Fareed Files Papers to Run for Congress

Justin Fareed is hoping the third time’s the charm. The unsuccessful congressional candidate, who ran in 2014 and 2016, filed papers Wednesday to run for the 24th Congressional District. Last November, the 29-year-old Montecito native came within about 6 percentage points of Democrat Salud Carbajal, who won the seat with 53 percent of the vote.

According to the latest campaign finance reports, Fareed has not raised any money in 2017. He has about $54,000 left over from his last race. He has occasionally been spotted at recent community events.

The National Republican Congressional Committee has already begun targeting the 24th Congressional District. Last month, the NRCC released a set of online video ads attacking five California Democrats, including Carbajal.

Christiana Purves — Fareed’s former communications director and campaign manager — now works for the Republican National Committee. Last week, she issued a statement saying Carbajal, among other California Democrats, is “feeding into their party’s dysfunction by constantly dishing out obstructionist rhetoric, instead of working with Republicans to deliver legislative wins for Californians.”