Bill Slaton
Bill Slaton, a Sacramento Munipical Utility District (SMUD) director, is the latest Democrat to mount a 2010 challenge against Republican Rep.
Dan Lungren of California's 3rd District.
Slaton (pronounced SLAY-ton) filed paperwork this week to run against Lungren, whose district is one of eight House seats in California being targeted by the Democrats' House campaign arm. The targets are Republican House members in districts carried by Barack Obama.
"I have no illusions that this will be easy, but at the end of the day, I think the voters in the 3rd Congressional District are going to see something in me that they recognize and that they see in themselves - that I care - and I think that's going to make it a lot easier," Slaton said Thursday.
Slaton, who described himself as a moderate Democrat, said having a background in business as well as in elected office affords him a "better skill set" to address the district's problems. Slaton has served seven years in his current position overseeing an electric system for 1.5 million people.
Slaton faces Democratic competition from Elk Grove City Councilman Gary Davis, who announced his entry to the race last month, and Democrat Ami Bera, a physician, has also filed for the seat.
During his re-election last year for an 8th full term in office, little-known Democrat Bill Durston, a physician, held Lungren to a 6 percent margin of victory. The typically Republican-leaning Sacramento-area district also narrowly favored Barack Obama by less than 1 percentage point over John McCain.
Lungren is one of 10 potentially vulnerable Republican House members who banded together last month to form a joint fundraising committee, the Patriot Day Committee. The committee will allow the group to hold fundraising activities together and split the proceeds.
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