Jeff Frese

Jeff Frese earned a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York, Cortland. His career experience includes working as a small business owner.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm a businessman. I fix things. Washington is broken, and I'm going to fix it. First job: fix Congress.

I founded Fat Snax in my own kitchen, grew it into a national snack brand, and sold it. I now run a skincare company. Before that I worked in product leadership at CNN, Nickelodeon, and MTV. Economics degree, SUNY Cortland. I've signed the front of a paycheck and made payroll.

I'm also a husband, a dad to three daughters, a coach, and a 49ers fan. I live in Moraga. I'm a patriot, and I'm on a mission: hand my girls a better country than the one we've got now.

My opponent has held elected office since 1991. That's 35 years. Nearly 12 in Congress, more than 200 bills, two public laws. One named a post office. The other moved a park boundary. For him it's about the income. For me it's about the outcome.

This campaign has no special-interest money, no consultants, and no staff. Six things: clean up Congress, safer streets, bring down the cost of living, schools that actually teach, election integrity, and Social Security and Medicare left exactly as promised.

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?

Fix Congress first. Mark DeSaulnier has been in elected office for 35 years. Nearly 12 in Congress. More than 200 bills. Two public laws: a post office name and a park boundary. That record is pathetic, and he's asking for two more years. In business, 12 years and a post office gets you fired. He needs to go. Every career politician needs to go, in both parties. 8-year term limits. Ban members of Congress from trading stocks. No budget, no pay. Close the revolving door. For him it's about the income. For me it's about the outcome.Make California affordable again, and make it safe. Congress spends the money, and the deficit spending shows up as higher prices at the register and higher mortgage rates. Stop the deficit spending. Cut the red tape that makes building slow and expensive. Ban Wall Street and hedge funds from buying single-family homes. Back the police. Prosecute crime. End cashless bail. When Congress voted to block a D.C. law that cut penalties for carjacking, 31 House Democrats voted yes and President Biden signed it. Mark DeSaulnier voted no.One question for every voter in this district, Democrat, Republican, or independent: are you better off? Groceries, rent, your mortgage, whether you feel safe walking home. If the answer is yes, you have an easy vote. If it's no, the man who has held office since 1991 is not going to fix it in year 36. Nobody owns me. No special-interest money, no consultants, no staff. I'm a businessman. I fix things. I'm going to fix this. Fire him on November 3.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Education and work. Schools should teach the basics, done well, with money in classrooms instead of bureaucracies. No tax on teachers. And not every kid needs a four-year degree. Bring back shop class and train the electricians, welders, and HVAC techs who graduate into good pay with no student debt.

I'm equally passionate about making it easier to build things in America again. Small businesses, housing where it belongs, energy, and the data center and AI infrastructure that means real construction and trade jobs in our region. I've spent my life building things. Washington mostly stops things. I'm going to change that.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

William Wilberforce. A legislator who spent his whole career on a cause that made him no money and cost him every political comfort, because his conscience wouldn't let it go. He lost the vote year after year until he won the one that mattered. That's the standard. Conscience first, career last.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Results. In business you deliver or you're gone. Washington is the only place where you can put in 35 years, produce a post office, and get a raise.

Skin in the game and plain speech. Someone who spends other people's money should have built something, hired someone, or made payroll first. And they should be able to say what they believe in one sentence, without a consultant sanding it down. If you only say what polls well, you're a mirror, not a leader.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Three things: conscience, community, and constituents, all of them, not just the ones who voted for you. Answer the phone when a veteran can't get VA benefits or a small business is buried by an agency, then vote like your neighbors' grocery bill depends on it, because it does.

And write laws. Actually write them, move them, pass them. My opponent has introduced more than 200 bills and passed two. That's not legislating. That's filing.

What legacy would you like to leave?

Term limits and a congressional stock trading ban, in the law, with my vote on them. And proof that public service can be a season of your life instead of a career.

I have three daughters. I want them to see that when something is broken, you don't complain about it for 35 years. You fix it, and then you go home.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I was eight. I would go into the woods near my house, dig up wild plants that people actually wanted in their yards, Jack in the Pulpit was the one that always sold, and then knock on doors in the neighborhood until they were gone. That was the whole business. No startup cost, no inventory, and a very direct lesson that nobody owes you a sale. I have started real businesses since then, but that was the first time I understood the whole idea: find something people want, and put it in front of them.

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

Two-year terms. The founders built the House to be the part of government closest to the people. You face your boss every two years, and your boss can fire you. It was designed for citizens who serve and go home. It was not designed for one man to hold a seat for 12 years and deliver a post office. The design is fine. The occupants are the problem.

What do you perceive to be the United States' greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Three, with one root. The debt, and the cost of living it drives. A fentanyl crisis we still refuse to treat like the emergency it is. And whether America builds the future, AI, energy, and housing, or regulates it into being someone else's century. The common root is a political class insulated from the consequences of its own decisions.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Necessary, and most of my platform doesn't even require it. Term limits, a congressional stock trading ban, training kids for the trades, and leaving Social Security and Medicare alone all have majority support from Democrats, Republicans, and independents. My opponent has had nearly 12 years to do the easy things. I'm running to get them done.

Note: Frese submitted the above survey responses to [the profile publisher] on September 19, 2026.

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September 16 submission

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm not a politician. I'm a small business owner and a Contra Costa dad. I live in Moraga.

I founded Fat Snax in my own kitchen and grew it into a national snack brand with nationwide distribution before selling it. I now run a skincare company. Before that I worked in product leadership at CNN, Nickelodeon, and MTV. I have a degree in Economics from SUNY Cortland.

I've signed the front of a paycheck, made payroll, and dealt with the same costs, permits, and red tape that squeeze every small business here. I've answered to customers, not donors.

This campaign has no special-interest money, no consultants, and no staff. It's one neighbor and the people who decided to help.

I'm running because the county I'm raising my kids in has gotten more expensive and less safe, and I think a normal person with some common sense can do something about that. Six things: clean up Congress, bring down the cost of living, safer streets, schools that actually teach, election integrity, and Social Security and Medicare left exactly as promised.

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?

Make California affordable again. Congress writes the budget and spends the money, and the deficit spending shows up as higher prices at the register and higher mortgage rates. Owning a home here shouldn't feel impossible, and raising a family here shouldn't feel like a luxury. Stop the deficit spending. Cut the red tape that makes building slow and expensive. And stop letting Wall Street funds and foreign buyers outbid our own families for single-family homes. None of that is a left or right idea. It's arithmetic, and it lands on every kitchen table in this district the same way.Nobody owns me. This campaign takes no special-interest money, and it has no consultants and no staff. I support term limits, a ban on members of Congress trading individual stocks, No Budget No Pay, and closing the revolving door to lobbying. Congress was never meant to be a career, and nobody should get rich doing it. The grift in Washington is bipartisan, and the fix has to start with people who never took the money. I'm not asking anyone to change teams. I'm asking whether the people writing the rules should be allowed to profit from them.I'm asking every voter in this district, Democrat, Republican, or independent, one question: are you better off than you were? Groceries, rent, your mortgage, whether you feel safe walking home. If the answer is yes, you have an easy vote. If it's no, I'd like a shot. My opponent has served in Congress for eleven years. In that time, 204 bills have carried his name and two have become public law. I don't think he's a bad man. I think thirty-five years in elected office is how you stop noticing that nothing is changing.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Education and work. Schools should teach the basics, done well, with money in classrooms instead of bureaucracies. And not every kid needs a four-year degree. Bring back shop class and train the electricians, welders, and HVAC techs who graduate into good pay with no student debt.

I'm equally passionate about making it easier to build things in America again. Small businesses, housing where it belongs, energy, and the data center and AI infrastructure that means real construction and trade jobs in our region. I've spent my life building things. Washington mostly stops things. I'd like to change that.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

William Wilberforce. A legislator who spent his whole career on a cause that made him no money and cost him every political comfort, because his conscience wouldn't let it go. He lost the vote year after year until he won the one that mattered. That's the standard. Conscience first, career last.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Skin in the game and plain speech. Someone who spends other people's money should have built something, hired someone, or made payroll first. And they should be able to say what they believe in one sentence, without a consultant sanding it down. Add honesty about tradeoffs. I tell voters my race is uphill and I tell them what my ideas cost. If you only say what polls well, you're a mirror, not a leader.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Three things: conscience, community, and constituents, all of them, not just the ones who voted for you. The job is casework and votes. Answer the phone when a veteran can't get VA benefits or a small business is buried by an agency, then vote like your neighbors' grocery bill depends on it, because it does. And write laws. Actually write them, move them, pass them. Congress has spent decades outsourcing its job to agencies and courts. I'd like to take the job back.

What legacy would you like to leave?

Proof that a normal person can still do this. No special-interest money, no consultants, no staff. And proof that "public service" can be a season of your life instead of a career. If a dad and small business owner from Contra Costa can run a real race against a thirty-five-year incumbent, more normal people will run. That fixes most of what's broken.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I was eight. I would go into the woods near my house, dig up wild plants that people actually wanted in their yards, Jack in the Pulpit was the one that always sold, and then knock on doors in the neighborhood until they were gone. That was the whole business. No startup cost, no inventory, and a very direct lesson that nobody owes you a sale. I have started real businesses since then, but that was the first time I understood the whole idea: find something people want, and put it in front of them.

What do you perceive to be the United States' greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Three, with one root. The debt, and the cost of living it drives. A fentanyl crisis we still refuse to treat like the emergency it is. And whether America builds the future, AI, energy, and housing, or regulates it into being someone else's century. The common root is a political class insulated from the consequences of its own decisions.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Necessary, and most of my platform doesn't even require it. Term limits, a congressional stock trading ban, training kids for the trades, and leaving Social Security and Medicare alone all have majority support from Democrats, Republicans, and independents. I'm not running to convert anybody. I'm running to do the easy things Washington somehow can't manage.