Running against the odds

Douglas Zimmerman

For Green Party congressional candidate Tom Lash, the statistics are

hard to ignore. Running in the 46th Congressional District, where 48%

of the registered voters are Republican and for the past 16 years

voters have reelected Republican Dana Rohrabacher, the chances of

winning the seat seem remote at best.

However, he confidently predicts he will be the first Green party

member to serve in Congress next year.

“I have a chance of winning,” Lash said. “I do.”

Before joining the Green Party, Lash was a lifelong Democrat. His

first involvement with politics was working on Ralph Nader’s campaign

for president in 2000.

“I was disgusted that there wasn’t a substantial difference

between the two parties,” he said.

Lash was unhappy with the choices for his congressional district

in 2002.

“I looked at the people I had to vote for and it made me sick,” he

said.

It left him wondering what would happen if voters had a choice. He

ran as a write-in candidate for the election. It was his first time

running for public office.

Lash, an anti-war activist, has campaigned actively this year for

California’s 46th Congressional seat, which covers all of Costa Mesa

and Huntington Beach and stretches west along the coast of Long Beach

to Palos Verdes Estates and includes Catalina Island.

While wanting the war in Iraq to end, Lash has campaigned for

better public education and universal healthcare. The party’s

platform also includes campaign finance reform, more citizen control

of political redistricting, increased public transportation, and the

repeal of the USA Patriot Act.

Lash has performed most of the campaign activities himself,

working out of his Huntington Beach home on a bare-bones budget. Many

of the campaign signs he has posted in the district were handmade by

himself and his mother, who visited him in September.

Along with several dedicated supporters, he has organized

fundraisers, biked across the district, and gone on campaign trips as

far as Catalina, riding around the island with Green Party members on

a golf cart to meet as many voters as possible.

For years Lash was a microbiologist for the American Red Cross,

but his position was “downsized.” He took the opportunity to switch

professions and went back to school to earn his teaching credentials.

Since September, he has started student-teaching science classes at

Estancia High School in Costa Mesa.

Between working on class plans and helping support his family with

his wife, Patti, it has been increasingly difficult for Lash to find

time to dedicate to his run for public office. However, Lash has

continued to actively campaign.

In the March 2nd primary for the 46th Congressional District, Lash

received 580 votes, compared to Rohrabacher’s 68,969 and Democratic

challenger Jim Brandt’s 21,317 votes.

Despite the long odds, which show that only 1% of the 46th

district’s registered voters are members of the Green Party, Lash is

convinced that he is the right candidate for the area’s constituency.

“Would I vote for myself?” he asked. “Yes I would.”

* DOUGLAS ZIMMERMAN is a staff photographer for the Daily Pilot

and Huntington Beach Independent.