Reader input: Comparing U.S. Rep. LaMalfa with Congressional District 1 challenger Denney

One of the most important issues facing us in Congressional District 1, especially during this time of COVID-19, is healthcare. Let's take a look at how Republican Doug LaMalfa (the incumbent) has voted and compare his actions with those of his Democratic challenger, Audrey Denney. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been a saving grace for most people in our rural district. With this law (aka Obamacare), insurance companies can't drop people due to pre-existing conditions. Other benefits to the ACA include the fact that children up to age 26 can be covered under their parents' insurance, medical costs are held in check, and mental health is covered. The onslaught of COVID-19 has made matters worse because anyone who has had this virus now has a "pre-existing condition." What has LaMalfa done to protect his constituents? He has voted dozens of times to kill the ACA. If we "follow the money" to find out who has donated to his campaign, we can see he is funded by corporate Political Action Committees (PACs), including Big Pharma. In contrast, Denney has actively promoted the ACA and pledged to keep making it even better. Furthermore, she only takes contributions from individual donors, not PACs. In fact, despite LaMalfa's name recognition and built-in power as an incumbent, Denney has outraised LaMalfa with small, individual contributions. One more thing ... why has LaMalfa refused at least six times to debate with Denney? LaMalfa has avoided town halls since 2017, and he has ignored multiple requests over many months from Denney to discuss the issues. It seems he doesn't want to answer why he voted against emergency assistance for our families and small businesses during COVID. At the last minute, Oct. 8, LaMalfa finally agreed to a Candidate Forum with Denney, organized by the League of Women Voters. It will take place Oct. 14 from 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Even so, LaMalfa said he would not participate if local media representatives were involved. The forum is co-sponsored by Nevada County Media, and will be live-streamed on its website: http://www.nevadacountymedia.org/programming. People can submit questions in advance via info@lwvwnc.org. The question deadline is noon Tuesday. What is LaMalfa hiding? Vote for Audrey Denney because she will stand up for us and protect our healthcare. Susan Roughgarden Auburn