Brad Sherman, the U.S. Congressman for the 27th District, will defend his House seat this November from two challengers, one of which is running for a very personal reason.

One of Sherman’s opponents on Election Day is Republican Navraj Singh, a former business owner.

In March 2006, Singh’s son, Sirta Singh, 24, was killed in a car accident on the 405 Freeway when he was coming home from a Lakers game.

Sirta was a communications major at CSUN and a newlywed. Singh said he tried to talk to Sherman about his son’s death but that he was told by the congressman’s office that he does not meet with the public.

Singh said another reason he is running for Sherman’s seat is to make sure that people have a voice to which a congressman will listen. Singh said he is out knocking on doors from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and standing in front businesses to get the word out to the public to vote for him.

“I think I’m going to win the race,” Singh said. “People are very excited about what I have to say.”

“A lot of them say they have never even seen their congressman,” Singh said.

If he were to win the election, Singh said he would not take the salary that comes with the job. He said he would donate it to soldiers coming back from the Iraq War, as well as to firemen.

He would also pay for his own health insurance, along with the flights back and forth from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, because he is able to pay for these on his own, Singh said.

Most people Singh meets with want to talk about the current issue of same-sex marriage. His stance is that marriage is between a man and a woman, Singh said.

Sherman’s other challenger is Libertarian Tim Denton, a biology professor at Los Angeles Trade Tech College.

Denton, as a Libertarian, said that more things should be as voluntary as possible. He said the principle right now is that people are making rules for other people.

He believes that it should be up to the individual to be a part of that choice, Denton said.

A lot of people with which Denton speaks like this idea. He said that because people are so used to voting for either a Republican or a Democrat, they do not think to vote for another party.

Denton said the public should get away from voting because this becomes a “majority way of ruling things if you are the majority.”

People look at the government as the “magnificent” when it gives things to the people, but what they seem to forget is that they (the government) were the ones that took it or would not give it to them in the first place, Denton said.

What tends to happen is that the people start to depend on the government, and, therefore, become less critical because they start believing in the government, Denton said.

Giving the public a choice and not a vote will get more people involved and help to “protect the people from themselves,” Denton said.

The main topics that Sherman said he is hearing from the public are gas prices, the Iraq War and the mortgage crisis. A pamphlet put out by Sherman shows that he co-sponsored the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act that will help those in danger of losing their homes refinance with lower-cost government- insured mortgages.

As for gas prices, Sherman said that people should not expect prices to decrease anytime soon because of speculation.

Sherman said he is in the process of helping to co-sponsor legislation that should help.

He said he is not worried about not winning his re-election bid because he received most of the votes against his opponents in the primaries.

Election day is on Nov. 4 this year. Sherman has held his House seat for the last 12 years, and he said he expects his track record will help him win.

“I’m doing a good job,” Sherman said. “And I hope the people think so.”