VOTE411 Voter Guide

1) Restoration of Constitutional balance of powers. The will of the people must be expressed through their congressional representatives in opposition to executive branch overreach. Balance in Congress may only be achieved by representatives free of party extremism, capable of representing the majority will and minority rights.

2) Affordability. The number one driver of current unaffordability is the singular tariffing by the chief executive. Tariffs are taxes – regressive taxation levied cynically upon and most keenly felt by America’s lower and middle economic classes. Tariffs are the greatest redistribution of wealth from the bottom to the top in our economic history.

Current housing affordability has its roots in the 2008 financial crisis, when distressed housing was bought at fire sale prices and removed from the market by investors, severely restricting inventory. I will work with both aisles of Congress towards returning single family housing to the marketplace for the occupancy and ownership of families, not corporations.

Heath Care Affordability cannot be resolved without a holistic approach which includes the buy-in of all Americans sharing both risk and reward.

Please see my brief “Affordability” videos on www.bendewell.com.

3) Restoration of America’s status as economic, military, philosophical and existential leader among nations. Everything that I can accomplish will be the underpinnings of these democratic virtues.

4) AI (Artificial Intelligence) must be regulated by democratic governments, before it regulates us. There are already too many examples of AI doing the entirely expected, protecting itself at all costs.

I am an eight year, two term publicly elected Director with the Stallion Springs Community Service District, where I have made comprehensive infrastructure policy, inclusive of police, roads, water/sewer, solid waste and parks/rec, for a community of over 3,000 people since 2018. In August of 2025, I helped successfully shepherd a $275/yr. property tax measure, ensuring retention of our police department, with an unheard of 85% plebiscite. I have also been a Director with the Eastern Kern Air Pollution Control District, where I adjudicated variance hearings for Rio Tinto/US Borax, National Cement, and Edwards Air Force Base. I hold a Master of Science in Atmospheric Science (i.e., meteorology) from the University of California, Davis and a Bachelors in Biology from California Sate University, Fresno. I am the only qualified candidate who has called both the north and south of the 20th Congressional District home, having been raised in Fresno and now living rural Kern County, and the only candidate to have run as a committed no party preference Independent previously within the twentieth. I am the only non-Republican candidate capable of winning the general election in November.

Immigration law, not by singular executive order, has not been changed in 30 years. Comprehensive immigration reform must be addressed by forward thinking Independents within Congress to ensure immigrant accountability, safe borders, and humane immigration standards defining a great nation.

I will support and author if necessary all political/governmental donor and emolument transparency measures necessary to stop the opaque funding which now defines and campaign and governmental corruption, and controls elections and their outcomes.

Climate change is setlled scientific fact. We, especially in California which has always been defined by its primarily desert climates, refuse to deal with warming at our peril. Planning for a future of decreasing winter snowpack, which slakes the thirst of both California cities and agriculture, will entail development of alternative sources of water availability. The only sure-fire solution at this increasingly late juncture is to develop coastal desalination for agricultural and industrial use to support dwindling reservoir storage and unreliable Colorado River sources.

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1. Restore Constitutional Order. Our government has drifted dangerously far from the balance of powers the Constitution requires. A major part of this shift comes from ideas promoted in initiatives such as *Project 2025*, which many analysts describe as relying on an expanded interpretation of presidential authority. Critics argue that this approach concentrates power in the executive branch at the expense of Congress and the courts, undermining the separation of powers the framers designed. My priority is to re‑establish constitutional limits, strengthen oversight, and ensure no branch of government operates above the others.

2. Get Money Out of Politics. The influence of concentrated wealth has distorted our democracy. Data from OpenSecrets shows that federal campaign spending and lobbying have grown dramatically over the past two decades, giving major donors far more access than ordinary citizens. I believe government should serve the public, not an entrenched oligarchy. Reducing the role of big money is essential to restoring trust and ensuring elected officials answer to voters, not financiers.

3. Reduce the Debt Through Real Accountability. The national debt keeps rising while major agencies lack basic financial transparency. The Government Accountability Office reports that the Department of Defense has *never* passed a full financial audit since independent audits began in 2017. Yet its budget continues to grow. I support a serious review of federal spending — including defense — and tax policies that ensure those with the greatest resources contribute fairly. We cannot keep privatizing profits while socializing risks onto the public.

I am an American. I am not a Politician I took AP US History in High School I took AP US Government and tried to turn it into a musical, but Lin Manuel Miranda does it much better. It's OK, I am not running for a Broadway Writer. It was all real time and we had no script. I owned and operated a small Land Surveying Firm. I had to quit surveying work when Multiple Sclerosis made it impossible to walk. I am upset, this is not the government I was promised when I was growing up, but then I remembered Government is us.

Yes, immigration needs to be changed. What we have right now is chaotic and extreme. Prior to the 2024 election, senator James Lankford (R-OK), put forward a bipartisan immigration bill that was torpedoed by the incoming administration because it wanted an issue to run on. I believe we should have supported Lankford's bill. This is the United States, unless you are native, you are an immigrant too. Throughout history just about every group has been hated by some other group, be it Germans, Swedes, the Irish, Italians, Chinese, Japanese and now Mexicans. It is time to get over it. This country does need a responsible immigration policy, but shutting the door is not the answer.

I would support a constitutional amendment affirming that money is not speech, to ensure elections reflect the will of voters rather than the size of a donor’s bank account. I know that is a hard lift and would support any legislation defining speech thusly.

I’m not convinced that new water projects are the answer. California’s water challenges stem from a mix of aging infrastructure, drought, and senior water rights that date back to the 19th century. Those overlapping rights make it extremely difficult to manage water in a way that reflects today’s realities. I don’t claim to have a simple solution to a system built in the 1880s, but I do know that releasing 2.2 billion gallons of water for a fire it could never reach shows how urgently our management practices need reform. With climate change intensifying pressure on our water supply, we should focus on accountability, conservation, and modernizing water governance before committing to new projects.

My top three priorities reflect the foundational question driving my entire campaign: who does government actually serve — corporations and political parties, or the people living in this country? 1) Protecting and expanding healthcare access. The for-profit commercial insurance system is not sustainable - it collects billions in premiums while denying doctor-ordered care and treating our health as a profit center. I support Medicare for All as introduced in S.1560, which transitions every American into a single-payer system over four years. In the immediate term, I will fight to restore the Medicaid funding gutted by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which disproportionately harms the very CA-20 constituents who depend on it most. 2) Bringing real federal investment to CA-20. This district feeds the nation - yet its communities face contaminated water systems, underpaid agricultural workers, a housing affordability crisis, and one of the highest human trafficking rates in the country. These are not local problems. They are national security vulnerabilities. I will collaborate with State, County, and local officials to direct every available federal resource into this district - not as political favors, but as the right of the people who live here. 3) Reforming the VA and Social Security disability systems. The federal government currently spends billions of dollars annually specifically to deny benefits to disabled Veterans and Social Security recipients who earned those benefits. Entire predatory industries have emerged to help people navigate systems deliberately designed to obstruct them -extracting up to 33% of claimants' back pay in the process. Taxpayers are funding institutional denial. I will use the House's investigative and appropriations powers to expose how this happened and defund the obstruction. Every one of these priorities connects to the same principle: a Representative's only job is to represent the people who sent her. I intend to do exactly that.

I am Sandra Van Scotter, candidate for Congress in California's 20th Congressional District. I am running because the people of CA-20 are being left behind by the very government that depends on this district to feed the nation — and because I have spent my entire career being the person who runs towards the crisis. For 30 years I have worked as a medical professional and direct care advocate — sitting with patients in their most vulnerable moments, navigating systems designed to help people — that too often failed them, and speaking up in rooms where those most affected had no voice. That experience is not background. It is my qualification. I understand the healthcare system from the inside — not from a policy brief, but from 30 years of watching for-profit insurance deny doctor-ordered care to real people. I understand the VA and Social Security disability systems because I have watched disabled Veterans and recipients lose housing, independence, and dignity navigating bureaucracies deliberately stacked against them. I understand CA-20 because I live here — and because I see every day what it means that this district feeds the nation while its communities face contaminated water, unaffordable housing, and some of the highest human trafficking rates in the country. My background includes direct care, advocacy, navigating health insurance systems, and Social Security research. I bring constitutional literacy, a clear understanding of federal and state government interaction, and one governing principle: follow the evidence, serve the people, never mistake political comfort for actual representation. I am not running to join an institution. I am running to represent you in one. There is a difference — and it is the difference that defines my campaign. I live my life by the Golden Rule, and I want to be the person I needed when I needed help. CA-20 deserves a Representative who shows up, speaks up, and never forgets who sent her. I am that person.

Yes. Immigration laws need meaningful reform — not because our borders should be open, but because our current system fails everyone: the people seeking legal status, the communities receiving them, and the national security interests that depend on knowing who is here and why. Legal immigration should begin at the U.S. Embassy in the applicant's country of origin. For those who could not access that process — due to violence, instability, or institutional barriers — there must be a clear, documented pathway to begin the process upon arrival. Sanctuary cities need to be transformed into immigration processing hubs: places where undocumented people can present themselves, access legal and social services, and begin documentation rather than remaining invisible to the system. Asylum seekers retain their legal right to request protection upon arrival. Refugees, already vetted overseas through the UN and U.S. Embassy system, fit the embassy-first framework. These are not contradictions — they are the humanitarian foundations our immigration system was built on. Border security and immigration management are genuine national security priorities. But the current deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement — raiding workplaces, separating families, and targeting long-established community members — does not make us safer. It drives undocumented people further underground, making them invisible to law enforcement, vulnerable to trafficking, and impossible to document. CA-20 is one of the highest human trafficking corridors in the nation. Enforcement that creates fear without creating pathways does not reduce that crisis — it feeds it. Process first. Pathways always. Enforcement that actually works.

Money is not speech. Unlimited, anonymous political spending is not democracy — it is institutional capture dressed in constitutional language. Citizens United fundamentally corrupted direct representation by allowing corporations and undisclosed interests to purchase political influence through Super-PACs and dark money organizations with no accountability to the voters those representatives are supposed to serve. As a member of Congress I would support and co-sponsor the DISCLOSE Act, requiring full public disclosure of all donors above a defined threshold to Super-PACs, dark money nonprofits, and political action committees. I would support meaningful FEC reform to break the partisan deadlock rendering campaign finance enforcement symbolic. I would support closing the foreign donor loophole that dark money creates — we cannot enforce the prohibition on foreign influence without knowing who is actually funding these organizations. I would support national campaign spending limits modeled on California's legislative spending caps and Canada's national campaign expenditure limits. The idea that a candidate's viability is measured by how much money they raise — rather than the quality of their ideas and their connection to constituents — is precisely what feeds PAC donation culture and prices everyday Americans out of public service. I would support small donor matching programs that amplify constituent voices and reduce structural dependence on large donors. My campaign accepts no PAC money — corporate or otherwise. I do not pursue endorsements; I accept them when offered unsolicited, because that is what an endorsement is supposed to mean. These are not talking points. They are the same principles I would bring to Congress: the only people a Representative should answer to are the ones who sent her.

Water access is a human right and a national security issue. CA-20 sits at the center of California's water crisis — and the federal government has both the responsibility and the tools to help fix it. I support the End California Water Crisis Package introduced by Representatives Costa and Gray in December 2025 — three bills that would authorize new water storage projects, create enforceable one-year timelines for environmental reviews, and invest nearly $4.4 billion in 22 critical Central Valley water infrastructure projects. I would co-sponsor all three upon taking office. Transparency is essential. Too many projects are stalled with no public accounting of why. Federal oversight must require agencies to identify bottlenecks, designate responsible officials, and report progress on defined timelines. The communities bearing the greatest cost of inaction are the smallest and least resourced. In Kern County, Keene residents face a proposed water rate increase of over 1,000 percent from a railroad corporation abandoning its water obligations. Rosamond's water contains arsenic and chromium-6. In Tulare County, Allensworth has fought arsenic-contaminated wells for over 100 years while Pixley residents describe their water as 'playing Russian Roulette' due to cancer-linked pesticide contamination. In Kings County, overpumping threatens wells serving 146,000 residents. Across Fresno County, PFAS contamination of groundwater threatens communities throughout the region. Smaller water districts cannot front the capital costs of infrastructure improvements. Better federal grant programs — designed for districts without large administrative capacity — are not optional. They are overdue. I will collaborate with State, County, and local water agencies to ensure federal resources reach every community in this district. Safe water is not a privilege. It is a right.