U.S. Rep. Shelly Berkley told a crowd at a Carson City coffee shop Thursday, Aug. 16, that Social Security and Medicare are under attack by Senate opponent U.S. Sen. Dean Heller and the Republican presidential ticket.

Many in the crowd were seniors. Berkley told them to remember what it was like for the elderly before Social Security was enacted in 1935.

“They had no income and no hope,” she said, adding that one-third of her constituency are seniors who live off monthly Social Security checks that average $1,147.

Berkley, D-Las Vegas, linked Heller, a Republican from Carson City, to the Romney-Ryan ticket. Vice-presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan to reduce the deficit, well-received among Republicans, is “radical, ill-conceived” legislation that would harm seniors, the poor and the middle class, she said.

“I’d say Medicare is facing its biggest threat since it was created in 1965,” Berkley told about 50 people who gathered at a coffee house across the street from the Nevada Legislature.

Berkley has been outpacing Heller in fundraising. Her campaign raised more than $1.5 million in the April-through-June quarter, compared with $1.2 million raised by Heller.

Also in the race is David Lory VanderBeek of the Independent American Party, a therapist from Pahrump.