The Republican cousin of Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has launched a bid for Congress in deep-blue California, aiming to turn a coastal Orange County district from Democrat to Republican in 2026.
In a campaign rollout shared first with Fox News Digital, entrepreneur Jenny Rae Le Roux announced she is running for the U.S. House in Californias 47th Congressional District, a battleground seat currently held by first-term Democratic Rep. Dave Min. According to Fox News, the district which includes Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Newport Beach and Seal Beach is one of the top targets for the National Republican Congressional Committee as the GOP fights to preserve its narrow House majority in the next midterm cycle.
Le Roux enters a crowded June 2 Republican primary as one of four GOP contenders vying to challenge Min, who is seeking re-election after succeeding progressive favorite Katie Porter. "I'm running because I love this district," Le Roux told Fox News Digital. "I love California, and I don't think that Dave Min has represented this district in a way that people are excited about."
She argued that Min campaigned as a centrist but has governed as a standard-bearer for the left, out of step with the districts more pragmatic voters. Min, she said, "presented as a moderate" when he ran for Congress two years ago, but "he is governing and messaging as a progressive."
Le Roux contended that the priorities of local residents are far more practical than the ideological agenda pushed by Sacramento and Washington Democrats. "A lot of my district is actually not that interested in progressive politics. They want schools that work, roads that operate, police that show up. They want the basic functioning of a governmental society that works," Le Roux emphasized.
That critique of progressive overreach extends to her own family, including her second cousin, Gov. Spanberger, whom she affectionately calls Abby. "She really ran as a moderate in Virginia and is governing as a progressive, which I think is disenfranchising a lot of Democrat voters," Le Roux claimed.
Spanberger, a former CIA intelligence officer, served three terms in Congress before becoming Virginias first female governor in 2025, building a brand as a centrist Democrat from a swing district. Pointing to their shared roots, Le Roux said, "Abby and I grew up together. We spent a lot of time in the summers at family pool parties together. We actually graduated the same year from the University of Virginia together, and spend a lot of time [together], even in adulthood. She has three daughters. I have three sons."
Le Roux described a common upbringing grounded in patriotism and service, even as their political paths have sharply diverged. "I've watched her bent toward public service, which is something that we both share. I think both of us grew up in a strong family with a love for community and a love for our country and a really strong sense of patriotism," Le Roux added.
Spanbergers rise, Le Roux said, helped spur her own interest in public life, though from the opposite side of the ideological spectrum. Le Roux said Spanberger's career path into politics motivated her to get more politically involved.
The turning point, however, came during the COVID-19 pandemic, when sweeping lockdowns and mandates from Democratic officials upended daily life and small businesses across California. "What really activated me into politics was COVID," she said. "I had a farm, a family and a business, and all of those came under attack during COVID."
Le Roux reserved particular criticism for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose strict pandemic policies and broader progressive agenda have driven an exodus of families and employers from the state. Le Roux, pointing to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, said, "I felt like our governor was doing an incredibly poor job, both with everything related to school closures and also related to everything else happening in the state, homelessness and crime and other issues."
Her frustration with Californias leadership led her to run for governor as a Republican in the 2021 recall election and again in the regularly scheduled 2022 race. Le Roux ran for governor as a Republican in the 2021 recall election and again in the regularly scheduled 2022 gubernatorial election, coming in fourth in the primary.
She has since remained active in conservative reform efforts, focusing on fiscal accountability and government transparency. She currently serves as director of CAL DOGE, an initiative launched by California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, a former Fox News contributor and host, and state controller candidate Herb Morgan.
Le Roux said her congressional run flows directly from what she has uncovered through that watchdog work, which she argues exposes systemic dysfunction enabled by big-government politics. Le Roux said that her decision to run for Congress was a direct result of the work shes done with Cal DOGE to uncover the waste, fraud and abuse in government.
"Cal DOGE has been eye opening. Washington enables the same dysfunction and corruption that is hurting California," Le Roux said in a statement. "We cant fix what is broken in our government unless outsiders who havent been part of the problem step up to serve."
She believes modern technology can finally give taxpayers a clear view of how their money is being spent, if Congress has the will to demand it. And she told Fox News Digital, "I think we need to have full transparency of where the money is going, who it is going to. I think that we have a unique opportunity to do that now with technology that wasn't available in the past."
Le Roux describes herself as firmly on the right, shaped by years of watching progressive policies erode public safety, affordability and quality of life in California. Le Roux said her views largely have "been shaped by watching all of the failed policies in California and wanting to reverse them, which is one of the reasons why I'm not just a Republican, but a staunch conservative Republican, a fiscal conservative, and I'm passionate about really bringing government back toward local control."
Despite their political divide, Le Roux insists her relationship with Spanberger remains grounded in affection and faith, even as they clash over the direction of the country. As for her cousin, Le Roux said: "I love her ... I congratulate her when she wins races. And I pray for her. I believe that we should pray for all of our leaders, regardless of party, and I absolutely believe we should keep conversation lines open. But Abby and I don't agree right now on much politically."
The familys political split, she acknowledged, reflects a broader national divide between progressive governance and conservative calls for limited, accountable government. "We're in an interesting place as a family right now," she added.
As the race in Californias 47th District takes shape, Le Roux is betting that voters in a historically moderate, suburban district are ready to reject progressive experimentation in favor of basic competence, public order and fiscal restraint. Fox News Digital has reached out to Gov. Spanberger's office for any comment.
Login