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With just over a month to go for the general election, the three top-tier Democratic Indian American candidates -- Manan Trivedi, Ami Bera and Raj Goyle -- have upped the ante against their Republican opponents with a chutzpah unprecedented in the annals of Indian-American Congressional campaigns.
All three candidates, flush with campaign war chests in excess of $1 million and strongly backed by the Democratic establishment -- they are all part of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's select Red to Blue Programme -- took the fight to their opponents, challenging them for debates, exposing their double-dipping salaries and pillorying them in television ads.
Trivedi, a primary care physician, former lieutenant commander in the United States Navy and an Iraq war veteran, seeking to unseat incumbent Jim Gerlach in Pennsylvania's Sixth District, challenged Gerlach for a series of debates open to the public and the press, saying, "With an eight-year-long record of votes in Washington, Congressman Gerlach certainly has a lot to explain."
Trivedi said, "With so many important issues facing our nation, the people of the district are likely to have many questions about what the candidates are going to do to help the community."
He challenged Gerlach "to join me, in front of the press and public, to explain each of our plans to represent the Sixth District, and how we plan to get them done in Congress. It's clear that there is plenty that he and I disagree on, and the choice in this election couldn't be clearer. It's time we present ourselves side-by-side in an honest and open debate so that the people of this district can see that for themselves."
Trivedi said in past campaigns, in order to keep his seat in Washington, Gerlach has agreed to very few debates, many of which have barred the media from being in the room. "In such an oddly-shaped, spread-out district," Trivedi said, "it would be nearly impossible for the majority of residents in the Sixth District to learn about what happened in a debate if there was not press to write about it. Congressman Gerlach, will you come out in front of the public and the press to explain why you have been looking out for Washington's special interests instead of the people you are supposed to be representing?"
Dr Ami Bera, also a physician, challenging incumbent Dan Lungren in California's Third District, rolled out his first television ad, slamming what he called Lungren's 'tarnished ethical record and history of self-serving behaviour' and alleging that Lungren has been 'double-dipping into taxpayer money to fund his salary and lavish pension.'
Bera's ad said that Lungren, a former California attorney general, had spiked his state pension just before leaving office. 'Double-dipping nearly $230,000 a year with taxpayer funds, And if that wasn't enough In Congress, Lungren supported raising his pay six times,' the ad said.
Lungren's campaign denied the allegations of pension spiking and said that state officials' salaries and pensions are set by the independent Citizens Compensation Commission, which has 'both raised and cut pay over the years.'
The National Journal in its House Race Rankings said Lungren was vulnerable because Bera had consistently out-raised the GOP incumbent and was running an 'aggressive campaign.' The Washington Post, in its list of Democratic pick-ups, said, 'The Sacramento area district is a partisan jump ball.'
In Kansas's Fourth District, a SurveyUSA poll showed Raj Goyle and his GOP opponent Mike Pompeo fighting for an open seat, separated by only six points, and given the margin of error at 4.3 percent, it could be anybody's race.
"Raj remains in a remarkably strong position to win," Goyle's campaign manager Kiel Brunner said of the polls, "while our opponent continues to under-perform in what was considered a safe Republican district. As Raj's numbers with the moderate majority and independent voters surge, Mike Pompeo continues to fail at receiving any endorsements from his former GOP primary opponents."
In an open letter to voters, Goyle reiterated his strong opposition to outsourcing, 'My plan in Congress, to revitalize the local economy, is very simple -- change the rules to protect and create jobs right here at home.'
He pledged that if elected, "I will work tirelessly and support the repeal of tax incentives that reward companies for shipping jobs overseas. I will support public-private partnerships that facilitate job creation and expand the existing workforce."
Goyle also release an ad titled, 'My Job,' where he accused Pompeo of outsourcing 'manufacturing jobs to Mexico instead of creating them here at home.'