Vacaville hopeful in congressional race

After spearheading an effort in Vacaville to help youngsters learn martial arts and avoid gangs in the process, Eugene Ray says he wants to get Democrats and independents on board with his bid for the 3rd Congressional District seat as a Republican.

"The way I'm looking at it, if I approach the main issues and I'm speaking the truth, then it makes sense not only in the primary but in the general," said Ray, 59, who has spent 30 years in real estate before jumping into the crowded GOP race this year.

The district includes Yuba and Sutter counties.

Ray said his campaign platform has three main parts: Boosting domestic energy sources of all kinds, including oil, coal, nuclear and renewable energy; getting the housing industry on surer footing to boost employment in that sector; and eliminating government mandates that harm small businesses.

"These guys are just getting hammered with taxes and regulations," Ray said, citing statistics showing more than 21 million jobs came from U.S. small businesses in the last 15 years. "We've got to get folks back to work."

Seeing so many people out of work, and a sense Congress isn't doing anything about it, were what persuaded Ray to run in the redrawn district, which stretches from Yuba and Sutter counties to much of Solano County.

The interest alone on the national debt costs $1 billion a day, he said, but congressional representatives are instead discussing whether tomato paste is a vegetable.

Though he's one of six people to announce plans to run on the GOP side so far, Ray said, he believes he's a better choice than candidates who may use the same approach used unsuccessfully in the past to beat an incumbent.

"Of the other candidates I've met, they're nice folks," he said. "My biggest challenge is getting enough money and getting the word out."

On a one-on-one basis, he said, he can find enough common ground with people to then start solving a problem.

A Los Angeles native who moved to Vacaville when he was 2, Ray attended California State University, Chico, as a pre-med student, but went into real estate instead after he graduated.

When he also began teaching martial arts, he distributed fliers in some of Vacaville's and later Fairfield's tough neighborhoods to get boys and girls interested in something other than joining gangs.

Eventually, he helped teach future champions, help several families learn English and improve their lives, and form ties between his martial arts studio and his church, he said.

Bringing people together is how he'll win the Republican primary, beat incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. John Garamendi in the fall, he said, and help solve problems on a bigger scale.

CONTACT Ben van der Meer at bvandermeer@appealdemocrat.com or 749-4786. Find him on Facebook at /ADbvandermeer or on Twitter at @ADbvandermeer.