As we all know, the primaries are over and Dr. Sukhmander Singh did not replace Gary Condit as the Representative from California’s 18th district. But all is not lost. For Dr. Singh, this was a learning experience in many ways. For Sikhs, perhaps this was another step on the path to have a political voice in America. So what did we learn?

About the Sikh community...

Dr. Singh says that he made the decision to run for Congress after consulting with the local Sikh community. He knew that he needed their support to raise the resources necessary to reach the wider community in the district. The 18th congressional district was re-zoned and now included Stockton, the oldest and one of the largest Sikh communities in the U.S. The Sikhs in this district were also well integrated with the greater community and could help spread his message. Dr. Singh was assured by the Sikh community leaders that he would be able to raise the $500,000 needed to run a competitive campaign. But it did not turn out that way. What he thought was solid support turned out to be empty promises, not only in terms of money but also voter turnout and volunteering.

Dr. Singh indicates that the lack of support was mainly due to apathy of the Sikhs to get involved in the election process. He felt that the Sikh community still did not understand the importance of having a political voice in this country. “Who is going to speak for us,” he asked? “We have to do it ourselves and not rely on others.” The majority of the Sikhs in the district were not even registered. For example, out of 1042 families listed at the Sikh Gurdwara in Modesto, only about 165 people were registered.

Gurdwara politics also played a negative role. Jealousies and group alliances were a problem. With all the in-fighting and divisions in the Gurdwaras, Dr. Singh says that if he were to talk to members of one group, the opposite group would get upset and threaten to withdraw their support.

The funds that were promised did not materialize and neither did the volunteers. According to Dr. Singh, people would offer to volunteer to do certain tasks and then not show up. Reliable volunteers were hard to come by. The Singh campaign ran with the help of only a handful of people. Among them was a dedicated brother and sister team who came from New York to run his campaign office.

About how the campaign was financed...

Although Dr. Singh registered to run in November, he did not start campaigning till after the holiday season, in January. Most of the delay was because the congressional districts were not redrawn till October. Yet, within a couple of months, Dr. Singh was able to raise about $60,000 - $50,000 from donations and $10,000 from his own pocket. And he used it wisely.

The two leading candidates, Gary Condit, the incumbent, and Dennis Cardoza, the state assemblyman, spent as much for printing and mailing only two campaign fliers. The Singh campaign folks were more prudent, however. Not only did they also print and mail two highly professional fliers, totaling more than 100,000 pieces, they created and put out 2500 yard and roadside signs, 50 billboard signs, sent 6000 registration packages to absentee voters, and created a phone bank that reached more than 1,000 targeted voters. In addition, the Singh campaign built a database of volunteers, donors, registered voters and new registered voters; and created the website www.Singh2002.com.

But that was not enough. Dr. Singh was considerably out-financed by Condit and Cardoza who also had name recognition going for them. According to the Mar 7, USA Today article “Condit Looses to Protegeˊ in Primary,” even Condit was hampered by fund-raising problems. He had to lend his campaign $50,000 from his own pocket to pay for last minute fliers. Cardoza, however, outspent Condit and was the only candidate able to run numerous TV adds, which is the best yet the most expensive way to reach voters. According to Ed Vasquez, Dr. Singh’s campaign manager, Gary Condit’s campaign spent about $250,000 and Dennis Cardoza’s campaign spent about $500,000.

About campaigning...

“Campaigning was very hard work,” says Dr. Singh. He had to walk the walk and talk the talk. He walked the streets and chatted with voters at sidewalk cafes and coffee shops. He talked to community members at various organizations, including the Stockton, Merced, African American, and Hispanic Chambers of Commerce. And he met many students at local colleges and universities. The voters he spoke to received him positively.

In addition to the one-on-one chats, Dr. Singh also presented his talking points and issues at numerous forums and debates with the other candidates. Among these were the League of Women Voters, the Democratic Council, the Radio Merced Forum and Debate, and a televised Town hall Meeting. Unfortunately, at the debates, most questions were addressed to either Gary Condit or Dennis Cardoza.

About the media coverage...

Again, both the local and national media focused disproportionately on Gary Condit and Dennis Cardoza, especially in the last two weeks before the election. Still, Dr. Singh managed to get favorable coverage in five local newspapers, the Los Angeles Times, and several local radio stations. The ABC, NBC, and CBS affiliates in Fresno and Sacramento also covered his story, including a one-hour talk show exclusively with Dr. Singh. And even the major Indian newspapers such as India Abroad published articles about his campaign. All the coverage was positive and favorable to Dr. Singh in terms of his ideas for the district and the dignified campaign he ran.

An excerpt from the Mar 4, New York Times article, “Challenging Gary Condit Without Using His Name,” says it all.

"He could let the other four Democratic challengers for Mr. Condit's seat in the 18th Congressional District use the incumbent's relationship with a missing 24-year-old Washington intern to propel their profiles in Tuesday's primary election. Dr. Singh, 62, had novelty, not to mention the academic's knack for asking provocative questions, on his side. "Do you know about some of the water problems we have in the district?" he asked Steve Groom, a Stockton certified public accountant watching the world go by.”

“Dr. Singh is hardly the front-runner in the race - a state assemblyman, Dennis Cardoza, once Mr. Condit's closest ally and chief of staff, is considered the candidate to beat. (The other candidates are Ralph L. White, a former Stockton city councilman; Joseph Martin, a gas station manager who lives in San Jose; and Elvis Pringle, a record producer who lives in a Los Angeles suburb.) But the gentleman whose beard and turban have made him the object of much curiosity has managed to charm a district once considered "Condit Country." Dr. Singh's campaign slogan is "Restoring Values to the Valley." As a symbolic candidate, he has not had to use the Condit card once.”

About the election results...

All the positive press and the endless campaigning was still not enough. The voter turnout in the district was dismal with only 43,000 votes cast, about 30% less than the previous election. Cardoza won the election with over 53% of the votes. Condit received just under 40% of the votes. The rest of the 7% was divided among the remaining four candidates. These statistics can be found at the web site of the Secretary of the State of California at www.ss.ca.gov.

The reason, Dr. Singh believes he lost in the primary, was money. He did not have the kind of funds needed to compete with the top two candidates.

Some voters who liked Dr. Singh’s ideas voted for Cardoza anyway because they wanted to vote out Gary Condit. If Dr. Singh had a great number of votes, it would have been at the expense of Dennis Cardoza. The vote would have split and Condit would have won. That is what some voters were saying at the exit polls. Still, the votes were just not there.

Another reason was that the Cardoza name had a great appeal to the large Latino population in the district. Reaching out to ethnic minorities as well as mainstream voters is extremely important. “We tried to do all this, but the shortage of funds and manpower stood in the way,” states Dr. Singh.

“Our strategy was to provide the voters with a reason to vote for me and to explain the difference between the candidates,” he says. A more aggressive strategy would have been to explain the poor record that Cardoza had on job creation, his anti-job votes, his votes against working families and the agricultural community, and the use of taxpayer money to pay for campaign materials. But that would not have been a positive campaign.

About the accomplishments for Sikhs...

"One bonus of this campaign," Dr. Singh said, "is that it is teaching people that those of us with turbans and beards are just as American as everyone else."

In his thank you letter to donors, he states, “I want to leave you with some positive feelings. We generated so much positive coverage for our community and our commitment to Sikhism that the media coverage in itself was worth more than a million dollars. We could not have bought that type of positive coverage for our community. Secondly, we showed Cardoza and Condit that we could wage a campaign on their turf and compete with the same tools that they use. Our brochures, signs, logos and website were as good as anything they produced. And finally, by raising the funds that we did raise, we once again have left an impression with the Democratic Party that Sikhs will be part of the American electoral process for years to come.”

About the future for Sikhs...

Dr. Singh says that he plans to continue talking to public officials to ensure that the concerns of Sikhs are addressed. He is also trying to lobby to appoint Sikhs to state and federal committees in the next few months. He is asking that if anyone is interested in serving on a state or federal committee or commission, to please let him know.

As for Dr. Singh, he is still working at a dizzying pace as a Professor of Civil Engineering at Santa Clara University. Recently he got a call from the Governor’s office. They were interested in his ideas for the district and were impressed by his campaign. The Governor’s office is offering him a position on a federal committee. Which one? “Pick one,” they said.

Dr. Singh is also planning to take his message to Sikh communities around the country. He will talk to Sikhs, especially young Sikhs, about the importance of becoming involved in the community and politics. Political office can only be achieved if it is methodically planned on a national level. Other minority communities such an the Jewish Americans, the Asian Americans, and the Latin Americans are well organized and have representation in government. Sikhs can do it too.

“Sikhs need a voice in this country. No one can truly speak for us but ourselves,” says Dr. Sukhmander Singh. This campaign was another step in opening the door for future generations who will one day be a part of American politics, and by default, world politics.