By Neil Farrell

The dash to run for Congress, in the wake of Lois Capps’ announcement that she is retiring, got a little more crowded, when the local State Assemblyman tossed his hat into the ring.
Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian (R-SLO) on April 17 officially announced that he will run for Capps’ 24th Congressional District seat. Katcho has been the local State Assemblyman since 2010. Prior to that he was a three-term County Supervisor and before that was on the Arroyo Grande City Council.
He is in his third and final term as the 35th Assembly District Assemblyman and is being term limited out in 2016. The 35th District includes SLO County unincorporated areas, and the cities of Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Grover Beach, Guadalupe, Lompoc, Morro Bay, Paso Robles, Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Maria.
Katcho made his announcement on the steps of the Santa Barbara County Courthouse to a crowd of supporters. “For over a decade,” he said, “I have had the privilege of serving in both local and state government. I have found common sense solutions to the challenges we have faced on both the local and state levels. Doing so has not always been easy, but by finding common ground and working together, I believe the central coast is capable of moving in the right direction.”
Among the supporters was former Santa Barbara County Supervisor Brooks Firestone, who said, “The people of San Luis Obispo County have strongly elected him three times as Supervisor and three times as Assembly member.”
Katcho was born in Lebanon, moved to California as a student, and has been a naturalized U.S. citizen since 1982. He attended Cuesta College and graduated from Cal Poly with a degree in business administration. He is a businessman with gas stations in the South County. He and wife Araxie were married in 1984 and have a son, Hratch, and daughter, Nyri.
As for Katcho’s Assembly seat, Democrat Heidi Harmon, who lost to Katcho in 2014, has said she will try once again for the seat.
The race to replace Capps already has Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider and Republican Justin Fareed announcing that they will run. Fareed challenged Capps in the 2014 June Primary Election but finished in the middle of an 8-person race.