FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 14, 2014
San Diego – Eleven former chairs of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce have endorsed Rep. Scott Peters’ re-election, the latest evidence of Peters’ bipartisan appeal and widespread support within the local business community.In addition, more than 60 other local high-profile Republican and independent business leaders are supporting Peters, according to a list unveiled today by the Scott Peters for Congress campaign.Of the 11 former Regional Chamber chairs supporting Peters, all but Ted Roth are registered Republicans. Last month Peters also earned the endorsement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which wrote, “We believe your re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives will help produce sustained economic growth, help create jobs, and get our country back on track.”Phil Blair and Mel Katz, both former chairs of the local chamber, recently called Peters “a dedicated, principled public servant” and “a moderate who understands all points of view.”“As former chairmen of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, we’ve worked with and known Rep. Scott Peters for over a decade,” Blair and Katz wrote in a recent letter to U-T San Diego. “He’s an articulate, smart, effective advocate for jobs and quality of life, and we’re fortunate to have him representing us in Congress.”The Peters campaign is also proud to announce today the endorsement of the immediate past Chair of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, Stath Karras, a Republican, who is backing Peters because he is the better candidate for job creation.“My personal philosophy is to support candidates (regardless of party affiliation) that tend to be pragmatic, moderate and understand and focus on the importance of the community and economic activity,” Karras said. “I find Scott Peters to be an excellent example of this type of leader. I have appreciated his leadership in Congress look to support him for another term.”In addition to Katz, Blair and Roth, the other former San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce chairs endorsing Peters are Mike Niggli, Thomas Wornham, Ben Haddad, Nikki Clay, Doug Sawyer, Joseph Craver, Anne Evans and Stephen Cushman.The 60-plus Republican and registered-independent business leaders include:R=Republican
I=independentSam Attisha (R)
Kayvon K. Agahnia (R)
Theresa Andrews (I)
Javed Bhaghani (I)
Craig Benedetto (R)
Dave Bialis (I)
Phil Blair (R) *
Tom Blair (I)
Jeff Bowman (R)
Malin Burnham (R)
Mark Cafferty (I)
Dr. Allen Chan (R)
Ben Clay (R)
Nikki Clay (R) *
Joe Craver (R) *
Dennis Cruzan (I)
Steve Cushman (R) *
Scott Dickey (R)
Illia Dickey (R)
Mike Dorvillier (R)
Anne Evans (R) *
Kierin Gallahue (I)
Ben Haddad (R) *
Jack Harkins (R)
Judith Harris (R)
Chanelle Hawken (R)
Dr. Robert Hertzka (R)
Claudia Johnson (R)
Jeff Johnson (R)
Donna Jones (I)
Keith Jones (R)
Stath Karras (R) **
Mel Katz (R) *
Richard Ledford (R)
Greg Lucier (R)
Lani Lutar (I)
Fred Maas (R)
Jim Madaffer (I)
Tony Manolatos (I)
Greg McKee (R) ***
Richard Meyer (R)
Kris Michell (R)
Ali Mojdehi (I)
Mitch Mulanix (R)
Hon. Dick Murphy (R)
Tom Murphy (R)
Mike Niggli (R) *
Joe Panetta (R) ****
Joe Pitrofsky (R)
Dr. Mitch Poiset (R)
Hon. Pam Slater-Price (R)
Bob Rauch (I)
Stephanie Saathoff (R)
Lauree Sahba (R)
Doug Sawyer (R) *
Dr. Robert Singer (R)
Mark Stevenson (R)
Suzanne Varco (R)
Chris Wahl (I)
John Weil (R)
Tom Wornham (R) *
Julie Meier Wright (I)
Alan Ziegaus (R)
* Indicates former Chair, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
** Former Chair, San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation
*** President, CEO, CONNECT
**** President and CEO, BIOCOMM
Titles for identification purposes only.