Influencer Trisha Paytas says she's considering 2026 congressional bid to stop ‘horrible stuff’ in California
Influencer Trisha Paytas released multiple videos over the past week noting that she is considering a run for the U.S. Congress in California.
Paytas, known for flamboyant and zany content, said in a video filmed in her car, "I don’t mean it as a joke, and I know it sounds so crazy, like to me too, but I think it’s so doable," she said. "I really would love to run for House of Representatives. Here in California, we have 52, and I would really love to run."
She went on to note, "They have an election this year, Nov. 3, 2026, and I do have some bills I would like to present to Congress. So I’m working on that. I really want to be able to, like, truly make a difference, because I see so much horrible stuff happening in the world and right here in California as well, and I’m like, ‘Oh, there’s nothing I can do.’ No — there’s something I can do. I can run. I can run for office. And I wholeheartedly really want to give my all for that."
People magazine reported that she revealed her political slogan, "California could be good," commenting, "Just need to figure out a better system for everyone and everything."
In the podcast episode she had filmed that day, she said one of her policies would be requiring people to be 25 years old before they can do adult film/sex work like OnlyFans. She also knocked the "old men and old women" who currently serve in politics, saying they prioritize issues such as, "like, starting wars and stuff."
In a follow-up podcast on Thursday, she noted that she has seen some outrage about the prospect of her running for Congress, but will consider the run anyway.
"Y’all, I’m scared, the Congress thing went to the wrong side of the internet. I need to just wait a minute," she said. "[I] loved it and then got scared."
Even so, she said that she is still in the exploratory phase of seeking out information to test the waters before launching an official bid. Failing that, she noted that she might also consider other avenues of political change.
"Still wanna make a difference, trying to figure out a way to do it without people just coming for me," she said.
"Let’s put a pin for now. We don't have much time. I'll decide in the next few weeks because we have until like Feb. 9, I guess, to just start getting those votes, or at least signatures," she said.
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According to People magazine, Paytas has a politically mercurial past. "In 2012, she threw her support behind the Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, posting a since-deleted video to her YouTube channel where she called him ‘super hot.’ She shared her support for Donald Trump in 2016 — but later released a since-deleted video in 2019 titled ‘I do NOT support Trump’ in which she admitted she had ‘never voted’ and knew 'literally nothing' about politics."