Lee Rogers, M.D.

First, I want to thank all my staff and volunteers, who dedicated countless hours and sweat to this campaign. I am forever grateful. We’ve accomplished so much in the past 11 months, and none of it would have been possible without your hard work. To all the donors who invested in my campaign, I’m sorry I let you down. I congratulate Steve Knight and Tony Strickland for their wins last night.

I am also stunned. I can’t believe that in a district, which according to the latest Secretary of State numbers, has only a 1% advantage for Republicans, there will be no Democrat for Congress on the ballot in November. Shocking, yes, but not the first time this has happened in California.

This places district Democrats in a difficult position when faced with the November ballot. Both Tony Strickland and Steve Knight are conservatives and wouldn’t represent the views of district Democrats at all in Washington. But Democrats will have to choose between two Republicans, or leave the office blank.

My recommendation for Democrats is to cast your vote for Steve Knight in November. We see eye-to-eye on relatively few issues, social or fiscal, but Knight is an honest man with integrity. To the contrary, Tony Strickland is a politician in search of a district. Strickland doesn’t live in our district. He couldn’t even vote for himself yesterday. He and his wife have exchanged jobs on each other’s campaigns, a shady way to convert political donations into personal wealth, something reminiscent of the nepotism employed by the McKeon campaign.

Strickland’s campaign is funded by large amounts of out-of-district money from special interests, including big oil, insurance, and even the Koch Brothers. He refused to show up at candidate forums, limiting his exposure to the public. He used slimy and dishonest tactics in the primary against Knight and his official campaign representatives even poked fun at Knight’s military service, an action I consider appalling and not befitting of a Member of Congress. And in what may be the most sickening action, Strickland sent out a pro-gun robocall to voters the day after some of his former constituents were gunned down in a mass shooting in Isla Vista.

Recommending a Republican for Congress may not sit well with some in my party, but I didn’t create the rules and I care too much about our district to let it fall to a dishonest carpetbagger who is interested only in himself, like Tony Strickland. Democrats will need a representative in Washington who can at least deliver good constituent services, in spite of the ideological differences. I think Knight can fill that void. Democrats can regroup and come back for a win in 2016.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity.

Lee Rogers, M.D., is a Simi Valley Democrat who ran for the 25th District congressional seat. He finished in third place in Tuesday’s “top two” primary election.