Alumni of the Obama administration are heeding their former boss’ call to get in the game themselves and run for office in response the election of President Donald Trump and to continue what the former president started.

Sam Jammal, an Obama appointee in the Commerce Department who is running in California’s 39th District against Republican Rep. Ed Royce, said he was heeding those words.

“The president’s message was to get into the arena,” Jammal said.

For Jammal, the son of a Jordanian father and a Colombian mother, President Barack Obama’s personal story hit home.

“He’s always been an inspiring figure for me as someone with a biracial background,” he said. “I think Obama represents a brand of the Democratic Party about hope.”