SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Chris Bennett, one of three Democratic candidates for California’s newly drawn 3rd district, sat down for an interview with the Tahoe Daily Tribune. Bennett is the newest face of the candidates, running against Congressman Ami Bera, an incumbent in District 3 and Heidi Hall, who has spent three decades in public service.
Bennett introduces himself as a disabled Army veteran, a graduate of West Point, a former tech worker and cyber officer. One of his major platform points is to refuse money from corporate PACs and lobbyists.
“I am running on the idea of people first, progressive politics and meeting everyone’s needs as opposed to allowing billionaires to exist. Congress is the decisive point of our democracy right now. They have the power of the purse, they can impeach, they can pass laws, they also have investigative authority,” said Bennett. “And it felt to me, like I’m sure a lot of people have been feeling, like our representatives don’t really answer to us. They just answer to giant corporations and billionaires in foreign countries.”
Bennett says that what motivated him to enter politics was seeing the slide towards fascism in the country. “It’s about death by a thousand cuts.” He says that when he saw people getting “black bagged off the streets,” particularly student activists protesting the conflict in Gaza, he decided to take action by entering politics.
In particular, he took an interest in running for Congress in the newly drawn CA-03, which contains rural areas and veterans that were previously in the 6th district.
“Our representatives tend to take rural areas for granted. People everywhere deserve to have access to their representative frequently,” said Bennett. In the South Lake Tahoe area, Bennett said he already had heard from those who wanted to fix the roads, protect the environment and were worried about fires and the impact it had on housing.
“After we deal with fascism, I believe climate change is our next biggest threat. We need to conserve as much of our land as we can, rather than trying to make up for it after we’ve destroyed it,” he said. Bennett expressed an interest in a public homeowners insurance policy funded by top polluters.
Bennett also spoke to his support for single-payer universal healthcare, Medicare For All and support for rural hospitals, especially critical access hospitals. “This should not be a for-profit industry,” he asserted, and added that he was interested in speaking to those who were served by the Tahoe Forest Healthcare System, which is a critical access hospital.
Bennett said many of his platforms he was running on were linked to defending democracy. “I swore an oath to defending democracy and the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And while I have grown a lot in my views of American foreign policy, I am still proud of my service. And I want people to feel good that they served, not to deal with PTSD and moral injuries because we were doing war crimes in foreign countries.”
That’s one of the reasons Bennett says he is not interested in taking AIPAC or corporate money. “We should not be sending our money to foreign countries to hurt people, especially in violation of international humanitarian law, when we could be using that money to help people here,” he said. “We need to get big money out of politics, and that includes not allowing foreign countries to influence our internal affairs.”
To date, Chris Bennett has had $76,245 in contributions, with a little under $6,000 in debts.
Bennett also said he would abolish ICE. “I support creating humane immigration systems, increasing freedom of movement for people and creating a system of restitution for everyone who’s been harmed by ICE terror.”
Other platforms that Bennett said he wanted to stay authentic to were enshrining LGBTQ+ rights, affordable housing and groceries, civil service jobs and livable wages, reproductive justice, democratic reforms and walkable cities.
“I’m running as a Democrat, but in many ways, I almost feel more like an independent,” said Bennett. “I want everyone to know that no matter what political party you’re in, I want you to have your basic needs met. I want you to be able to live in peace and prosperity, I want kids to feel hope for the future, and I want seniors to be able to rest after a job well done. We need a new generation of leaders who actually cares about humanity and puts people before profits. That’s where I’m coming from.”
Bennett’s website and further information on his campaign can be found at https://www.bennettforca.com/
