Republican City Councilwoman Casey Lucius of Pacific Grove, California is taking on the steep challenge of unseating long-term entrenched Democrat Congressman Sam Farr (CA-20).
Lucius’ website highlights her City Council position; her roles as wife and mother; her Ph.D. in political science, her experience as a former naval intelligence officer; and her former career as a professor of national security decision-making.
A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Lucius resigned June 1 from her position teaching at the Naval War College in order to join the race, KSBW reported.
“If you’re concerned about issues like jobs, water, the environment and national security then join me in this race,” Lucius states in video announcement of her campaign.
She and her husband are also vegetarians, she states, and started the group “VegHeads of Monterey Bay.” Lucius notes that while living in Vietnam she and her husband raised $25,000 for elderly residents with leprosy.
Lucius, 38, won her current Pacific Grove City Council seat in 2012 with the greatest percentage of those running, 27.8 percent and 4,879 votes. That year in the Monterey County region Farr won over Republican challenger Jeff Taylor 70-30 percent.
In February, the Monterey Herald reported that Lucius indicated she was exploring a run for the seat.
Farr has held the seat since 1993, upon the resignation of Leon Panetta, who left to join the Clinton administration.
In 2014, Farr faced off against Ronald Kabat (No Party Preference). Farr won in a landslide 75-25 percent victory, according to California Secretary of State results.
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