The League of Women Voters of Sacramento County (LWV) held a candidates forum at Rio Americano HS on January 28th for candidates seeking the Congressional district 7 seat currently held by Dr. Ami Bera. It was a little odd in that only 4 of the 5 candidates appeared, with the missing candidate being the incumbent. The LWV said they had tried long and hard to arrange a forum Congressman Bera would be able to attend, but ultimately, he had declined to show up. The four candidates who DID show up were two Republicans (John Ivy and Buzz Patterson), a Democrat (Jeff Burdick) and a Green (Chris Richardson). Except for Ivy, their responses to the questions were pretty much in alignment with what one would expect based on their party affiliations. Confusingly, Ivy sounded more lefty than Burdick and Richardson, claiming his stances reflected what his party used to stand for - pro labor and middle class like Eisenhower, pro inclusion like Lincoln, anti corporate and pro environment like Teddy Roosevelt. The Elk Grove Citizen has published a summary of the forum.

Ami Bera wasn’t the only one absent, though. The mainstream media wasn’t there at all - the area’s TV stations, radio stations and print media (other than the Elk Grove Citizen) did not announce or cover the forum. The attendance was low, possibly because the media did not help spread the word about the event. The primary election is on May 3rd. Three of the candidates - Bera, Burdick, and Ivy - have supplied ballot statements. Another way to get information on the candidates is from their web sites:

• Ami Bera: https://beraforcongress.com/
• Jeff Burdick: https://www.burdickforcongress.com/
• John Ivy: https://www.jonivy.com/
• Buzz Patterson: https://buzzforcongress.com/
• Charles Richardson: https://rcr4congress.us/