Jewish community member Rebeca Amezcua-Hogan is running for the Kansas City, Missouri, 4th In-District City Council seat.
Since launching her campaign, she has received early endorsements from more than 16 labor unions, and if elected, would become the first Latina and youngest woman ever elected to the City Council.
A member of New Reform Temple, Amezcua-Hogan cited a quote from Mishnaic sage Rabbi Tarfon that she said “drives her to action” and inspires her: “You are not obligated to complete the work… but neither are you free to desist from it.”
“I know that ‘tikkun olam’ is somewhat ever present in American Jewish circles these days, but I think that the continued emphasis on the role we have in bettering the world is a core principle for many American Jews,” she said. “The Mishnah specifically talks about mipnei tikkun ha-olam, ‘for the sake of the betterment of society,’ and a tradition of engaging in policymaking that is about our collective responsibility to do the work to bring about a more just world, in social and economic terms.”
Amezcua-Hogan said that rabbis understood that laws “had to be adjusted to accommodate for public welfare,” and that her approach to policy is similarly guided.
“We have a moral responsibility to respond to the needs of the people,” she said. “We have a responsibility to imagine new, more just systems and to make those a reality. That extends from the need to address our housing crisis to providing language access resources to just reimagining better basic city services.”
The youngest child of immigrants from Mexico, Amezcua-Hogan graduated from Park University in 2018 and became involved in community organizing. She was named the 2024 Jackson County Young Democrat of the Year.
Amezcua-Hogan currently lives with her husband, Tristin, in the Westside. More information about her campaign is available at rebeca4kc.com.