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WASHINGTON — 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 tossup. In 2006, McNerney pulled off one of the big upsets of the year when he knocked off 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 should be one of the...

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...

Registration tilts the GOP's way. A California secretary of state's report from December shows the 11th District is 42.1 percent registered Republicans and 37.5 percent registered Democrats. Carl Fogliani, a political consultant based in the district who worked with Pombo two years ago, said Republicans have every reason to think they'll take back the seat this year. Party registration and Andal's strong name recognition without the baggage Pombo had are two reasons, he said. And there are others. "You have a Congress with lower approval ratings than President Bush, which is what Democrats are always talking about," said Fogliani, who...

WASHINGTON -- If you want to know what Rep. Jerry McNerney has been up to since he won national recognition in November as the Democratic dragon-slayer who knocked controversial House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo out of office, just look at his campaign fundraising reports. McNerney is working around the clock to keep his job. When the House is in session, fellow Democrats are giving him lots of help adding small victories to his growing pile of legislative accomplishments. When he's in his district, which is just about every weekend -- he spent one weekend on a congressional tour of...

WASHINGTON - Rep. Keith Ellison, Congress' only Muslim, made a weekend trip to Iraq, where a pair of sheiks urged him to help counter al-Qaida's vision of Islam. Ellison, D-Minn., said he met in Ramadi with the two sheiks, who oversee several hundred thousand congregants. "They were very upset and concerned that al-Qaida is misrepresenting Islam," Ellison told reporters Monday during a conference call from Germany on his way back to the U.S. "And they were talking to me about what I can possibly do to work with them to give a clearer, more accurate picture of what Islam is...

Rep. Jerry McNerney, the first-term Democratic congressman from Pleasanton who unseated seven-term lawmaker Richard Pombo in November, is a marked man -- targeted by his own party and the Republicans with the next election almost two years away. McNerney, a wind energy expert by training and a newly elected official by will and circumstance, is a prime beneficiary of what could be called the Democratic Party's Freshman Protection Act. Party leaders have given him prime committee assignments, coveted floor time during legislative debates on ethics and renewable energy in the opening weeks of the 110th Congress, and plenty of strategic...

This just in: Actor and stem cell research activist Michael J. Fox has endorsed Democratic nominee Jerry McNerney of Pleasanton for congressional District 11. McNerney is in a tight race with GOP incumbent Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy. Fox has been actively campaigning this year with the Democratic Party for embryonic stem cell research. Pombo, along with many conservative Republicans and President George W. Bush, oppose the practice because it involves the destruction of human embryos. Here's the text of the Democrat's press release: MICHAEL J FOX ENDORSES JERRY MCNERNEY FOR CONGRESS Cites Support for Stem Cell Research Today Michael J....

Former President Clinton swooped into Northern California on Wednesday to raise campaign cash and rally support for Proposition 87 and a Democrat who is making an unexpectedly strong challenge to Republican Rep. Richard Pombo. Proposition 87 would raise $4 billion for research into alternative energy by taxing the oil pumped in California. Opponents, mostly oil companies, have raised more than $80 million to defeat it, while supporters have raised more than $50 million, making it the most expensive ballot fight in California history. "It looks to me that the opponents are spending $100 million dollars to swell the 'I don't...

The first independent poll in Congressional District 11 shows incumbent Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, and Democratic challenger Jerry McNerney locked in a statistical dead heat. In another sign of the tight campaign, the Cook Political Report, which tracks congressional races, has upgraded its ranking of the race to a tossup. "This doesn't mean that we're saying McNerney is going to win," said analyst Amy Walter at the Cook Report. "But it's close enough that we can no longer give Pombo the benefit of the doubt." The Cook decision was unrelated to the poll because "it was an automated poll," Cook...

Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, has demanded a Sacramento area cable company pull a campaign ad placed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The television spot said Pombo voted to hike his congressional salary eight times while voting against a $1,500 bonus for troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. "The ad is entirely false," wrote Pombo campaign consultant Wayne Johnson in a letter to Comcast, which broadcasts in the San Joaquin County portion of District 11. "The advertisement contains patently false and deliberately deceptive information that is little more than a smear and should not be allowed to air." The Democratic...

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has entered the contentious race between Democratic nominee Jerry McNerney and GOP Rep. Richard Pombo, signalling that the party's internal polling may be favorable for the challenger. An ad funded by the committee starts running today in the Sacramento TV market, according to spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield. The cost won't be known until the committee posts its expenses on the Federal Election Commission website, per 24-hour reporting rules. Click here to view the ad. The spot accuses Pombo of voting to raise his own salary eight times -- worth $31,000 -- but voted in 2003 against...

The Democratic challenger to Republican Rep. Richard Pombo on Monday said the congressman should demand the resignation of House Speaker Dennis Hastert over his role in the congressional page scandal. Democrat Jerry McNerney also said Pombo should return any money Hastert, R-Ill., had raised for him in the past. McNerney's demands come as the page scandal is roiling Congress a month before the Nov. 7 election, when Democrats hope to take control of the House. Republican Rep. Mark Foley resigned from his Florida congressional seat after it was reported that he had sent suggestive e-mails and instant messages to teenage...

Republican Reps. Richard Pombo of Tracy and John Doolittle of Rocklin are preparing for President Bush's visit to California next week to generate campaign cash for their re-election bids, while Democratic activists are urging the party faithful in the Bay Area to head to San Joaquin County and the Sacramento Valley to help unseat the incumbents. "With the Bay Area's help, we can take back these districts," said Gary Lucks, founder of the group Progressive Action-East Bay, which is helping organize ground troops and raise money for the two Democrats running against Pombo and Doolittle. "Over the next five weeks,...

Congressional District 11 Democratic candidate Jerry McNerney has prevailed in an on-line voting contest to determine which candidate would win fundraising support from Democracy for America. Democracy for America is a grassroots liberal organization inspired by the presidential candidacy of Howard Dean and now run by his brother, Jim. According to DFA's web site, "here's what your contributions to McNerney will mean: $25 brings Jerry's message to 50 voters via mail. $50 buys 25 lawn signs for grassroots supporters. $100 gets Jerry valuable time on a local radio station. $250 helps Jerry compete with (incumbent Rep. Richard) Pombo (R-Tracy) on...

In McNerney, Boeing gets a leader who is familiar with the aerospace industry and has experience running a large, complex manufacturing company. Having served on Boeing's board for three-and-a-half years, he's also no stranger to the Chicago-based aerospace giant. Shareholders appeared happy with the company's choice. Boeing shares gained $4.32, or 7%, to $65.99 by midday.

Two alleged victims of clergy sex abuse on Monday described the decision to reinstate a retired priest accused of having two boys masturbate in front of him back in the 1960s as a "blatant" example of the Albany Diocesan Misconduct Board's inability to eradicate corruption, immorality and pedophilia within the church. The Albany Diocese's over-the-phone announcement on Friday of the clearing of Rev. Louis Douglas for a third time came just one day before the Albany Diocese reinstated Schenectady priest Rev. Alan Jupin and removed Troy priest Rev. James McNerney amid allegations he sexually abused a minor in the 1980s....