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Shaaf Patel

LibertarianFirst-time candidate

Politician

Shaaf Patel ran for U.S. House California District 41 in 2026. This is their first run for office.

From the candidate’s public filings

Background

Shaaf Patel was born in Orange, California. He graduated from Perris High School. He attended Riverside Community College and University of London, Kings College LLB. His career experience includes working as a politician and political commentator, small business owner, mechanic, driver, and in janitorial services.[1]

High school:
Perris High School

Campaign money

Raised
$0
From individuals
$0
From PACs & party
$0
Own money
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FEC filings.

View on FEC.gov(opens in new tab)

In their own words

Congress

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I grew up and live in Nuevo, Ca. Typical American small town childhood, played baseball and soccer, raced BMX at Lake Perris BMX. Went to Perris High School where I was ahead of my time. I was a JROTC cadet, and was a natural leader. I received the American Legion Military Excellence Award, as a Sophomore. I was on multiple JROTC teams; Armed Drill, Raider, Cannon Guard, Color Guard, Rifle Team (Marksmenship) Honor Guard. I earned a varsity letter in Marksmanship, 3 years, Swimming, 2 years, and Water-Polo, 1 year. I was also the captian of the swim team my senior year. Most improved my Junior year, and Mist Dedicated, my senior year. I graduated Class of 2002. I was certified through the American Red Cross for Water Saftey Instructor, and spent 2 Summers Teaching classes at the Perris High Pool in 2001 and 2002, and 1 session of 2003. After losing my father to tragedy in January 2003, I started working at my family Dry Cleaning Business. I Spent the next 18 years streamlining the process, expanding, and closing stores, and worked several part time jobs on the side, including Pizza delivery, carpet cleaning, outside sales( coupons and merchandise) which was fun.. Vehicles for Developmentally Disabled Persons Coachman, Equipment maintenence and replacement for Dry Cleaners. During Covid my business was approved forv the EIDL loan in Oct. 2020, after the election it was overturned into denial. WE WERE EVICTED. The actions of my Rep. Calvert got me focused on MAGA

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 am a America First Republican, with a never give up attitude, who has always been known as a great leader, problem solver, and quite outspoken. I am only here to represent the interests of My Constituents in District 41, My State, County, and Hometown, and My Country. I only pledge alligence to the flag of The United States of America, and will never accept any money for campaigns or otherwise from and FOREIGN INTEREST GROUPS. America First means America First. Immigration in the legal manner is very important. Taxes need to be applied across the board. As a small business, tge ratio of income to taxes should be all the way up. corporations that produce billionaires should be paying the same ratios of taxes.Military Strength is very important, and it's also important to take care of those who served so we have our freedom. Veterans have been undeserved for decades while we gave money by the billions to foreign nations for THEIR security. This is a huge dishonor to our vets, and no vet should ever be homeless. They deserve the best heath care, the best services, our veterans especially those who served in combat, should have everything they need to be well. mentally, physically, and financially. The billions spent outside the USA NEEDS TO BE REDIRECTED TO PROGRAMS AND GRANTS FOR VETS TO FLOURISH AND SUCCEED.Innovation and cutting edge technology is the key to staying the super power that we are. Education needs to be expanded, we need to build more MIT, STANFORD, WESTPOINT, type Universities, and invest in the next generation, who are from my experiance less motivated, have to many freedoms prior to earning them by graduating high school, which in my days was the minimum requirement to be a functioning member of society. Our Space program should have more technical schools available in order to push the capabilities of innovation.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Military, Counter Terrorism, Technology, Education, Social Services with emphasis on Veterans, Equality and Civil Rights, Economy and Business development for innovation without monopolies. Allowing the development of technology by supporting start up businesses without excessive scrutiny, and orginization of the goverment to make it more easily collaborative. THE BIPARTISAN SPLIT IS NOT WHAT THE 2 PARTY SYSTEM WAS MADE FOR. THE PURPOSE, CURRENTLY FORGOTTEN, PARTIALLY DUE TO CAREER POLITICIANS AND THEIR GRUDGES, IS FOR PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT VIEWS TO COLLABORATE AND ALLOW POLICY TO BE OF ASSISTANCE TO THE COMPLETE SPECTRUM OF PEOPLE. NOT CATERING TO A SPECIFIC VIEW, IDEA, OR GROUP. DEMOCRACY IS WORKING TOGETHER NOT FIGHTING AND REJECTING

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

my father, everyone loved him. Big Greg, he never yelled at anyone but sandy, his motto, just be nice. My Aunt Mehrun and My mom, both will go out of their way to help almost anyone. Rob Long, he is a great teacher with patience and a good man. MSG Salcedo, he is kind, intelligent, and humble, very cooperative, even when freshmen is suggesting process changing ideas, he still gave it consideration and motivated me to continue developing my problem solving skills, and never gave up on me. I have been fortunate to have had many great people around me. the 2 Sheri's, all my familial elders, my younger brother keeps teaching me patience, my sister taught me about perseverance and proved that dedication and hard work gets results, my uncle ahmed taught me to question everything and laugh even when you are being made fun of. my 1st karate teacher taught me there is a correct way for doing everything.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

I dont believe, nor does anyone who has ever gotten to know me, that there is anyone like me on earth. I've been told numerous times that im 1 in 9 billion.

my conservative views are from everything I have ever experianced. My trials and tribulations are quite unique and the major ones would easily have broken another

JROTC and my Awesome Instructors, Teachers who invested a little bit of time at the crucial moments, and those teachers or rather mentors who were critical of me, they had a huge part in it.

I cant even point it to my religious upbringing because I was encouraged to follow any religion so long as I had spiritual guidance.

After watching people live of social services, watching people work 40 hour weeks and watching people try to keep a business running and all ending up in the same spot at the end of the month, and all my previous experiances with work, my position on the importance of innovative trade schools was developed.

My JROTC background made me appreciate veterans and shaped my views on milirary strength and current and historical events shaped my AMERICA FIRST ALWAYS mentality

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

Problem Solving, Team work, Integrity, Courage, Judgement, Loyalty, Unselfishness, Tact, Enthusiasm, Bearing.

Problem Solving is the reason we have the legislature.

Bipartisanship and the current unwillingness to cooperate is not effective or efficient. it makes the process corrupted to its core.

Integrity, to have a good moral base and adhear to it unwavering.

Courage, to have the guts to stand up and and scream oh hell no. when something is fishy.

Judgement, Using your experiance, knowledge, and morals, to guide your decision.

Loyalty, to self and country.

Unselfishness, as a leader and politician, my personal gain is not what I am here for. Public service means just that. I will never be a rich man, I accepted that, because no matter how much money I make, I always give to those who are unfortunate, without expecting to receive anything in return.

TACT is something I have always struggled with, but its not that I can not hold information that is sensitive. I surely can when mandated. But when I am upset about my personal issues, its best to let it out so that I can wakeup happy and clear minded. in regards to outburst of my personal views. sensetive information needs to be kept sensitive ..

Enthusiasm, if you dont like your duties, then why are you in that career field? my dad use to say, you dont have to like your job, but you should love what you do.

Bearing, to know the direction and course of your actions. you must always rememeber where the ship is headed and be attentive to the direction to ensure it stays on course.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Leadership, Student mentality, Problem Solving skills, mental clarity durring crisis, judgement, ablity to obtain knowledge, negotiations, Integrity, never backing down when I know I am right, never letting the little guy get pushed over by the big guy or the group, loyalty to myself and my principles, willingness to give when necessary and vise versa.

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

To represent their constituents interest, and ensure that the outcome of policy is beneficial to those interests. To assist in problems with departments of the federal government to ensure the best possible outcome, while obiding by the afromentioned priciples. Ensuring that on critical policies the general views of the constituents are taken into consideration before proceeding. Conveying information that is not sensitive to the constituents in order to gain feedback of the general views.

to ensure that everyone rises together and not be exclusive in access to only the people who supported my candidacy.

PUTTING AMERICAN INTRESTS ABOVE MY OWN.

all the above witgout compromise.

What legacy would you like to leave?

Quite a large one, but cooperatively. and just.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Hand of God goal diego maradona 1986 world cup. 2 years old

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

Door monitor at the dry cleaners, from 4 years old until 7 when i got promoted to helping give customers their orders. and by 11 I was earning bikes and motorcycles by running the counter and doing light maintenence, by 13 I was pressing dress shirts and earning "fancy t-shirts" and paintball money, and saving for my first car.

outside of the family business, I was a water saftey instructor at the perris pool, where I taught people to let go of fear and enjoy the joys of water activities.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Ali Rap, because Ali was the heavyweight champion of rap.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Superbatman

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

har dil meh hai raab basta from the movie sabse bada kiladi

chaiya chaiya from dil se

actually i listen mostly to the same songs i have since i was young not really into most music after 2010. some songs are cool but i like what i like

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

the loss of my father at age 18. reoccurring dreams of giving him cpr. and trying to cope with the emotional distress in a healthy manner

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

Diversity, And intelligence. most elected members are highly intelligent and want to make a difference for the betterment of America, not just their Campiagn Funders and Political party

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

It is, but that experiance comes in many a forms. participation in goverment is beneficial, but is it better to be on the goverment side? Having experiance in working woth the government, and in a diverse manner, such as interaction with different agencies and different levels of government, local, county, state and federal, and being able to access those interactions and compare them to one another to find weakneess and areas of improvement is something that being a politician or a goverment employee would not be able to experiance. diversity in social and financial backgrounds is the key to improvements. if everyone that gets elected is from the same demographic or has been doing the same job for 30+ years, then we end up with... the same results. be the change you wish to see.

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

PUSHING OUT THE LEGACIES OF THE CAREER POLITICIANS, AND ADJUSTING POLICIES AND SERVICES TO MODERN TIMES. PROMOTING INOVATION AND ENSURING THAT POVERTY IS ELIMINATED PRIOR TO SENDING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OUT. ENSURING THAT PEACE ON EARTH IS UPHELD. AND ERADICATION OF ALL EXTREMISTS GROUPS

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

i think it should be 3, or maybe 4, 2 makes everyone have to worry about elections and less time for issues to be fully resolved. 3 or 4 makes elections staggering and ensures that people who have the ideas and direction can see their tasks be completed.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

I feel they need to be implamented ASAP. Career politicians and their history is the cause of the current bipartisan split. the leaders of both sides have been in offices way too long. I feel that 8 terms without promotion should be the limit. 9 terms if in leadership postions. by 10 in congress the rep should be leading their party, and by 11 or 12 max they should be the speaker of the house or equivalent. and after that they should be running for president or retiring from legislature.

senators should have a 3 term limit, 4 if they were leading their committees 5 max

and really after 8 terms as a representative in congress, they should aspire to be a senator.

no person should spend more than 32 years as a lawmaker.

thats why the status quo is corrupted. not individuals but the esprite de corp if you would.

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

josh Hawley, and JN Kennedy, JD Vance, JFK, HW Bush, Andrew Jackson, MTG, Britt, even though some have been funded by aipac.

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

No not really. although i wish there were stories like that.. only interactions on the news are negative these days.

my only interaction with a rep, was when my EIDL LOAN was approved, then after the 2020 ejection, it was paused for funding, then overturned to a denial. during the reconsideration loop, I reached out to the rep for Perris where my dry cleaners was, mark takano, and ken calvert the nuevo rep.

ultimatly my business was not funded and after 32 years we were evicted by the greedy new corporate owners.

the thing that upset me was that calvert a republican and takano a Democrat sent me the word for word same letter statingv they could not do anything abd i had to wait for the sba. meaning neither of them did what other elected reps did for their constituents in the same situation, actually tried to help my family business. I could list everything that happened after in regards to ken calvert but I dont want to talk about the further oppressive actions and stress i have been placed under. AIPAC is already going to have a lot of negative public smear campaigns against me.

Tell us your favorite joke.

its kind of dirty.. So there was this beautiful white mare, long tail and mane, beautiful, she was running in the pasture, then she fell in the mudd..

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

100 percent

The Constitution says that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House. What role would this power play in your priorities if elected?

The constitution is the framework, guidance, and core of this great nation. if nothing else, it should be the basis for every action taken.

How should the U.S. House use its investigative powers?

To investigate waste fruad and abuse in clandestine and constitutional manner. with no holds barred, but not simply to stress out the investigatees

What committees interest you?

Armed Services, Veterans, Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs, Science space technology, Judiciary, taxation, small business, education, natural resoruces, agriculture, Intelligence, Economics

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Financial transparency = accountability. to balance them is to have higher approvals

Riverside County Board of Supervisors

Shaaf Patel did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

On the 2026 ballot

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Compiled from the candidate’s published profile as of September 30, 2026 and FEC filings.

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