Primary Election Date: 04/24/2012
General Election Date: 11/06/2012

Who Am I?

I am a 50 year-old married father of two teenage sons. I am a veteran trial lawyer with an emphasis on civil jury trials. I am a political newcomer, the entire extent of my political experience having been when I won for Delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1992 when I was a Bill Clinton delegate. I am a progressive Democrat. I believe in standing up for the weakest, most vulnerable and least fortunate people in society.

Why Am I Running?

I have always had an interest in public service but I have spent my entire adult life in the private sector. I’ve reached the point in my life where either I make a run for public office now or it will be never. I have been standing up for people who cannot stand up for themselves for the last 24 years. I’ve been doing it in court, but now I’m ready to take it to the next level, in Congress. A lot of my friends think I’m quite daft to want to run for Congress, but I really would consider it a huge honor to serve there.

Hold Me Accountable!

I hope to have an extremely solid record of voting for bills that benefit the middle class and working families. I also hope to put together a team of support staff who will do a phenomenal job of being responsive to the constituents at home, helping people figure out how to secure their federal benefits, and responding to all sorts of requests for help that come from the aged and infirm people in my district.

My DFA values:

I feel strongly that one of the greatest threats to civil society in the United States is the widening gap between rich and poor. The problem is that when 1 percent of the population aggregate 42 percent of the wealth, which leaves the least among us in a condition of hopelessness, despair and grinding poverty. It creates a polarization that is the antithesis of community, and it naturally leads to unrest, lawlessness and domestic insecurity. The most dangerous people are those whose hope has been taken away, who have no stake in the social contract, and who have nothing to lose. Part and parcel of having a stake in society is having a feeling of citizenship, of entitlement to civil liberties, and that has been part of the genius of America. Whittle away at peoples’ civil rights, and you take away the value of being American.

Both my campaign, and, if I’m fortunate enough to succeed in it, my career as a Congressman, will be about preserving the promise of America for ordinary Americans, and the pride that I want everyone to feel about being citizens of this great nation.

My Campaign is People-Powered!

One way we are reaching out to people is with the help of Young Democrats, both county YD organizations and the YD outfits in the local colleges and universities around the district. It’s a natural fit for our campaign, which is the progressive wing of this election, and it’s a valuable part of the campaign, because of the energy and enthusiasm that these YDs bring into our camp.

Another kind of grassroots aspect to the campaign is that a good deal of the support that I’m getting is coming from seniors. For almost the last 7 years, I’ve served as a volunteer on-air legal analyst, five nights a week on the early evening news on the local network affiliate television station. People send in short legal questions – on any topic – and I would answer two of them per night, in the 3-minute segment on the news. The segment, called “The Law & You,” was quite popular with, and very much appreciated by, seniors in the area. As a result, we’ve been fortunate to have quite a few offers of volunteer work on the campaign by Law & You fans!