Ryan Carter
Illegal aliens are costing the state billions of dollars in health
and education costs, and William Bodell wants to do something about
it.
"We need to reform legal and illegal immigration and control the
borders," he said, sitting in his insurance brokerage office in
Montrose.
Bodell, a La Crescenta resident who recently completed a term as
an alternate member of the Crescenta Valley Town Council, wants to
win the March 2 Republican primary and take on Rep. Adam Schiff
(D-Glendale) in the fall's general election.
In the primary, he is competing against Harry Scolinos of Arcadia
and Reza Torchizy of Glendale.
Bodell said he is a unique candidate because he is not an attorney
like Schiff.
"I think a person like me is exactly what the forefathers
intended, a citizen with a family running his own business," Bodell
said.
Bodell has staked his candidacy for the 29th District -- which
spans from Burbank to Temple City -- on a push to restrain
immigration, bolster the nation's military and put barriers on trade.
He has also said he would move to demand that Turkey apologize for
its role in the Armenian Genocide. An estimated 1.5 million Armenians
were killed between 1915 and 1923 by the Ottoman Turkish empire.
Though the majority of voters in the district are Democrats,
Bodell said the area -- with its diversity of Armenian, Latino and
Korean populations -- is basically conservative.
"This district is a microcosm of America," he said.
