Republican congressional candidate Jenny Rae Le Roux answers audience questions at an ASUCI forum on Oct. 23.
Alt Text: From a wide-view angle, candidate Jenny Rae Le Roux stands on stage in a gray
auditorium in front of a full audience. To the right stands an ASUCI board member behind a black microphone and podium.
The Associated Students of UC Irvine (ASUCI) hosted a forum for candidates in California’s 47th Congressional District in the Student Center’s Crystal Cove Auditorium on Oct. 23. Republican candidate Jenny Rae Le Roux was the only candidate to attend. Representative Dave Min was unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict, Min’s team told New University.
ASUCI invited both Le Roux and incumbent Rep. Dave Min, D-Irvine, but Min did not attend. Le Roux spoke about her campaign goals and answered questions selected by ASUCI.
“I loved the fact that ASUCI put the forum on,” Le Roux said. “I’m very grateful to the student leadership that said that it was important to have a congressional debate on campus. This campus is an incredibly valuable and important part of our district, and I was really honored to be invited and that they took the time to put it on.”
Throughout the forum, Le Roux emphasized the importance of affordability in housing and necessities, especially for students. She also mentioned her role as director of Cal DOGE, a volunteer group launched by Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton that investigates government waste and fraud. She said the group has uncovered more than $2 billion in fraud by following public money trails.
Le Roux said that if elected, she would set transparency rules if elected to make it easy for anyone to follow how taxpayer money is used and spent to maintain accountability.
In an interview with New University, she said that during her investigations, she uncovered fraud in 12 “ghost daycare centers,” like the viral Somali-American-run Quality Learning Center case, in San Diego County that had over $ 10 million of billings with zero children served. The accusations of fraud against the Quality Learning Center case were later uncovered by state investigators to be unsubstantiated, according to CNN.
“We are a wealthy nation,” Le Roux said. “No one should go hungry. But to provide food stamp cards, the EBT cards, and then have them be used at these bodegas and then exchanged for vapes, alcohol, lottery tickets or even cash, is wrong.”
Le Roux plans to use the money uncovered from fraud to help protect student affordability, lowering prices of necessities like groceries and off-campus student housing. When asked about the federal budget cut to the Pell Grant, Le Roux advocated for using the fraudulent money uncovered to make up for those cuts.
Additionally, to lower housing prices, Le Roux proposed cutting down on the fees and regulations that builders go through, under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), to make it easier for housing construction projects to be approved. She argued that CEQA had been used to stop building projects for one to five years, raising prices for builders while not protecting the environment. However, CEQA is a state law, so a member of Congress would not be able to control it directly
“If we can’t build somewhere, somebody should know within 60 days,” Le Roux said. “If we can, they should be approved. We should not have a five-year process to break ground, that makes everything more expensive.”
Finally, if elected, Le Roux plans to have a liaison within the UC Irvine campus to improve communications with her office and students. Le Roux said she wants to be in close contact with students and collaborate with them and university leadership to fit their needs, regardless of their party affiliation.
“I’ve covered the political spectrum in my life,” Le Roux said. “I went from a socialist to an independent, and now I’m a registered Republican. There’s no question that I’m afraid to hear. There’s nobody that I’m afraid to talk to, and I’d love to meet with as many students as would be interested in meeting with me.”
Urson Russell, a republican running for the District 73 state assembly seat, attended the forum in support of Le Roux’s campaign. He emphasized the importance of reaching out and connecting with younger generations.
Stephanie Hwang is a News Intern for the fall 2026 quarter. She can be reached at shwang12@uci.edu.
Edited by Brinda Popli and Geneses Navarro.
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