When Jane Harman resigned from Congress earlier this year, voters were quickly presented with a daunting choice, as candidates from all over the political spectrum entered the race to replace her.
But for many of us, the choice was clear - we needed someone with conviction, who was principled and not beholden to special interests. We needed Debra Bowen.
And over the last couple of months, I've seen something remarkable, something I haven't seen since the Obama campaign. Hundreds of volunteers taking time out of their busy lives to phone bank and canvass week after week for Debra. These aren't paid contractors or City Hall insiders making a political calculus, these are our friends and neighbors taking an ownership stake in Debra's campaign and an ownership stake in their community's future.
In a week when you needed a Purell bodysuit just to open your mailbox, this kind of real, authentic grassroots support is an inspiration.
So instead of telling you yet again why I support Debra Bowen, I thought I'd turn the floor over to you.
Meet your friends and neighbors who will be supporting Debra on Tuesday.
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Debra Bowen has the intelligence, the passion and the integrity to not only be a strong advocate for our district in Washington, but to be a national leader for the Democratic Party. I know she will work tirelessly to defend the environment and bring green jobs to our district, because she always has. We are home to several of the largest US Aerospace/Defense contractors (Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon). Debra knows that resolving our problems will require sound, balance approaches based in facts and data so that everyone in our community participates in an economic recovery. That's why, on May 17th, I'll be voting for Debra Bowen for Congress.
- Tony Salvaggio (aeorospace engineer) Manhattan Beach, CA
I have known Debra personally since the mid 1980s. She has proven herself to be forthright, honest and a damned hard worker for us, her constituents, when she represented us as Assembly member and then in the State Senate. She will do the same in the US Congress. There are many stories that could be told to support my statement. I want to keep this story short. Sufficient to say that I gave more money than I could afford to her campaign and I would follow her lead to the moon.
- Challis McPherson (retired), Venice, CA
Debra Bowen was the first Democrat I ever voted for after switching parties in 1992. She has always been a strong advocate for LGBT rights, before it was the popular thing, and as a gay man that is very important to me. But the main reason I support her is because she is one of the very few politicians that truly have the political courage to take a position on an issue and have the conviction to vote accordingly. I know she will not be influenced by polls and special interests that throw money around and expect favors! The best example of this courage is how she handled the voting machine crisis in CA when she first became SOS. Even though the state had already spent $45 million on voting machines, she had the courage to stand up and say these Diebold voting machines are vunerable to fraud and decertfied them. For this she has earned my respect and vote!
- Varo Asorian (small business owner), Torrance, CA
As Secretary of State she has proved herself to be a sensible, no nonsense progressive who had clear and achievable goals, stuck to them and got them done. I have been continually impressed with Debra's commitment to improve government transparency and access. After 14 years in the California legislature, she has the legislative experience and knowledge to navigate congressional politics successfully. She will work on behalf of our district with thoughtfulness and compassion, but also with a keen understanding of how to move legislation forward to achieve success.
- Kim Drobny (community organizer), Mar Vista, CA
As an educator, I have been a teacher, principal, district administrator, and director of a statewide early literacy project. I am also a parent of a student who attended public schools from K-16. Debra Bowen has led efforts to create smaller class size in K-12 schools and also supported our community college and state university systems. I am so grateful that Debra Bowen understands the importance of public education for our future, supports parent involvement, and most importantly, understands the importance for teachers and principals to be trained to provide the best education.
- Dianne Wallace (educator), Manhattan Beach, CA
From her very first campaign, that being for the State Assembly in 1992, Debra had environmental credentials before anyone else was even bothering. Besides living an earth-friendly lifestyle herself, she had already been offering her legal services pro-bono to "Heal the Bay." For the 19-years she has held elected office, I have always known that I could trust her to sponsor and support cutting-edge environmental legislation and to be there for her constituents when a solar project or other earth-friendly measure called for her support.
- Dency Nelson (Sierra Club member), Hermosa Beach, CA
As a transportation advocate, it's very clear to me that Debra Bowen is the person for the job. You need someone who recognizes that war spending is an problem, and represents tremendous diversion of our nation's resources away from constructive uses that we're in dire need of - like building real sustainable and function transportation. You need someone with an eye for policy details, who can delve into the nitty gritty and come back with victory. And you need someone who can work against their short term political interests to gain long term victories that better all of us. Bowen is all of those, and outrageously experienced to boot.
- Alex Thompson (president, Bikeside LA) Del Rey, CA
I am voting for Debra Bowen for Congress because she is very smart, a proven thinker and problem solver, self proclaimed "policy wonk and techie" whom I trust most to serve our district as a US Representative during very difficult times. I have worked with Bowen and our neighbors to prevent a massive Century City sized development in Venice and to keep the local emergency hospital open. As Secretary of State, she prevented possible wide-spead voter fraud in CA by banning insecure voting machines. I was honored to be present when she was presented with the "Profiles in Courage" Award at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston by Senator Ted and Caroline Kennedy and I will be even proudere to have her represent me in Congress.
- Linda Lucks (neighborhood council president), Venice, CA
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