Volunteers Man Phone-Banks, Walk Precincts For Birman and Martin

April 13, 2014 | In lieu of spending a gorgeous Sunday afternoon enjoying the weather, several volunteers marked the opening of an Elk ...

April 13, 2014 |

In lieu of spending a gorgeous Sunday afternoon enjoying the weather, several volunteers marked the opening of an Elk Grove office for candidates Igor Birman and Manuel Martin pursuing votes for the June primary.

Republicans Birman and Martin, who are both conducting their first runs for office, are seeking the U.S. Congressional Seventh District and California Ninth Assembly District seats respectively. To pool their Elk Grove resources, both candidates recently opened a joint office on Elk Grove-Florin Road.
Manuel Martin (left) volunteer Micheala Romero and Igor Birman work the phones

Birman, who is on leave from his position as chief of staff for Congressman Tom McClintock, is in a four-way race for the congressional seat currently occupied by Dr. Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove). In addition to his Democratic rival, Birman is also facing fellow Republicans Elizabeth Emkin and former Congressman Doug Ose.

With Bera one the presumed top-two contenders in the Congressional race which under a new California law that has the top-two finishers in the primary advancing to the November election regardless of party affiliation, Birman is focusing most of his efforts on Ose, who he has characterized as not being a true conservative. To that end, Birman has been running ads on TV and radio focused on his conservative credentials, which includes endorsements from the Tea Party Patriots and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

“The campaign is coming along great,” Birman said. “I am very humbled by the support of the volunteers.”

Birman said he feels confident as the primary season moves forward noting that his filing petition of over 2,500 people was well above the 40 signatures required.

“These are voters of all backgrounds,” he said of the voters signing his filing petition. 

Martin, who is in a five-way race against one fellow Republican and three Democrats, has been actively campaigning in Elk Grove and district-wide for over a year and has spoken several times to local groups, including the Elk Grove Tea Party. Martin’s campaign, which includes heavy use of social media, is centered on his message of personal freedom and smaller government as he seeks to secure one of the two positions for the November general election. 

Along with several volunteers making phone calls on behalf of both candidates, there were a number of people who walked area precincts over the weekend. One volunteer who came in unannounced on Sunday afternoon to help was 16-year old Bowen Shi, a student at Elk Grove’s Franklin High School.

As Birman, Martin and their staffs gave Shi a quick course on walking precincts, both men applauded his civic engagement and noted how every volunteer can make a difference as the June primary quickly approaches.

“There are only 51 days to the primary,” Birman noted.   

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8 comments

Silent Dogood said...

Who are these guys? They swwop in and clutter our town with illegally posted campaign signs saying "true conservative" or "Patriot" but they have never been involved in our community. I guarentee when they lose we will never hear from them agin, or not until the next election. At least Congressman Bera was active in the our community before he ran and even though he lost the first time he stayed active.

Anonymous said...

Bera lives in Elk Grove so it was easy for him. Did Bera stay active in say Rancho Cordova or others parts of the district? Would he have stayed active had he not decided to run again? He too would have faded into the background.

As for posting signs, I see plenty of signs for "Elk Grove's own" Jim Cooper plastered all over.

Anonymous said...

Anon 10:31
This is not a Rep/Dem thing, this is a stop illegally putting up signs in our City thing. Cooper is even worse because he should know the rules as he is on the OCuncil since the start.

Anonymous said...

Hello Silent Dogood, this is Manuel Martin.

As i am sure you are aware the district is more than just Elk Grove. The district includes Lodi, Acampo, Galt, Elk Grove and Sacramento. Your accusation of me being Anonymous and not local, is a red herring argument as i can't live in all of those cities at the same time. Sounds like you want smaller districts so that there is more local representation. I would like that as well. If you want to contact me, feel free to call 916-572-9241.

Silent Dogood said...

Mr. Martin,
What I would like is someone from Elk Grove to represent us. For too long we have been split between a Sacramento and Bay Area Assemblyman and a Sacramento State Senator.

We want someone that has experience and local ties to represent our community. Oh and I am not referring to Mr. Cooper.

What we want is someone with our values, not a tea-party activist nor a union stooge.

Anonymous said...

Hi Silent Dogood,

So because an individual has not been active your particular community, you think that means they do not know about what hinders it or is important to it as well? Well that is ignorance on your part. I believe both of these men are concerned with their districts to the fullest extent. Also, they would not run to represent you if they had no intention of doing so. They aren't dems that only care about how much money they can get from the unions to get elected, then just forget about you. How often has an elected dem held town hall meetings to keep in contact with their constituents? Mr. Martin pledges to hold monthly town hall meetings. He is involved, but when a person has a real job in the private sector and has to work full time, then only has the opportunity to campaign after work, it makes it slightly more difficult to reach 465,000 constituents. But he has been working hard for over a year to try and reach all of you. Maybe if you attended local events you'd see him. He's at nearly all of them. Which other candidates that are in the race can say that?

I've had the pleasure of meeting him on many occasions. I do attend local events in the Elk Grove community. Maybe you shouldn't speak so blindly. Or maybe you should call him personally and see what he's really about. He gave you his phone number.

SteveB6509 said...

I tend to vote middle-of-the-road and definitely do not like some of the Tea Party positions. However, I do think it speaks well that Mr. Martin has come here to post comments fairly quickly. That does demonstrate engagement with the community - thank you.

To Mr. Martin - there is a way to add your name to your post and I believe it would improve your visibility if you do that (at the end of the comment aream select Name/URL).

Anonymous said...

Way too many Progressives in Elk Grove.They dpend on the uninformed voters to continue voting blindly. You wish a tea party patriot would represent the district, and not have a rollover for Obama politics. Lets get a panel discusion with candidates and you would see the Democrats suck as usual, but their followers will vote them in regardless of who they destroy the lives of.

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