Latina Candidate Denies Being Anti-AOC

            My VIP for this week is Catalina Lauf, 26-year-old Latina Republican congressional candidate. She is described as the “anti-AOC” or “anti-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), but she does not readily accept that label.

I’m not anti-anyone, I’m pro-America. If there’s contrast there it’s that I’m fiercely driven by a love for my country and I’m not driven by a hate for everything that it stands for like AOC and the rest of her friends on the other side.

            I wanted to know a little more about Lauf other than she is a Latina conservative, so I did a little research. I found that someone else also wanted to know more about her. Chris Pandolfo, staff writer for Conservative Review says that there are five things that we should know about Lauf for why she is so exciting. Here are his five things.


            First, Catalina Lauf was born and reared in Woodstock, Illinois. Her mother and grandmother are legal immigrants from Guatemala, and her father is a small-business owner from Chicago. Lauf earned an associate degree at age 17 and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree. She worked for Uber until she was appointed to be an advisor to the U.S. Department of Commerce by President Trump. She left the Trump administration and returned to Illinois to run for Congress as one of the youngest Republican candidates for 2020.

Second, Lauf is running against freshman Democrat Rep. Lauren Underwood. She is running to represent Illinois’ 14^th Congressional District that covers parts of seven counties – DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will. 

Underwood is best known for making “controversial remarks accusing the Trump administration of intentionally killing migrant children” and for confronting “acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan about the deaths of five illegal immigrant children in ICE detention centers.” 

Lauf called Underwood’s comments “disgusting” because they show how Democrats demonize law enforcement officials. Lauf is one of six Republican candidates running for the congressional seat, but the Cook Political Report calls the 14^th Congressional District “a toss-up.”

Third, Lauf wants to defend the American dream because she is a product of it. “Today, angry voices seeks to divide us by skin color, economic class, and where we come from. They use envy and bitterness, trying to convince us to surrender our personal freedoms for the false promises of socialism.” She reminds us that “America is an idea, an idea that we are all created equal and that what we have in common is far more powerful than any of our differences.” She wants to counter the negative Democrat message with a positive one that “lifts all of us up” and “brings us together.”

Fourth, Lauf describes herself as a “lifelong conservative.” Her background is in small business, and “she is making entrepreneurship and economic opportunity central to her campaign.” She stands with Trump “on securing our border and closing loopholes in our broken immigration system.” She says the Green New Deal would be “ineffective” and “harmful to American families.” She rejects socialism and calls it “a strong contrast to everything that makes America great.” She says that she is offering the American dream as an alternative to socialism.

Lauf says, “We need to stop compromising on our values. I’m disappointed when Republicans get cornered on an issue and cave to the other side…. We need people who will not cave.” Her legislative priorities will be “Expanding our Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, finding ways to cut entitlement spending, and fostering a friendly economic environment, especially for our small businesses.” She also wants to fix “our broken immigration system” and ensure “Congress is supporting our President’s agenda of having safe and secure borders.”

Fifth, Lauf believes that “Minorities are going to be the majority of the population by 2044. It’s time we focus on uniting minorities to join our freedom message. That no matter where you come from, no matter what color your skin is, as citizens of the United States, we are all Americans first.” She wants to focus on “economic freedom and opportunity” and “strong borders and law enforcement.”

Lauf is a nice-looking, intelligent, minority candidate. She is conservative and loves America. These are all ways that she is “anti-AOC” who is progressive, hates America, sounds like she does not think at all, and looks like a deer caught in the headlights of a vehicle. Both young women are Latinas, and both are young. I think that is where the similarity ends.