April 10, 2026 • 9 mins
Paul Corvino sits down with Esther Kim Varet, Working mom running to flip California's 40th Congressional District.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Meet the Candidates with Division President of iHeartMedia,
Paul Corvino.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Today I'm joined by Esther Kim Verrett. She's a Democrat
running for Congress in the fortieth district.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Welcome, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hey, before we get going in the interview and we
learn about you, because that's what this is about today,
learning more about you, and that's some of your policies.
First of all, you went to Yale for undergrad I did,
and then you went to graduate school at Columbia I.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Did, okay, But in between my first job out of
college was at a at Sushi Samba as a hostess,
which was literally the hardest job I've ever had in
my life.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Waiting tables, hostesses. Those are tough jobs, they really are. Okay,
So how did you go from Ivy League postgraduate and
you're working in a restaurant, and how did you wind
up owning a gallery?
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
So I was an art history major, daughter of you know,
North Korean refugees, North Korean, not South Korean. So this
is kind of an important part of my story. And
you know, I grew up with stories of my grandmother
fleeing North Korean foot eating bark off of trees. Tried
to escape three times with my with my dad, so
(01:12):
that's important. They came here, started all over as janitors
in this country in Texas.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
My dad built a business from that.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
I was a first in my high school to go
to an Ivy League school ever from this school in Addison, Texas,
and went to Yale and didn't become a lawyer or
pre med I became an art historian, and as a
procrastination method, I opened a gallery as.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
A procrastination met that you opened the gay, Yes, and
where did you open this gallery?
Speaker 1 (01:42):
I opened it on Abbot Kenney in Venice, and then
I moved that and we built a beautiful building on
Highland Avenue in Hollywood and that became the headquarters. And
that was about fifteen years ago, and I started representing voice.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
What is the name of that gallery?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Various small fires.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Okay, So now you've got these galleries. They're successful, and
you're growing, and you've got a thriving business in a
profession that you obviously love, as you have to love
art in order to be able to do this. Yes,
why on earth would you want to get into politics?
Speaker 1 (02:25):
So I know you interview a lot of politicians on here.
Just to preface, I as a politician, would not have
existed if Trump hadn't have won the last election. So
it was really after that election I got this really
gnarly sour feeling in my stomach after Trump won all
(02:49):
three ranches, and I told myself that I can't feel
like this for the next four years. So I turned
to my husband, who was also very passionate about Democrats
at least having one branch of government, and I was like, listen,
we don't have to we don't have to despair for
four years. We can just do something. We just have
to win back the house. We're only three seats away.
(03:10):
So I basically looked for the nearest flippable seat to
where I was, which at that time was in la
in Hancock Park, and it was it was really this
last seat in Orange County, and I decided to just
pick my kids up, take them out of the UCLA
Lab school, take the and we went and I told them,
you know, they're young, they're eight and twelve, and I
(03:30):
told them this is our nineteen thirty five moment as
a family. We're going to take a stand and go
flip the seat. So that's why I'm here.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
So you're going primarily as having a visceral reaction to
Trump being president, wanting to take back Congress, and that's
the reason that you're going and why you instead of
other Democrats that are also vying for that same position.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
I'm going to be cross for a second, because we're
living in the era of cross politics now. The reason
why Republican and cumbents are even in a purple district
or even a Democratic majority district, are able to stay
in power is that they get so much dirty money
dumped into their campaigns to stay there. Now, Orange County
(04:14):
is part of the LA media market, so it's one
of the most expensive markets to message in the country.
When I looked at this district, originally the CAA forty district,
Trump won only by two points, okay, but this woman
that I'm running against, Young Kim, won by more than
ten points. And I said this, this math doesn't math
(04:38):
what happened here. And it's because she raised eight million
dollars and the local fireman who ran raised eight hundred
thousand dollars. Half of it was his money, so nobody
gave to him to do this, and she was able
to drown him out and say, look, I'm a moderate.
(04:59):
I'm fine, can vote for me. I'm a Republican, but
I'm not really Republican. She was able to do that dance, as.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
They call it.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
If you look at our voting record, it tells a
different story. She goes to DC votes one hundred percent
mega right, she is, gets an F minus with the
League of Conservation Voters, like she is very anti climate.
She gets an A with NRA. I mean, as far
as Asian Americans go in grades, like, the only A
(05:28):
she has on that report card is with NRA. Okay,
And so I said, okay, clearly the Democrats have been
struggling a little bit with getting a candidate that can
grow a real grassroots movement, because I mean, this is
a sad part of democratic politics is that it has
to be grassroots. It's literally the people versus corporate interests
(05:52):
in this. And I said, okay, well, we have to
build be able to build a grass movement, grassroots movement,
and also we have to be able to basically fundraise
enough to go toe to toe. And I am now
the third highest raiser in the country for Democratic challengers graduations.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
I figured out how to do it. I've had over
sixty thousand donations come in for this one district. And again,
I'm a I'm a first time candidate. I googled how
to run for Congress a year and a half ago,
and I say to everybody, if I was able to
figure out how to do it as a businesswoman, you know,
(06:35):
just in a different industry, I had no name id
in this field, I had no political contacts. And if
I believed in my right as a citizen enough to
be able to do this and come this far, I
really believe so many of us out there can do
it too well.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
One of the complaints about Democratic candidates is that they're
running as jo I'm not Trump, as opposed to coming
up with solutions, Yeah, and ideas. What are some of
the solutions and ideas that you'll be bringing.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
So I.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Love that you pointed that out, because part of my
complaint about political candidates are that they love running on problems.
It's really easy to run on problems, really hard to
run on solutions. And I spent about four months last
year researching the top seven issues in my district specifically,
(07:36):
and making detailed policy proposals on how to address issues
ranging from wage inequality to the cost of housing availability,
ranging to reproductive rights freedoms, curbing gun violence, environment, all
of that stuff, And it was really important for me
(07:59):
to also as a candidate understand what kind of solutions
are out there that we can pursue that have already
been tried and they're bipartisan. I'm not interested in just
talking about democratic policies, because I do believe historically there
have been good policies on both sides.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
What would you say is the biggest issue facing the
first thing you have to tackle once in Congress.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Protecting our Constitution.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
It sounds so simple and basic, but protecting our Constitution
right now has become a partisan issue.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
And what would the solution be as a member of Congress.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Well, I think the solution is having very committed Well,
we have to win back the House first of all.
I mean that will be I do believe that the
Democrats are very concerned about protecting the Constitution. The Republicans
currently there are not. When you go into Congress, you
swear an oath and the first line of that oath
(09:00):
is to protect the Constitution. Every single congress person in there,
more than half of the people in there right now
have forgotten that oath, and so we just have to
remind them. I think it's just winning back the majority.
I think we'll really change a lot. I'm a millennial mom,
I'm a true business owner. I'm an outsider coming in,
(09:20):
not a career politician.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
I am fighting corruption. I am pro environment, pro.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Choice, pro LGBTQ plus communities. I'm for immigration reform, all
of those things. I think I am different from them
in every single way possible.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Okay, hey, we've been talking with Esther Kim Varrett, a
Democrat running for Congress in the fortieth district in Orange.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
County, Orange County and Riverside now Orange.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
County and Riverside County. Thank you so much for coming
on and enjoyed our conversation.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
This is Paul Corvino, Division president of iHeartMedia and Los
Angeles saying thank you for listening to another episode of
Meet the Candidates.
This is Meet the Candidates with Division President of iHeartMedia,
Paul Corvino.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Today I'm joined by Esther Kim Verrett. She's a Democrat
running for Congress in the fortieth district.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Welcome, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hey, before we get going in the interview and we
learn about you, because that's what this is about today,
learning more about you, and that's some of your policies.
First of all, you went to Yale for undergrad I did,
and then you went to graduate school at Columbia I.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Did, okay, But in between my first job out of
college was at a at Sushi Samba as a hostess,
which was literally the hardest job I've ever had in
my life.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Waiting tables, hostesses. Those are tough jobs, they really are. Okay,
So how did you go from Ivy League postgraduate and
you're working in a restaurant, and how did you wind
up owning a gallery?
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (00:52):
So I was an art history major, daughter of you know,
North Korean refugees, North Korean, not South Korean. So this
is kind of an important part of my story. And
you know, I grew up with stories of my grandmother
fleeing North Korean foot eating bark off of trees. Tried
to escape three times with my with my dad, so
(01:12):
that's important. They came here, started all over as janitors
in this country in Texas.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
My dad built a business from that.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
I was a first in my high school to go
to an Ivy League school ever from this school in Addison, Texas,
and went to Yale and didn't become a lawyer or
pre med I became an art historian, and as a
procrastination method, I opened a gallery as.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
A procrastination met that you opened the gay, Yes, and
where did you open this gallery?
Speaker 1 (01:42):
I opened it on Abbot Kenney in Venice, and then
I moved that and we built a beautiful building on
Highland Avenue in Hollywood and that became the headquarters. And
that was about fifteen years ago, and I started representing voice.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
What is the name of that gallery?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Various small fires.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Okay, So now you've got these galleries. They're successful, and
you're growing, and you've got a thriving business in a
profession that you obviously love, as you have to love
art in order to be able to do this. Yes,
why on earth would you want to get into politics?
Speaker 1 (02:25):
So I know you interview a lot of politicians on here.
Just to preface, I as a politician, would not have
existed if Trump hadn't have won the last election. So
it was really after that election I got this really
gnarly sour feeling in my stomach after Trump won all
(02:49):
three ranches, and I told myself that I can't feel
like this for the next four years. So I turned
to my husband, who was also very passionate about Democrats
at least having one branch of government, and I was like, listen,
we don't have to we don't have to despair for
four years. We can just do something. We just have
to win back the house. We're only three seats away.
(03:10):
So I basically looked for the nearest flippable seat to
where I was, which at that time was in la
in Hancock Park, and it was it was really this
last seat in Orange County, and I decided to just
pick my kids up, take them out of the UCLA
Lab school, take the and we went and I told them,
you know, they're young, they're eight and twelve, and I
(03:30):
told them this is our nineteen thirty five moment as
a family. We're going to take a stand and go
flip the seat. So that's why I'm here.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
So you're going primarily as having a visceral reaction to
Trump being president, wanting to take back Congress, and that's
the reason that you're going and why you instead of
other Democrats that are also vying for that same position.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
I'm going to be cross for a second, because we're
living in the era of cross politics now. The reason
why Republican and cumbents are even in a purple district
or even a Democratic majority district, are able to stay
in power is that they get so much dirty money
dumped into their campaigns to stay there. Now, Orange County
(04:14):
is part of the LA media market, so it's one
of the most expensive markets to message in the country.
When I looked at this district, originally the CAA forty district,
Trump won only by two points, okay, but this woman
that I'm running against, Young Kim, won by more than
ten points. And I said this, this math doesn't math
(04:38):
what happened here. And it's because she raised eight million
dollars and the local fireman who ran raised eight hundred
thousand dollars. Half of it was his money, so nobody
gave to him to do this, and she was able
to drown him out and say, look, I'm a moderate.
(04:59):
I'm fine, can vote for me. I'm a Republican, but
I'm not really Republican. She was able to do that dance, as.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
They call it.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
If you look at our voting record, it tells a
different story. She goes to DC votes one hundred percent
mega right, she is, gets an F minus with the
League of Conservation Voters, like she is very anti climate.
She gets an A with NRA. I mean, as far
as Asian Americans go in grades, like, the only A
(05:28):
she has on that report card is with NRA. Okay,
And so I said, okay, clearly the Democrats have been
struggling a little bit with getting a candidate that can
grow a real grassroots movement, because I mean, this is
a sad part of democratic politics is that it has
to be grassroots. It's literally the people versus corporate interests
(05:52):
in this. And I said, okay, well, we have to
build be able to build a grass movement, grassroots movement,
and also we have to be able to basically fundraise
enough to go toe to toe. And I am now
the third highest raiser in the country for Democratic challengers graduations.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
I figured out how to do it. I've had over
sixty thousand donations come in for this one district. And again,
I'm a I'm a first time candidate. I googled how
to run for Congress a year and a half ago,
and I say to everybody, if I was able to
figure out how to do it as a businesswoman, you know,
(06:35):
just in a different industry, I had no name id
in this field, I had no political contacts. And if
I believed in my right as a citizen enough to
be able to do this and come this far, I
really believe so many of us out there can do
it too well.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
One of the complaints about Democratic candidates is that they're
running as jo I'm not Trump, as opposed to coming
up with solutions, Yeah, and ideas. What are some of
the solutions and ideas that you'll be bringing.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
So I.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Love that you pointed that out, because part of my
complaint about political candidates are that they love running on problems.
It's really easy to run on problems, really hard to
run on solutions. And I spent about four months last
year researching the top seven issues in my district specifically,
(07:36):
and making detailed policy proposals on how to address issues
ranging from wage inequality to the cost of housing availability,
ranging to reproductive rights freedoms, curbing gun violence, environment, all
of that stuff, And it was really important for me
(07:59):
to also as a candidate understand what kind of solutions
are out there that we can pursue that have already
been tried and they're bipartisan. I'm not interested in just
talking about democratic policies, because I do believe historically there
have been good policies on both sides.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
What would you say is the biggest issue facing the
first thing you have to tackle once in Congress.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Protecting our Constitution.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
It sounds so simple and basic, but protecting our Constitution
right now has become a partisan issue.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
And what would the solution be as a member of Congress.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Well, I think the solution is having very committed Well,
we have to win back the House first of all.
I mean that will be I do believe that the
Democrats are very concerned about protecting the Constitution. The Republicans
currently there are not. When you go into Congress, you
swear an oath and the first line of that oath
(09:00):
is to protect the Constitution. Every single congress person in there,
more than half of the people in there right now
have forgotten that oath, and so we just have to
remind them. I think it's just winning back the majority.
I think we'll really change a lot. I'm a millennial mom,
I'm a true business owner. I'm an outsider coming in,
(09:20):
not a career politician.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
I am fighting corruption. I am pro environment, pro.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Choice, pro LGBTQ plus communities. I'm for immigration reform, all
of those things. I think I am different from them
in every single way possible.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Okay, hey, we've been talking with Esther Kim Varrett, a
Democrat running for Congress in the fortieth district in Orange.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
County, Orange County and Riverside now Orange.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
County and Riverside County. Thank you so much for coming
on and enjoyed our conversation.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
This is Paul Corvino, Division president of iHeartMedia and Los
Angeles saying thank you for listening to another episode of
Meet the Candidates.
Popular Podcasts
Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb
Joy is essential. And it's also elusive. You can't order it, borrow it, or simply hope it into life. But now, there's a new and exciting way to start your journey toward a more joyful existence: The Joy 101 Podcast with Hoda! Best known for her Emmy-winning work and co-anchoring Today, Hoda Kotb infuses her authenticity, curiosity, and warmth into conversations with the world’s most fascinating people. Entertainment legends, sport icons, wellness experts, and everyday folks will share how they find, allow, and experience joy. Hoda will offer her own tips and takes on seeking a more balanced, harmonious life. If you're craving inspiration, support, and useful tools to maximize your joy, tune in to these candid, uplifting, and moving on-air chats. Joy after a breakup, joy as an empty-nester, joy after loss, joy as a caretaker — Hoda's new podcast will speak to you. Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb, an iHeartPodcast.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com