In the 29th Congressional District Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank-Glendale, faces Republican challenger Jim Scileppi and Libertarian Ted Brown Nov. 5 for reelection to his second term in office.
During his first term Schiff has been named president of the freshman class of congress, and has been appointed to key committees in the House of Representatives.
After defeating James Rogan in the most expensive congressional race in history, he has gotten much praise for his work as a freshman congressman. After the rigorous fund raising of the 2000 campaign, the congressman joined the fight for campaign finance reform. In 2001, he introduced a house version that would accompany the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill in the Senate bill that was signed by President Bush on March 27.
“If I am reelected, I will continue to put children and education first,” said Schiff. “I want to work to get programs such as Head Start fully funded, and [make sure] President Bush lives up to his promise of not leaving one child behind in education.”
Schiff is on the very powerful House Judiciary and International Relations committees. Since Sept. 11 Schiff has helped passed anti-terrorism laws such as the Patriot Act, which gives law enforcement greater latitude to fight terrorism.
His challengers have had a difficult time campaigning against the very popular incumbent, but Scileppi and Brown both seem optimistic about their chances against Schiff.
Scileppi, who was once with the Los County District Attorney’s office, now works as a consumer rights attorney in Los Angeles.
Libertarian candidate Brown is running for the second time against Schiff. Despite a decisive defeat in 2000, he remains optimistic this time around. Brown says “It’s time for a change in the way that government is run, and that new ideas are needed unlike the one’s that are fed to us by the Democrats and Republicans.