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Candidate to complete 5,000-mile statewide bicycle tour with Huntington Beach rally

by in News
Mark Meuser, Republican candidate for California Secretary of State, is seen in a selfie from his more-than-5,000-mile bicycle tour of the state in which he visited all 58 counties. He is set to end the tour Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, with a rally in Huntington Beach. (Photo courtesy of Mark Meuser for Secretary of State)

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Republican secretary of state candidate Mark Meuser is set to complete what he describes as a more-than-5,000-mile bicycle tour of California Thursday in Huntington Beach.

Meuser began what he’s dubbed as the #ElectionsMatter Bike Tour July 9 in Contra Costa County in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. He said he averaged over 100 miles and conducted two rallies a day, visiting all of the state’s 58 counties.

Meuser said he undertook the ride because it combines two things he loves — going for long bike rides and talking to voters.

“This bike tour is a great opportunity for me to discuss with all Californians the need to improve voter integrity in this state,” Meuser wrote on his campaign’s website before the start of the tour.

 Meuser plans to end his bicycle tour Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, with a We Made It Rally,” from 2 to 4 p.m. in LeBard Park in Huntington Beach. (Photo courtesy of Mark Meuser for Secretary of State)

Meuser also used the tour as a fundraising vehicle, asking supporters to donate a designated amount for each mile ridden.

The ride will conclude with what Meuser has dubbed the “We Made It Rally,” from 2 to 4 p.m. in LeBard Park in Huntington Beach.

A rally is also planned for 10 to 11 a.m. in the parking lot of the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center.

Meuser is a Walnut Creek attorney who has promised to “improve voters confidence in our elections, modernize the registration process for businesses and enhance the people’s ability to use their initiative process” if elected.

Meuser also pledged to be “an innovative secretary of state who uses every tool to enhance not only (voter) registration, but civic engagement.”

“Californians continue to communicate clearly with their elected representatives and yet, nothing changes,” Meuser said. “My unique background and training have taught me to listen to people, craft simple solutions to the complex issues they’re facing and work tirelessly to help them overcome those challenges.”

Democratic incumbent Alex Padilla “has made it a priority to modernize the agency since Day 1,” said Ellie Caple, a representative of Padilla’s re-election campaign.

“He launched online pre-registration for 16 and 17 year olds so that they can vote as soon as they turn 18; he launched an app for the agency so that the public can access the agency’s information from their devices; he is digitizing the filing process so that business owners don’t continue to drown in confusing paperwork, and he partnered with Google to digitize and publish state records and archives online,” Caple told City News Service

According to biographical information supplied by his campaign, Meuser is a small business legal advocate, entrepreneur and small business owner.

When Meuser was 12 years old, he would pick cherries in the morning and then operate a street-side stand in the afternoon. He would also care for orphaned animals, bottle-feeding sheep, pigs, and cows, according to the biography.

At age 15, Meuser was in a management position at a restaurant and purchased a pizza restaurant when he was 21, the biography said.

Meuser said when he was a boy, he saw a Saturday afternoon sports special on an Ironman Triathlon, which consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride, and a 26-mile, 385-yard marathon run, which ingrained a desire in him to complete an Ironman.

Meuser registered to participate in Ironman Tahoe in 2014, which was canceled at the last minute due to the local forest fires. As Meuser rode his bicycle back to his car, he was in what he described as devastating bicycle accident, with a cardiologist, who was in a vehicle right behind the accident site, immediately performing what Meuser called “life-saving CPR.”

Meuser tried again to compete in Ironman Tahoe in 2015. He was 30 minutes into the swim when he had a hard time breathing and his legs and arms cramped and was unable to finish. Meuser said he discovered that he had cramped because he was allergic to latex and he was wearing a latex wetsuit.

Meuser tried again three months later, finishing the Ironman Cozumel in 12 hours and 45 minutes, he said.