Candidate is a student of government

Alicia Robinson

Skyrocketing education costs that forced some students to drop out of

college motivated Chonchol Gupta to try to work within the government

to improve education.

Gupta will face five other GOP candidates for the 70th District

Assembly seat in the March 2 primary.

“To constantly neglect the students of this country is setting our

state up for disaster,” he said.

While not many young people throw themselves into the political

arena, Gupta wanted to offer voters a different choice.

“That’s exactly why I decided to run, because a lot of politicians

and a lot of people think that students my age are apathetic,” he

said.

Far from being apathetic, Gupta seems to have plenty of energy for

leadership and political causes. He was an Eagle Scout, he served as

an intern for the Orange County Republican Party and he recently gave

a speech to the Republican Youth Coalition.

His campaign strategy has been a grass-roots approach, relying on

volunteer labor and encouraging students to register to vote. Gupta

has refused to accept any special interest money, and voters say that

gives a candidate credibility, he said.

He’s seen both good and bad aspects of politics in the 70th

Assembly race, he said.

“The good side is a lot of people do listen to what a person has

to say regardless of their race or how much money they have or how

old they are,” he said.

But on the flip side, there are still people who discount him for

his youth or lack of a big war chest, he said.

The most interesting part of campaigning has been meeting the

voters and hearing their views, Gupta said.

“I think that I have a lot of fresh, new ideas, and I think that

by electing Arnold Schwarzenegger, California and Orange County have

spoken and said that it is time for a change,” he said.

Regardless of the election’s outcome, Gupta said he has made an

impact, and that was his goal.

“I entered this race because I felt there were some changes that

need to be made and some issues that need to be brought to light, and

I feel I have accomplished that,” he said.

“I’m running to make a difference,” he said. “I’m not running to

set up a future in politics.”