Armen Kurdian

Armen Kurdian served in the U.S. Navy from 1993 to 2018.

Kurdian earned a high school diploma from Wichita East High School, a bachelor's degree from the University of Kansas in 1993, a graduate degree from Naval Postgraduate School in 2003, and a graduate degree from Cornell University in 2014. Kurdian's career experience includes working as an engineering manager.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm a husband, father, a veteran, and a servant leader of my community. I am a retired Navy Captain, with over 25 years of service, during which time I led large organizations of hundreds of people: civil, military, union, non-union and others. After I retired I continued my community service in local non-profits and serving local government.

My son is the center of our universe. My wife and I strive to raise him well, make sure he's educated, and it thrills me to see him exceeding his dad in so many way.s

I belive that public service means placing community and the welfare of others over yourself. I have volunteered thousands of hours in service, and never taken a dime of payment for any of it. This is what gets me up in the morning.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I care about what matters most to our voters. Reducing the cost of living is of primary importance. 1.5M Californians have fled the state because it's too expensive to live here, because jobs are being lost, and many of our elected leaders sacrifice public safety for cheap talking points. I've spoken to elected leaders who have told me point blank that they don't care about us, that they don't need us to be elected. This is completely unacceptable. For them, being an elected leader is a vanity project. For me, it's about doing the work to make our district a better place to live.Public school enrollment is at the lowest point since 1990. Schools are failing our kids, especially those of lower income who are unable to attend private or alternative schools. Kids need to be educated in the core curriculum (reading, writing, arithmetic, science, etc.), instead of social issues which polarize them, and sentence them to a life where they will never be able to get ahead. We need to get real returns for our education dollars, educate kids in the subjects we need to be able to succeed as a nation, or train them in the physical trades that are indispensible to manufacturing and construction, vital to our national security.Sacramento has brutalized the CA labor market, giving us the highest unemployment of any state, with job losses at all ends of the scale, and corporations fleeing CA for better pastures. Let's work with business and labor together to bring back manufacturing and shipbuilding to our state, create long term jobs and careers affordably, and rebuild the economy that has been wrecked by Sacramento.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Education and public safety. If the people of CA don't feel safe in their homes from crime, fire, drugs, or other dangers, everything else falls away. If we can't produce quality graduates from our schools or universities, our pool of skilled labor will continue to shrink, hurting them, the economy, and the nation as a whole. Politicians think so narrowly, failing to look at the consequences of their actions, sacrificing thoughtfulness on a pyre of 'feel-goodism'. Criminals need to be punished to keep them off the streets and prevent them from victimizing our citizens, especially in lower income neighborhoods and districts where crime is a major problem. Just because people make less there is no excuse to abandon them.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Lincoln Clubs of San Diego & Orange County. California Republican Assembly. San Diego Asian Americans for Equality. Congressman Darrell Issa, Supervisors Jim Desmond, Joel Anderson, and Don Wagner. Assemblymembers Diane Dixon & Laurie Davies. And over 40 other local electeds. Militaryvoter.com as well.