Cardona is a Puerto Rican immigrant who works a day job at J.C. Swain Enterprise, a telemarketing firm, while pursuing a career in politics. He’s raising a daughter with his husband, John Swain, and is a fierce political advocate for LGBTQ and minority rights. Over the past two years he’s hosted several Democratic presidential candidates at his home, and last year he was the subject of an article in The Washington Post, which discussed his “startling political power” against all odds. This is all despite the fact that Cardona has never actually held elected office -- he was defeated in a run for New Hampshire House of Representatives, Merrimack 2 in 2010.