California — 50th District

Joe Shea, 67, a Libertarian and retired math teacher, is running for Congress representing portions of San Diego and inland North County in California’s 50th Congressional District.

Shea is a San Diego native who now lives in Poway.

The San Diego Union-Tribune emailed a series of questions to Shea and other candidates to help inform voters about their positions, priorities and plans if elected.

Shea said he did not use any AI tools in responding to the Union-Tribune’s questions.

1) Why are you running, and what makes you the best candidate? (150 words max)

I am currently the only candidate who is both not a member of the two warring major political parties and who goes beyond platitudes on my website to say what I believe in — I would vote to impeach Trump, for instance. I agree with 90% of the platform on the national Libertarian Party website and 100% of the positions on my campaign website. You may not agree with everything I say, but you can find my principles and positions clearly stated. I am not accepting donations of any kind.

I grew up poor (my single mother was on welfare) and became working-class poor and finally middle-class (in a two teacher income family), so I know what it means to live with economic insecurity. I’ve lived in three parts of my district — Ocean Beach, Ramona and now Poway.

2) What are the top 3 issues facing this district? (150 words max)

Cost of living. Government spending is unsustainable — with both major parties responsible — which leads to higher direct taxation and/or the hidden tax of inflation. Tariffs and wars make the cost of living even higher.

Ownership of your own body. Adults should be able to choose which medications or drugs to use, whether or not to have an abortion or gender-affirming care and whether they can opt out of a painful end of life.

Racism. ICE operations target brown people who believe in the American dream, but not Canadians or (white) Afrikaners. We should not be supporting genocide in Gaza, regime change in Venezuela or military actions in Iran.

3) What are the first 3 things you would do in your first/next term in Congress? (150 words max)

As an outsider, my leverage would not be in joining a side in Congress and hoping for a majority. I would lean into the unusual situation of being the only (?) Libertarian in Congress in several ways. I would use my novelty to get press coverage on less flashy but important issues like tax reform and wasteful programs. I would reach out to other members who share my concerns (for instance, Democrats who oppose wars and ICE, and Republicans who are concerned with the national debt) and offer them a way to frame our issues as not being strictly partisan. Because I don’t have to answer to a party leader, I could take controversial stands, like support for drug legalization or increased immigration, without asking permission.

4) If your party wins control of Congress, what should be its first priority? If your party loses control of Congress, what should be its first priority? (100 words max)

The Libertarian party is not going to win control of Congress in the near future. This question inadvertently shows that we are stuck in a mindset that the duopoly of Republicans and Democrats is the only way to organize our many different political opinions. The major parties work very hard to keep other parties from having any chance of getting elected (for instance, by opposing ranked choice voting, or making ballot access difficult for smaller parties) so that they can run on being slightly less terrible than the (supposed) only other alternative.

5) President Trump has made cracking down on immigration a cornerstone of his administration, ordering widespread arrests and detentions of immigrants nationwide and directing military resources to a new military zone along the U.S.-Mexico border. What impact have these had on this district? What are your goals on immigrants, immigration and the border, and how would you pursue them if elected? What is your message to constituents who are immigrants? (150 words max)

Terrorizing communities of color is an intended consequence of ICE’s policies, not an accident. No area of San Diego is safe for anyone — citizen or not — who appears to ICE agents to “not belong.” As a kid, I would hear joking references to World War II Germans demanding papers, but now it’s a reality for us.

Two of my grandparents were immigrants — one from Mexico and one from Canada. Most immigrants come to this country ready to work and are more law-abiding than native-born Americans. In my opinion, immigrants have a truer sense of the vision and promise of America than those who would turn them back.

I can see no other motivation than racism for being against immigration, asylum or temporary workers. I’m not opposed to having inspections for criminal backgrounds or denying entrance for a good reason, but the system we have now — which was enthusiastically enforced by Obama and Biden as well — is based on delaying and denying asylum and immigration.

6) It’s been nearly two months since the United States began a war with Iran. Do you believe Americans are better or worse off for it? What should Congress’s role be? Would you vote to let the president continue the war beyond the 60 days after which congressional authorization is required? (150 words max)

The war with Iran has been a disaster for us and for them. It would be a miracle if the results of this war (not counting lives and money lost) would result in anything as good as the nuclear deal Trump destroyed or in re-opening the Strait of Hormuz.

The problems with Iran began in 1953 with the United Kingdom and the U.S. helping a coup d’etat in order to protect oil interests from being nationalized. Ever since, our foreign policy has been confrontational and reactive instead of Jefferson’s wish of “Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none” that Libertarians support.

The colonial mindset that the U.S. should determine the affairs of West Asian people has led to needless wars and a resulting danger to Americans, who are often seen as careless enablers of tyrants. I would constantly and consistently oppose meddling with the affairs of countries far from our borders.

7) Recent jumps in the cost of fuel, food and other goods — combined with federal cuts to safety-net programs, new limits on certain federal loans and more — are squeezing residents already struggling with San Diego County’s high costs of living. What relief would you seek to offer, and how? (150 words max)

While I don’t believe in bailing out businesses or cities that struggle financially, I do think that programs like SNAP and Medicaid (in California, Medi-Cal) should be funded — business can fail, but we can’t let people fail.

That said, the structural problems that lead to people being unable to live in San Diego are often caused by local, state and federal government policies. On the federal side, we must tackle the national debt, which is fueling overtaxation and inflation. We can cut spending if we get rid of tariffs, slow down spending on the military, end bailouts and subsidies for businesses, end the War on Drugs, end ICE and stop fueling foreign wars. Allowing prosperity is the best way to help struggling citizens.

8) Like much of California, this district has been affected by the effects of climate change. How should Congress mitigate those impacts, and what would you do to pursue such efforts? (100 words max)

Pollution from carbon dioxide is one of the limited areas where government is necessary because the benefits (to individuals, businesses and governments) are focused, but the costs (to everyone on earth) are dispersed. I support a carbon tax, with the stipulation that the money raised goes to actually sequestering carbon. Let the price mechanism work to incentivize carbon reduction, but don’t let the resulting money be wasted.

The one place that tariffs might be useful would be to extend the carbon tax to incoming goods, so that foreign polluters would not have an incentive to pollute heavily (for instance, steel smelted with coal power).

9) Polling underscores that one chief concern of California voters in the 2026 midterm elections is the issue of threats to democracy. What do you believe are the greatest threats to American democracy? How would you, and how should Congress, protect against these? (100 words max)

Concentration of power in the presidency has been like a loaded gun in the Oval Office, waiting for an egomaniac to be elected president. Trump needs to be impeached, and more importantly Congress must reassert its authority by limiting presidential power through legislation.

There are other “good government” fixes like congressional term limits, but reducing the overreach of government (a core libertarian principle) is the systemic change that will make the most difference.

10) Do you support a ban or restriction on congressional lawmakers and their families buying or selling individual stocks? Why or why not? And what would you propose to ensure lawmakers aren’t using their positions to engage in insider trading? (100 words max)

Libertarians are generally for fewer restrictions on individual behavior, but in the case of someone who is helping to set legislation (lawmakers, bureaucrats and staff), there must be restrictions on their ability to use their insider information in areas like securities (stocks, bonds, commodities) and prediction markets for personal gain.

Rather than just reacting to bad actions, it should simply be against the law for people who are setting policy to buy or sell securities or make contracts on prediction markets.

11) By design Congress is supposed to serve as a check on the executive branch through budgetary, legislative and oversight powers. Do you believe that Congress has fulfilled that obligation in recent years? Why or why not? Should Congress do more to hold the president accountable? Explain. (150 words max)

Too many Congress members have abandoned their responsibilities as public servants and a “check” on presidential power for personal gain — money, but also power and fame. As long as incentives remain the same, this will continue to be the case. Term limits might help by slightly reducing the motivation to continually fundraise and defer to party leaders. More importantly, making the job less lucrative by limiting the reach of government in general (a libertarian goal) would definitely make bribery of all types less common. Ranked-choice voting would increase the chances of electing people whom voters are for, rather than the lesser of two evils.

As long as the incentives favor electing beholden partisans and rewarding cowardice on the job, the few conscientious legislators who get elected will have a hard time getting anything good done.

12) A recent San Diego Union-Tribune poll found voters overwhelmingly disapprove of the job Congress is doing, by higher margins than they disapprove of the job Trump is doing. Why do you think this is? How can Congress win back voters’ hope and trust, and what would you personally do to achieve this? (150 words max)

Trump has mental/emotional problems that can’t be fixed, but the cowards in Congress who support him are generally doing it to keep power, prestige and income. Those who know better but act badly deserve the scorn of the people — maybe more than the lunatic-in-chief.

In addition, legislators as a whole are often far behind voters on important issues, due to the incentives for them to act conservatively. For instance, while majorities of voters (especially in California) support legalizing marijuana, access to abortions, real tax reform and the end of military adventurism, too many legislators are afraid of taking principled stands on these positions because of vocal minority opposition and the desire to raise funds.

One way to bypass the need to constantly fundraise is to run on clear principles, as Libertarian Party candidates do. Voters also have a responsibility to choose principles and positions over personal attacks and name recognition.