Cristian Morales

Morales was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and, according to his Candidate Connection survey, his family immigrated to the United States during the 1970s.[1] He graduated from West Lafayette High School in Indiana, according to Ballotpedia, and earned a bachelor's degree in management from Purdue University in 2002, a graduate degree from Indiana University in 2007, and a graduate degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University in 2008.[1]

Morales describes a career of more than 20 years in manufacturing, in the automotive, aerospace and defense sectors, leading multicultural teams; Ballotpedia lists his profession as business executive and his career as a director of operations.[1] He ran as a Republican for California governor in 2022, describing it as his first venture into politics; he received 25,086 votes in the June top-two primary and did not advance to the general election.[1] He advanced from the June 2, 2026 primary to the November general election for the 43rd District, which his survey says includes Compton, Watts, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Gardena, Lawndale and Torrance.[1] He received 17.2% of the vote to Maxine Waters's 82.8%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[2]