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Secretary of State Bowen visits Oakhurst

Secretary of State Debra Bowen gains following at Oakhurst club event

Tiffany Tuell

(Updated: Thursday, August 12, 2010, 12:02 PM)

Secretary of State Debra Bowen personally greeted each of the 85 guests who attended a breakfast in her honor Saturday at the Oakhurst Community Center.

Peter Cavanaugh, a member of the Oakhurst Democratic Club executive committee, columnist and former disc jockey, opened the morning's festivities by putting his remarks to song, providing the crowd an early morning laugh. Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress in California's 19th District and Oakhurst Democratic Club member Les Marsden lead the introductions.

Secretary Bowen visited the Mountain Area to inform voters what she is doing to protect against voter fraud, empower voters, work with teens through mock trials, work on open government, the Safe at Home program -- a confidential address program for survivors of abuse -- and to take questions from the partisan crowd.

Bowen said she is working on expanding voter rights and passing AB 1340, which would allow military votes to be counted if they are received within 10 days of an election with a postmark on or before the election date.

Mountain Area residents felt privileged to be visited by Bowen, the third highest ranking executive in California government.

Devon Foster, 12, came from Fresno with his parents and said one day he hopes to either be the Secretary of State or a member of the House of Representatives.

"I think it's very unusual to have someone that high up in California politics come to Oakhurst and it's an honor to meet her," Foster said.

Bowen already has Joyce Stuhr's vote in the November elections.

"She's done a good job and she's here talking to us," Stuhr said. "How many elected officials do that? I'm also voting for her because of her success with voting machines."

The event was hosted by the Oakhurst Democratic Club and although there was a light-hearted feel to the event, political opinions were still strong.

"I'm a Democrat because I think and I care," Ed Bailey said. "I was a biological conservative Republican and was brought up where illiteracy was high. President Nixon helped change my mind. He was my hero and let me down."

More than anything, Cavanaugh hopes the event brought awareness to the November election.

"Secretary Bowen's presence in Oakhurst will hopefully bring awareness to the November election which I think is the most important election of my lifetime," Cavanaugh said. "This has not been a progressive Congress and this election could somehow put us on a trajectory into the past by blowing up our bridge to the future.

"I really think this election will see the momentum from two years ago that elected Barak Obama and will reinstitute a progressive presence or it will go in the other direction and plunge us into the dark ages recently seen during the administration of George W. Bush."