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Peter Hernandez, a California small business owner, is running for office as a supervisor in San Benito County. If he wins his election bid, he will return to the post he held during Covid lockdowns. In 2020, his county’s interim public health officer resigned after Hernandez drilled him over prolonged lockdown mandates the health official was attempting to extend. The county’s shelter-in-place order had caused massive unemployment, mental health issues and suicides. The following year, Hernandez pushed back against mandates again, introducing a resolution that would have prohibited businesses from requiring employees and patrons to prove Covid vaccination. The measure also recommended removing signs requiring masks. His resolution failed, but he says he was just trying to act in the best interests of his constituency.

Hernandez meets with The New American senior editor Rebecca Terrell to discuss his latest campaign and why it is important to remain vigilant in a post-Covid world.