In California, former Navy officer, lottery winner aims for Congress

HACIENDA HEIGHTS, Calif. — The afternoon sun is diminishing as Gil Cisneros ends several hours of knocking on doors for votes for his congressional bid.

David Morales answers, never stepping out on the porch. Cisneros only has a few seconds to explain his purpose and hook Morales, who says his family is politically divided.

“I’m trying to restore sanity to Washington,” Cisneros implores.

The energy and anti-Trump sentiment that Democrats are feeling this nonpresidential election have opened the door for political newcomer Cisneros to try to win a seat that could help put Democrats in control of the House.

He’s one of eight Latino candidates running in the more than 100 House races that Democrats have targeted in this year’s elections, including nine in California. The others are Mike Levin and Ammar Campa-Najjar, in California Congressional Districts 49 and 50; Debbie Murcasel-Powell in Florida 26; Xochitl Torres Small in New Mexico 2; Antonio Delgado in New York 19; Randy Bryce in Wisconsin 1; and Richard Ojeda in West Virginia 3.

Gil Cisneros in Santa Ana, California in January 2018.
Gil Cisneros in Santa Ana, California in January 2018.Angel De Leon / Gil Cisneros for Congress campaign via AP

As luck would have it, Morales’ parents pulled up as Morales was closing the door, giving Cisneros a chance to connect with a couple more voters.

Cisneros knows he’s caught a few breaks that have made life much easier for him, including winning the California lottery eight years ago. But in his campaign for the state’s competitive 39th Congressional District — made up of Orange County, part of East Los Angeles County and a piece of San Bernadino County — he says he’s trying to show voters that he’s more than a lucky lottery winner.

“The question I get more than anything else is: ‘Why are you doing this? You don’t need to do this,’” Cisneros told NBC News.

He said his answer is simple.

“It goes back to service. I didn’t have to run for Congress. We had a tremendous amount of luck and good fortune,” he said referring to him and his wife, Jackie, “and we used that in a way that we could give back and create opportunity for others through education, the same way I received that opportunity.”

A jackpot leads to philanthropy, criticism

In 2010, weeks after leaving his job as a shipping and manufacturing manager at Frito-Lay, Cisneros stopped for Hawaiian barbecue takeout.

That’s when he picked what turned out to be the winning numbers for a $266 million-dollar lottery prize. He opted for a lump sum payout of $165 million, minus taxes.

With some of that money, he and his wife formed a foundation and endowed scholarships for Hispanic students at their alma maters, George Washington University and the University of Southern California.

They helped fund a leadership institute at GW and partnered with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the predominantly Hispanic city of Pico Rivera to create Generation 1st Degree Pico Rivera. Its goal is to put a college degree in every household.

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There are about 17,000 households in Pico Rivera and about 12 percent of its residents ages 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher from 2012 to 2016, according to the Census.

The Cisneros’ foundation also has supported veterans programs, including helping to renovate the Bob Hope USO Center at the Los Angeles International Airport.

Cisneros is running against Republican Young Kim, a Korean-American former state legislator. In a television ad, Kim said Cisneros doesn’t understand California’s high cost of living, because “he hit a jackpot,” according to a transcript.