions we make here will become the benchmark for the entire country and world. We need someone young who truly understands these shifts, not just theoretically, but as someone using AI daily, to ensure innovation creates opportunity, not mass displacement.
MY PLAN FOR AI-DRIVEN JOB LOSS
Comprehensive AI Reskilling Program
Free statewide retraining through community colleges, vocational schools, and partnerships with tech companies and unions. Personalized AI-powered pathways in irreplaceable human skills: caregiving, trades, green infrastructure, creative AI collaboration, and mental health support. Goal: retrain hundreds of thousands so workers thrive, not just survive.
Targeted Transitional Universal Basic Income Pilot
For displaced workers in high-impact sectors, a 12–24 month UBI bridge funded by modest profit-sharing from large tech firms. It provides income security, breathing room for retraining, and prevents poverty and homelessness, a smart investment in dignity and economic stability.
Human-First AI Regulations
Mandate public impact assessments before large-scale AI deployment. Prioritize tools that augment human labor, not eliminate it. Require transparency in algorithmic decision-making that affects workers' lives.
PUBLIC SAFETY & POLICE REFORM
Public safety matters deeply. Violent crime has dropped significantly, but trust is broken. I support accountable policing: invest in community violence prevention, mental health crisis teams, restorative justice, transparency, and training.
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But I strongly oppose unchecked surveillance expansion like Flock Safety cameras, they create a de facto surveillance state, capturing innocent movements without warrants, risking privacy abuses and discriminatory policing.
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Mandatory data deletion timelines
Community oversight boards for all surveillance tools
Warrants required for all surveillance data access
Safety must never come at the cost of freedom.
Where do you stand on abortion?
I am pro-choice because I believe in bodily autonomy. A woman should always have the right to make the best decision for her body, her health, and her future with her doctor, no one else.
How can you, as a woman of God, say that?
I understand the conservative view that life begins at conception and that abortion is murder. The Bible says, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you." But that verse is about God knowing your path and purpose before you exist, not a political weapon. If masturbation or a miscarriage is not considered murder, we must apply the same logic consistently. I challenge everyone to ask questions instead of making assumptions. Not everything is black and white.
A young woman once told me her mother was forced by her husband to have two abortions before her older sister and four before her, all illegal in their country. In a world without legal, safe abortion, the only person who truly suffers is the woman. Men who don't want the child can push her down stairs, abandon her, or worse. She already had a daughter she was trying to protect. Without choice, women die. Abortion is healthcare, not murder. The only people who should decide are the woman and her doctor.
I support trans people having full bodily autonomy and the freedom to live authentically. My own name story taught me disconnection's pain, legally "Martha" for years but always Sophia, causing real depression. I ask honest questions: How do we support kids without rushing them? At what age is consent informed? Should resources be available for adults while protecting children? I seek middle ground that protects dignity and prevents regret.
Love is Love. I fully support same-sex marriage. Original Bible texts condemned rape and pedophilia, not loving adult relationships. The text was twisted for power and control. Gay animals exist in nature. My job is love and compassion, not judgment. God judges the heart.
WHERE I STAND ON KEY SOCIAL ISSUES
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