Person-to-Person Contact Important Component Of Bera’s Run For Congress

With the general election a little over a year from now and the primary eight months away, Dr. Ami Bera is wasting no time in his quest to be the Democratic nominee to take on incumbent congressman Dan Lungren.

Since the Elk Grove-based physician entered the race earlier this year, Bera has conducted small private household meetings and community chats in public meeting places such as community meeting rooms and coffee houses.

Last Thursday, Bera conducted such a meeting from 8 to 10 am at a coffee house on Bruceville Road in Elk Grove. Although it was a workday and his contact opportunities limited, Bera said it is an ideal setting for him to make one-on-one contact with voters.

“It is a great chance to introduce myself to people,” Bera said.

Another reason Bera is committed to meeting in small groups is that most voters are not engaged until the last few weeks of an election. Bera feels “this is a chance to get people engaged now.”

When asked about the rancor displayed this summer at many town hall meetings over President Obama’s health care reform initiative, Bera said the fact remains that most people nationally still support broad health care reform. Bera said while he is confident the Senate and Congress will find a solution, the biggest hurdle is financing health care changes.

“We should move the discussion toward how we are going to fund it,” he said.

Although Bera is taking a decidedly grassroots approach to his campaign at this point, it belies the fact that he has outpaced his fellow Democrats as well as incumbent Lungren in fundraising. On the day of this particular chat-and-meet session, one of Bera’s Democrat opponents, Elk Grove Council member Gary Davis dropped out of the race.

While Davis’s statement focused on his decision to run for re-election to the Elk Grove City Council, Bera had outpaced Davis in fundraising by an almost ten to one margin and that is believed to have been a deciding factor in Davis’s decision to drop out of the primary.

When asked about Davis’s decision to drop out of the race, Bera commended Davis’s effort and his desire to serve for the greater good.

“I applaud Gary for wanting to serve,” Bera said. “I look forward to working with Gary as we move forward.”

Dr. Bera will be speaking this evening at a meeting of the Peace and Justice Forum. The meeting starts at 7:00pm and will be held in the community room of the Elk Grove Public Library located at 8900 Elk Grove Boulevard.