2012 PRIMARY ELECTION: 2ND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

A rabble-rouser known for singing at Reno City Council meetings, a state employee hoping to ride the new media to victory, and a Puerto Rico-born liberal are competing in the Democratic primary for the 2nd Congressional District seat.

Sam Dehne, Samuel Koepnick and Xiomara Rodriguez, respectively, are opponents in the primary, with the winner facing a "Mission Impossible" general election against Republican Rep. Mark Amodei in November. Amodei has no primary, but he does have historical precedent. A Democrat has never won the seat since its creation with the election in 1982. Republicans hold a 31,000-registered-voter lead over Democrats.

None of the three Democrats has held office or is well-known in the district, which sometimes has been written off by the party. In one election, no Democrat ran. In another, the Democratic candidate was a teacher challenged by her elementary school class to give it a try.

Dehne is a government watchdog who has shown up at almost every Reno council meeting since 1994, sings funny political songs at the meetings, has posted hundreds of his appearances on YouTube, and runs for something every two years.

If he wins, he said he will treat federal money "as it is my own money." He intends to make changes to Medicare so it can last decades longer.

He was arrested in 2000 during a Reno-Tahoe International Airport Authority meeting after the chairman, Richard Hill, accused him of shouting and disrupting it. Dehne said charges were never filed, but he filed a lawsuit over the arrest and four years later a federal court judge ruled his removal was justified.

Today he calls himself a "kinder, gentler Sam." He said his entire career has been devoted to "trying to rouse people from complacency."

Koepnick decided to run as an "experiment" to see if he could win by using the Internet, Twitter and Facebook. A former Republican who left the party because it no longer "represents the people," he said he can win a race where there is a general unfamiliarity with the candidates.

He favors repealing the Patriot Act and other "bad laws." He wants to bring American troops home from overseas. He also backs the "Buffett rule," which would force millionaires to pay a higher rate of taxes than their secretaries.

Koepnick noted that the age of a typical congressman is getting older, now 61, compared with just 43 when George Washington was president. "When the economy is in a downturn, you turn to youth for change. You don't stay the course."

A loser in an Assembly race in 2010, Puerto Rico-born Rodriguez said Republicans in Congress deliberately are scuttling attempts by President Barack Obama to improve the economy because they back "the party over the people."

She said she is running for Congress because of her background in the Coast Guard.

"The Coasties are the smokies of the sea; we jump in and save people. I believe the country is going in the wrong direction and I want to jump in and help. We need to create jobs and we need equitable tax reform."

She also believes in the Buffett rule, opposes subsidies to oil companies, and supports the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the 2010 health care reform bill.

"Every one of us is one step from bankruptcy. You have a medical condition not covered by insurance and you lose your house."

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.