Elected Experience

Christmas Dinner, Brault household, re-elected every year since the kids staged a peaceful transfer of power; Southern California Delegation (emeritus)

Other Professional Experience

Casserole; 9-by-13 pan (the good one); Cheese Management Consultant; Formerly Ham's Running Mate (it didn't work out)

Education

Grew up around a lot of really great food in Los Angeles; Transferred to Washington State; Graduate, Grandma Brault Academy of Making It Exactly the Same Way Every Year Since 1961

Community Service

Bringing people back for seconds, thirds, and the scraping-the-corner-of-the-pan round; Volunteer, Make-Too-Much Foundation

Statement

First, let me address the name. Yes, I'm Enchiladas & Chile Rellenos. No, I can't really speak to that. My family moved up to Washington from Los Angeles, and we grew up around a lot of wonderful Mexican food, and I think it rubbed off. But I want to be honest with voters: I was made in a pan, in Washington, by a grandmother named Brault.

A lot of voters come up to me at events and say "you're not what I expected." I hear that. A traditional relleno is one pepper, stuffed, battered, fried. I'm more of a casserole. I come in a 9-by-13. I am, frankly, layered. Some people call that inauthentic. I call it feeding fourteen people at once.

Here's how I got into this race. Every Christmas, Grandma Brault made ham. And every Christmas, the kids asked for enchiladas. Eventually she listened. She put her own spin on me exactly once, around 1961, and she has not changed one thing since. Not the pan. Not the cheese. Not the order of the layers. If you are thinking about suggesting an improvement, I would encourage you not to.

I'm proud of my record. Under my leadership, Christmas dinner leftovers have increased 300 percent, nobody has had to carve anything, and there is always enough cheese. My opponent likes to call this "the radical tortilla agenda." I'd just call it dinner.

Now, I want to speak directly to the Never Onions community. I see you. I hear you. I respect you. There are onions in me, and there always will be, because the recipe says so and the recipe is not up for discussion. But I'm listening.

I'm not going to pretend to be something I'm not. I'm not from a little town in Jalisco. I'm from a pan. But I think that's what America is about: taking something wonderful you grew up around, getting it a little bit wrong, and then making it exactly that same way for sixty-five years.

Vote Enchiladas & Chile Rellenos. Serves the whole family. Gracias. (Sorry. I'm working on it.)