Your View/primary Elections – and Beyond, Ed. Cartoon, Letters to the Editor, Throwback Thursday,

Primary Day is rapidly approaching (June 7) and ballots are scheduled to be mailed out on May 9. As usual, this will be a jungle primary, with the top two vote getters, regardless of party, on the ballot in November. Those of us here in Mono and Inyo counties have a unique opportunity that we need to think about when we mark our ballots.

Many of us worked hard on the redistricting efforts, providing written and oral comments to the California Citizens Redis- tricting Commission, which resulted in the creation of new Congressional district, CA 03. No longer will we, in Inyo and Mono Counties, be tied to San Bernardino and a member of Congress who knows little about us, and cares even less because we are such a small part of his population base. Instead, the Commission listened to our input and created a new District that is truly an Eastern Sierra district. Our argument, and it was persuasive, was that those of us on the Eastern side of the Sierra crest have a distinct community of interest tied to our economy based on tourism and the outdoors, and also our issues, including problems with rural health care, reliable broad band service, access to transportation especially in the winter, and a host of other things you all know. Now we have a chance to elect a member of Congress from our district who knows and understands who we are and what we need in our elected representatives.

The candidate running for Congress on the Democratic ticket is Kermit Jones. Dr. Jones – he is a practicing physician – is based in Roseville and has demonstrated an interest in learning more about us. After all, if he is going to represent us, he needs to know us. In fact, he will be coming to Bishop and Mammoth on Saturday, May 21, specifically to meet with people and learn more about who we are and what we need from our elected member of Congress. We take this as a very good sign that he truly is concerned about the issues facing those of us in Inyo and Mono Counties, and that he will listen to us. He was one of the first candidates to issue a statement about the importance that health decisions are made by a woman and her doctor following the leak of the Supreme Court decision, and as a physician, believes this very strongly. He grew up on a farm in Michigan and understands the hardships that come with farming as well as what it means to live in a rural area. He joined the military and served two tours in Iraq as a flight surgeon before making his home in Roseville, which is the base for his Congressional campaign.

However, that is not the only change. We have a new state Senate district as well. Where we had been in the district of

Andreas Borgeas, the lines of our Senate district (now Senate district 04) have changed, and Borgeas will not be running. So this, too, is an open seat and a chance to get our voices heard. The Democratic candidate is Tim Robertson, and he, too, plans to visit our area on May 28 to learn more about us. Tim is a labor organizer who understands the challenges facing working people, and he entered politics because he truly believes he can help.

Make no mistake: there are Republicans running for these positions as well. But here is where you can ask yourself who best represents me and our community, and truly wants to listen to us and find ways to work with us. The fact that two of our major candidates are coming to our area prior to the Primary says a lot about their commitments and desire to learn more about us so they can better represent us. And the Chair of the California State Party, Rusty Hicks, will also be coming on May 28, in another indicator of the attention we in Inyo and Mono county have gotten.

We are small, but we are powerful. Our votes CAN make a difference in the outcome of the election. And if you have something to say to any of these people, whether candidates or the head of the State Democratic Party, they are here to listen to respectful and reasoned ideas and to engage in dialogue. No need for shouting matches, which will not change anyone’s mind. But a thoughtful argument, and the willingness to listen, might. So, you have many chances to engage with the democratic process. Don’t grouse about how awful politics is – do something!