Congressional Hopeful Puts Planned Double Mastectomy on Campaign’s Center Stage

Gordon Hurd
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Alejandra Campoverdi, former Obama staffer and first-time political candidate, is bringing her family’s struggle with breast cancer — and her own upcoming voluntary double mastectomy — into the campaign spotlight. (Photo: Alejandra Campoverdi for Congress)

There’s no question that politics is a game that pivots on the personal, a fact this most recent election cycle has done little to change. Voters may take the big issues into consideration, but personality, body language, and personal history play perhaps a much bigger role in who wins and who loses elections. In a very crowded California special election being held for a spot in the U.S. House of Representatives, this idea of putting the personal into politics is very much in play, as candidate Alejandra Campoverdi is highlighting her medical history as a reason voters should send her to Washington, D.C., to confront President Trump.

Campoverdi’s campaign tactics were revealed for the first time this week when she released her 30-second advertising spot, entitled “Why.”

In the campaign ad, Campoverdi touts her experience in the Obama White House, which makes sense for this largely Democratic race in California. “As an aide in the Obama White House I proudly worked to help pass Obamacare, because I knew it would save lives,” she says in the ad. “I never imagined one of those lives might be my own.”

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Campoverdi briefing President Obama in the Oval Office. (Photo: White House)

The remainder of the campaign spot unveils her family’s struggle with cancer. “Breast cancer took my grandmother’s life,” she says, “and nearly took my mom’s. I carry a gene that gives me an 85 percent chance of developing that same cancer.” As a result of this genetic link to breast cancer, Campoverdi has decided to undergo a double mastectomy surgery by 2019, she has stated. Her diagnosis and her decision to undergo surgery entail “the emotional and intellectual foundation of her campaign,” according to a lengthy profile of Campoverdi in the Washington Post.

“Like a lot of women after this past election, I really felt catalyzed to do something and to do my part to push back against the Trump administration’s policies,” Campoverdi told Yahoo Beauty. “Seeing that they were focusing so much attention on repealing the Affordable Care Act was a big deal for me. I worked at the White House when it was passed.”

And in regards to disclosing her own personal health issues, Campoverdi decided that she needed to be vulnerable — despite being a private person — in order to help potential supporters focus on the importance of the issues. “I come from an experience that is very vulnerable and faced with a lot of struggle,” she recounts. “This is obviously a very personal piece of information, but if it any way humanizes a conversation that is about life and death, impacting people’s lives every day, then it’s worth it.”

The role she is vying for in California’s 34th Congressional District, which covers key downtown and central Los Angeles neighborhoods, has been vacated by Xavier Becerra. Becerra gave up his seat after 24 years serving the district to become the state’s attorney general. Becerra has publicly endorsed one of Campoverdi’s opponents, Jimmy Gomez, a current state assemblyman. Another opponent in the special election for this district is Arturo Carmona, who is closely associated with Bernie Sanders.

Is the tight race forcing Campoverdi to dig deeper into her own personal life to gain traction in what the Washington Post calls her “underdog candidacy”? With the special election’s primary vote coming up on April 4, there are over 23 candidates competing for one of the top two spots in this overwhelmingly Democratic race. “Having a crowded race is very typical for a special election like this,” says Campoverdi. “At the same time, it’s obviously a race against the clock to be able to share your message and let people know what makes you unique as a candidate.”

Yet, crowded race or not, it’s most likely the dearth of women’s voices in politics that requires issues like this to be made centerpieces in political campaigns. Until more women hold positions of power in government, women like Campoverdi have to speak loudly and often to get their voices heard, particularly on issues surrounding health care that are so often determined by the votes of men. “This debate isn’t about politics, it’s personal, for millions of Americans,” Campoverdi states in her ad. “If Donald Trump wants to have a conversation about women’s bodies, let’s start with mine.”

If elected, she’ll surely face a strong battle in the halls of Congress. Campoverdi doesn’t seem to be afraid of that notion. “I like to say I wasn’t born a fighter, but life made me one. Now that I’m a seasoned fighter, I want to take that to Donald Trump and the Republicans.”

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