Earlier in the election season, the Sun talked to three of the Republicans aiming to knock Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) out of her U.S. Congressional seat. Along that line, here are profiles of the other two Republican candidates, Carole Lee Miller and Clark Vandeventer.
As of press time, Libertarian candidate Darrell Stafford was not available for comment. All of the candidates will face off at the polls on June 8.
San Luis Obispo businesswoman Carole Lee Miller considers herself an independent Republican. She currently runs an advising firm for local businesses called The Carole Connection. Prior to moving to SLO, Miller served as executive vice president of Lee David International, a hospitality property management company.
In a recent interview with the Sun, Miller said her No. 1 priority if elected will be job creation.
“The solution to jobs,” she said, “is to go to small businesses. That is where I feel we’re going to solve our economic problems. We need to get government off the backs of our small businesses and cut down on the taxes and paperwork and bureaucracy.”
For example, Congress could give businesses tax incentives for buying new equipment, rather than “making them pay taxes on [the equipment] year after year.”
“If we do that, they’ll start hiring again,” she said.
Another high priority: defense.
“We need to deal with Islam and what’s been going on [in Europe and the Middle East],” she said. “Islam and Iran are frightening issues, and they must be dealt with.”
Miller said she’s been reading lots of articles about Muslims on another continent.
“They’re taking over Europe, and we need to stop them from coming here and taking over here,” she said.
As an example, Miller talked about a trip she took to Fremont, Calif., with her husband.
“I went into a Starbucks, and I was a minority,” she said. “They were all [Muslims] … And, you know, they all look at you with these eyes, like, ‘What are you doing in my space?’”
Miller went on to say that the government needs to secure both of its borders, not just the “one to the south of us.”
“I think our borders are more important than what we’re doing overseas,” she added.
Other issues important to Miller include supporting the arts, healthcare, energy, and agriculture.
Before running for the 23rd District Congressional seat, Clark Vandeventer developed his campaigning chops as a student at Indiana Wesleyan University, where he was elected student body president. After graduating, he started a decade-long career with Young America’s Foundation and the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara.
In 2008, he founded World Changers Inc., a nonprofit support agency. He’s also a frequent contributor to Noozhawk.com.
When asked what sets him apart from his running mates, Vandeventer said: “I’m the candidate with the vision for the future and the tenacity to take us there.”
If elected, Vandeventer said, his main goal will be to “get this country moving again.”
The main way to do this is “create jobs and long-term fiscal stability,” he said.
“The only stimulus that the American people need is just for Congress to get out of the way,” he continued, adding that the government needs to lower the business tax rate to match it to other industrialized countries and eliminate bureaucracy.
“The American dream is not provided by a new government program but by opportunity and hard work,” he said.
Vandeventer said he’s also for cutting payroll taxes and offering tax deductions for businesses that purchase new and green equipment. He also proposes cutting capital gains taxes “to match the Chinese” and abolishing the death tax to “allow families to pursue their own American dream.
“These are tough times,” he continued, adding that Lois Capps isn’t the leader people need right now.
“Lois Capps is a nice person, but nice isn’t enough,” he said.
When the public wanted to discuss healthcare last summer, he said, “Capps was nowhere to be found.”
“I hosted my own town hall meeting and recorded it and sent it to Capps,” he said. “Then she hosted her own, which I think was an insult because there was no open, honest dialogue at that meeting.”
The district, he said, “needs [representatives] who treat the House as their place of work, not their country club,” he concluded.
For more information about both candidates and their campaigns, visit ourvotemustcount.com or clark4congress2010.com.
This article appears in May 27 – Jun 3, 2010.