GOP hopes to reclaim McNerney's congressional seat in November

MediaNews via CoCoTimes ^ | 4/30/8 | Frank Davies, MediaNews Washington Bureau

[SmithL]

WASHINGTON — Local congressman Jerry McNerney, a freshman Democrat, has emerged as one of the Republicans’ top targets in Congress this year, making the race in his district that rarity in California politics — a national battleground contest and a true toss-up.

In 2006, McNerney pulled off one of the big upsets of the year when he knocked out Republican Richard Pombo, a committee chairman who earned the ire of environmental groups. Now efforts by the GOP to retake the district, which stretches from Stockton through Alameda County to Morgan Hill, ensures an expensive campaign and one of the state’s most competitive.

McNerney has raised $1.6 million through March, making him the 10th leading fundraiser among 42 freshmen Democrats, according to new campaign finance reports. He received $29,000 from the Democrats’ congressional campaign committee and $10,000 from Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s leadership political action committee.

His challenger, former Assemblyman Dean Andal of Stockton, has raised $638,681 and benefited from TV and radio spots from a GOP group that is trying to oust McNerney and 14 other House Democrats. Additionally, 50 GOP House members have pledged to donate $1,000 each to a handful of challengers, including Andal.

Other Bay Area House members — all Democrats — have large financial and political advantages over GOP opponents. Reps. Zoe Lofgren, Mike Honda, Anna Eshoo and Pete Stark have GOP opponents, but the Republicans have filed no campaign finance reports yet.

The reports for the first quarter of the year also show that Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Democrat serving her third full term, has stepped up her fundraising heading into a 2010 re-election campaign. She raised $456,158 for the quarter, bringing her total to $3.1 million.

So far, no Republican has emerged to take on Boxer, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has dismissed speculation that he might challenge her.

Boxer also has her own political action committee, or PAC, separate from her campaign account. In 10 years, her PAC for a Change has raised about $4 million from 300,000 people and donated the funds to Democrats around the country.

In recent years, competitive Senate and House races in the state have been rare. California’s 53 congressional districts were carefully drawn to protect incumbents and discourage potential challengers.

But the McNerney-Andal race is rated one of 15 “pure toss-ups” in the nation by the Rothenberg Political Report, a non-partisan newsletter, for two reasons: the well-financed environmental groups that helped oust Pombo achieved their goal and the Central Valley district is the only one in the Bay Area with a plurality of Republicans (41.3 percent to 38.4 percent Democrats).

President Bush carried McNerney’s district in 2000 and 2004.

“Environmental groups spent a significant amount of money against Pombo, and that incentive to invest heavily is gone,” said Nathan Gonzales, political editor of the newsletter. And even though the district has become more of a suburb of San Francisco and Silicon Valley, it is still “trending Republican,” he added.

Some of the contributions to McNerney and Andal, and the heavy involvement of both parties, reflect the high stakes of the race. A growing number of House Democrats in the state — George Miller, Howard Berman, Xavier Becerra, Lois Capps, Jane Harman, along with Honda, Lofgren and Stark — have contributed $2,000 each from their campaigns to McNerney.

McNerney, a scientist and wind-power engineer, has collected $593,157 in PAC money, from traditional liberal and union groups to the American Bankers Association, AT&T and the National Association of Realtors.

All of Andal’s individual contributions have come from California, and 84 percent of McNerney’s are from within the state, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign money.

But both are receiving PAC money from national political groups and campaigns. Andal, who owns a marketing company serving banks and real estate interests, has received donations from the campaigns of Reps. Darrell Issa, Mary Bono and Wally Herger, all California Republicans. Another group of House Republicans called the Young Guns, co-chaired by Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, has started raising money for Andal and 16 other GOP challengers.

Democrats currently have a 235-197 majority in the House with three vacancies, and Pelosi has launched an aggressive fundraising effort to protect vulnerable new members such as McNerney.

Republicans face an uphill battle to recapture the House this fall, and Andal will get plenty of help from GOP groups “because he has one of the best chances of retaking a seat,” Gonzales said.

The Federal Election Commission Web site (www.fec.gov) and the Center for Responsive Politics (www.opensecrets.org) have campaign finance data through the first quarter of this year.

[caseinpoint]

I will contribute to this race long before I will give to the national party.