The campaign of Estrada focuses on a number of key issues including poverty, public transportation, the establishment of a Renters' Bill of Rights, funding of mental health resources, youth projects, creation of sustainable, high quality jobs and environmental protection.
At the age if 19, he enlisted in the US army as a way of paying for education. During his service in the Army, Estrada rose to the level of Sergeant, qualified as a paratrooper and deployed twice to the Middle East. While he was proud to serve alongside his fellow soldiers, it was this experience that enlightened him to the exploitative nature of US imperialism, a system that manipulates American youth from poor working class families to fight wars that profit only the wealthy.
As the representative of District 1 on the Long Beach City Council, Steven Estrada believes it is only through the organization and unity of working people that we can solve poverty, unaffordable housing, and make Long Beach home again. The campaign is “completely grassroots,” he tells People's World and adds: “We have no affiliation to real estate consulting firms, no large political contributions, such as police unions, PACs, or developers. The campaign depends on people who work for a wage because those are the people we are beholden to should we win”. (Read more about the campaign)
Long Beach is the seventh most populous city in California, approximately 32 km south of downtown Los Angeles and the second largest shipping port in the United States.