Hunger-Striker Lutz Concedes to Hunter after Vigorous Campaign

Vote Ray Lutz.com (2010-11-04) Ray Lutz

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• 2010-11-04-CD52-LutzConcedes.pdf: 2010-11-04-CD52-LutzConcedes.pdf

Ray Lutz for Congress 2010
www.VoteRayLutz.com

Media Contact: Christine Cullinan
619-447-3246 / Christine@VoteRayLutz.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hunger-Striker Lutz Concedes to Hunter after Vigorous Campaign

Post-election pot-luck gathering for friends and supporters scheduled

Saturday, Nov. 6, 4-6pm – Campaign Headquarters, 165 E. Main, Suite B, El Cajon, 92020
(Adjacent to Promenade Park and behind Los Rancheros Restaurant)

San Diego County, Calif. (Nov 4, 2010) – Early election returns gave Duncan D. Hunter the win in the 52nd Congressional District in East San Diego County after a vigorous campaign by Hunger Striker Ray Lutz, the Democratic Party challenger.

“Most people don't realize that the Registrar of Voters still has about 240,000 ballots that are uncounted county-wide, and about 40,000 ballots uncounted for this race. However, it is statistically impossible to move into the lead,” Lutz said. “My congratulations to Mr. Hunter for his win.”

As of 2:15am on November 3, 2010, the Registrar posted unofficial results with incumbent Duncan D. Hunter (R) getting 102,158 votes (63.45%), Ray Lutz (D) getting 51,339 votes (31.89%) and Michael Beniot (L) getting 7,509 (4.66%). Lutz did better than any challenger of an incumbent in this seat since the redistricting after the 2000 census except for John Rinaldi in 2006, a banner Democratic year nationwide, in stark contrast to the current down year for Democrats.

“To get nearly the best turnout in recent history is a bit astonishing, to say the least,” Lutz said. “My supporters should be doing high-fives for doing so well given the poor results for other Democrats in the rest of the country. Of course, the high-fives would be even higher if we had won, but that is simply not in the cards.

HUNGRY FOR DEBATES

Lutz and Benoit conducted an unprecedented eleven-day hunger strike during August to coerce reluctant Hunter to agree to a debate. The hunger strike garnered national attention including articles in Politico, Newsweek, Time, The New York Times, the L.A. Times, The Atlantic and numerous other regional publications. After Lutz appeared live on the Kyra Phillips show on CNN nationwide, the Hunter campaign hand-delivered a letter acknowledging that they had agreed to a single debate on October 15.

Lutz confronted Hunter at two events requesting that Hunter appear at the scheduled debates. At one event, a giant chicken was seen clucking in the background with a picture of Hunter's face as a mask in an attempt to shame Hunter into cooperation.

Lutz says that all congressional candidates should be required to engage in multiple televised debates held in areas around each district. Debates level the playing field and are superior to the alternative: 30-second TV spots, news-reel sound bites, and sign pollution everywhere. After the completion of the hunger strike, Lutz established the organization “Debate for Democracy” ( DebateForDemocracy.org) to push the idea that debates should be a standard feature in the political landscape.

“We are faced with serious issues in this country, and it is simply a crime that debates are seldom held at all in gerrymandered and lopsided districts like this one. Hunter Jr. was especially eager to avoid any debates because many people still thought they were voting for his father, Duncan Lee Hunter in this and the prior election,” Lutz said.

Michael Benoit and Ray Lutz appeared in debates in many areas of the district, including Alpine, Poway, Ramona, Lakeside, and Kearny Mesa, but Hunter declined to appear at those events. Videos of the debates, including the debate attended by Duncan D. Hunter, are available at http://www.VoteRayLutz.com/Debates.html

NEAR FUTURE

The Lutz for Congress campaign will be hosting a potluck gathering this Saturday, November 6, from 4 pm to 6 pm at the campaign office at 165 E. Main St., Suite B, El Cajon, 92020. All volunteers, staff, and supporters are invited to attend.

“I really appreciate all the hard work put in by everyone, and I thank my wife and family for putting up with all the evening meetings and the commitment this sort of project requires,” Lutz said. “I will cherish the friends and relationships made over the past nine months for years to come.”

Lutz will be turning to his business, Cognisys, Inc., that manufacturers and sells neural-feedback electronic equipment, designed by Lutz, for drug-free treatment of mental disorders such as ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), Autism, and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), among others.

He also will be working to promote his book “Coils of the Serpent” a novel that entertains the question of DNA described in the book of Genesis that some compare with “The Da Vinci Code.”

“I plan to continue to be engaged in politics,” Lutz said. “In particular, through my organization “Citizens' Oversight Projects (COPS)” and its mission to encourage citizens to become engaged in local governmental bodies. We plan to hold Hunter's feet to the fire in the next term and expose even more irregularities as we find them. I've been considering a handbook for citizen involvement and now that I have run for congress, that can make some interesting reading for anyone else who may consider running.

Lutz said he was not planning to run again at the present time, but would not rule out that possibility. “I'm a small business owner – I have no juicy government pension or guaranteed revenue. Running for office in this lopsided and gerrymandered district means no financial support from county, state or federal party organizations. Without major funding from special interests or personal wealth, it is simply not feasible to seriously engage in such a campaign. However, with redistricting occurring this year, the outlook may be better in the future.”

“Right now, we are working to monitor the results of our Registrar of Voters. I have spent several years documenting their procedures to understand how they can manipulate the results of elections and to document their sloppy and undocumented procedures.”

Lutz has proposed the “Open Canvass” method to open up the tallying process by imaging all ballots and providing those images to stakeholders and news organizations so they can review all ballots to determine the result of the election independently from the central tabulator database that relies upon the honesty of workers responsible for the final tally. Lutz will be working to perfect an auditing machine that can provide electronic oversight of the operations of the Registrar. An oversight report was published by COPS in 2009 after two years of review and Q&A with the registrar.

“I'm going to continue to work for the community, that's what I do best,” Lutz said. “After working with the community of Potrero to battle Blackwater, I realized that I could do a lot to help our country.”

References:

52^nd Congressional District news and information: http://www.copswiki.org/Common/CA50CongressionalDistrict

“Debate for Democracy” ( http://www.DebateForDemocracy.org)

Videos of the debates, including the debate attended by Duncan D. Hunter, are available at http://www.VoteRayLutz.com/Debates.html

Cognisys, Inc. – http://www.Cognisys.com

Chase Ranch Montessori School – http://www.ChaseRanchMontessori.com

Citizens' Oversight Projects (COPS) – http://www.CitizensOversight.org

Report on the Registrar of Voters procedures – http://www.copswiki.org/Common/COPsRovReport

“Coils of the Serpent” – http://www.CoilsOfTheSerpent.com

Open Canvass Method – http://www.copswiki.org/Common/OpenBallotInitiative

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