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Two O.C. Reps could have real race in 2010, study says
November 2nd, 2009, 1:09 pm · 25 Comments · posted by Dena Bunis, Washington Bureau Chief
Reps. Ken Calvert, R-Corona and Loretta Sanchez,D-Santa Ana, are listed as potentially vulnerable in a new analysis of the 2010 congressional races in California by Claremont McKenna College’s Rose Institute of State and Local Government.
The analysis, which you can look at here, lists eight of California’s 53 congressional districts. They picked these districts, the piece says, based on how much money has been raised by the candidates, what the margin of victory was for the incumbents in 2008 and the race is being targeted by either the Democrats or Republicans.
Rep. Ken Calvert
Bill Hedrick
In Calvert’s case, school board member and union leader Bill Hedrick lost by only 2 percent. He hasn’t raised much money for this second try at Calvert and the GOP has realized it had better pay attention to this race.
The post says Calvert needs to capitalize on his advantage in campaign money and that last time the incumbent was surprised by Hedrick’s strong challenge. Calvert has told me he’s not going to let that happen again.
Rep. Loretta Sanchez
Assemblyman Van Tran
Sanchez, the piece says, hasn’t raised as much money in the past and her likely challenger, Assemblyman Van Tran was put in the National Republican Congressional Committee’s Young Guns program. The post correctly points out, however, than Tran hasn’t been moved up the ladder in the NRCC program because he fell short in fundraising.
Sanchez hasn’t had a serious challenge in recent years but always runs flat out, including raising lots of money. She still has twice as much money in her treasury as Tran does now and is expected to beef up her fundraising efforts.
With the election exactly a year away it’s still a little early to be handicapping these districts and much could change. But it’s not often that Orange County congressional races are on anyone’s radar screen so it could be shaping up to be an interesting 2010 election season.
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DENA BUNIS, Washington bureau chief, 202-628-6381 or dbunis@ocregister.com
BRIAN JOSEPH, Sacramento correspondent, 916-449-6046 or bjoseph@ocregister.com
JENNIFER MUIR, County government reporter, 714-796-7813 or jmuir@ocregister.com
JOEL WALSH, Washington bureau intern, 202-628-6381 or jwalsh@ocregister.com
MARTIN WISCKOL, Politics reporter, 714-285-2867 or mwisckol@ocregister.com twitter.com/MartinWisckol
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I hope the GOP runs someone against Calvert. His support for the homebuyer tax payer rip off scheme is unconscionable. For every $8,000 given away, the IRS is making life a living hell for another taxpayer suffering the hardships of this ecconomy by laying siege to the working capital of American businesses.
DO NOT VOTE FOR VAN TRAN.
He is a bad politician and liar to his supporterS.
VOTE FOR LORETTA SANCHEZ
Why? what has she ever done to help the good taxpayers of O.C.?
Throw all the incumbants out.
That’s really a dumb way to approach things. Not all incumbents have voted or acted the same. some have been fiscally conservative while others of both parties have porked out.
Rather than voting for or against incumbents just because the person is an incumbent, instead check their record and if you don’t like it, don’t vote for them, but if you do, do vote for them. Of course taking into account who else is running.
Sometimes we get stuck with choices between so-so and bad.
What does it matter? Whoever wins will have to be either a strong conservative or a blue-dog. Sanchez has to take a very conservative stand most of the time anyway. She is no help to progressives. But if the District goes Republican, then both Calvert and Van Tran will be too conservative to help their districts much at all.
“Progressives.” What a joke.
Sanchez votes with Nancy Pelosi 97% percent of the time. Some Blue Dog.
The GOP needs to run someone besides Calvert. He has done nothing for his constituents for years. Hedrick could win not because he would be a voters first choice but because Calvert is likely to be the voters last choice.
I wish our election system could be changed. I think we should be able to vote for the candidate we choose as we do currently. But, we should also be able to vote for a candidate we absolutely do not want in office. Sanchez would win the latter race.
How about none of the above. I am sick of choosing some Union puppet vs. Corporate asskisser. VOTE ALL INCUMBENTS OUT OF OFFICE.
Baloney. Check their voting records. You oversimplify. Sure there are ones on either side that aren’t so good, but others are standing up for taxpayers.
Of course I’m not in either of these districts so I’m not directly involved.
Politicians should have the same dollar amount given to them by some governing body. It always seems that the person who raises the most money wins, in effect making them beholdened to some private interest. It’s time for the politicians to be real leaders and not some corporate mouthpiece under the guise of fairness.
backeast,
As long as the two-party system reigns it will never happen. Two sides of the same coin. Masters at the divide ‘n conquer technique. That’s their ace in the hole to retain power. Money is the fuel for their propoganda. The corporations play the music (in the form of campaign loot) while the dem and pub politicians dance in unison at their pleasure. In a sentence, that’s how your country is run.
Don’t overlook union mouthpieces. Unions have a lot of money extracted from their members who may not even agree with the liberal choices they support.
No, no, no to same dollar contributions for candidates from a governing. That governing body would be using taxpayer dollars and I prefer sending my donations directly to the person of my choice.
I do know that Rep. Calvert has provided leadership in increasing the number of math and science teachers in our public schools. He also sponsors events that will help students become involved in math and science. He has provided the leadership as well as using his funds for these purposes. Unlike some Republicans, Rep. Calvert supports public education and teachers.
I can’t comment on the statement that he has done nothing for his constituents for years but I do know he was a supporter of an additional route to connect the inland empire to Orange County - that would be a big boost for the folks forced to make that grueling drive every day. He is also an active and personal supporter of those in the military.
Also, Rep Calvert was a leader in e-verify. He wants to require all businesses to verify potential employees are legally eligible to work and are not illegal aliens taking jobs from those who are citizens or here legally. That benefits all of us.
What has Calvert done to provide leadership in increasing the number of math and science teachers? First of all he NEVER supports education or teachers. Second, he has nothing to do with the California budget or school district budgets that hire/fire any teachers much less specific math/science teachers.
What has Calvert done to provide leadership for the people of his district in the area of jobs? In the area of promoting new industries? Calvert has had 15 years in Congress and has done nothing for his district. He’s lined his own pockets and that’s about it.
Throw all the incumbents out!
I’m hoping Campbell gets a primary challenge. First he voted yes on the bailout, then cash for clunkers!
2010 is going to be a wave election for Republicans, but what is the point if we have the current batch of RINOs in office
I attended the Tea Party event in SJC a while ago, and I can say we are not too happy with our current Representative.
I wouldn’t count on that fantasy of a ‘wave election for Republicans’ happening if they continue to be obstructionist pigs.
Well I didn’t like all of Campbell’s votes, but I like a lot of what he stands for. And probably better than any challenger. He has stood against pork.
And is standing against the health care “reform” boondoggle pointing out how many new agencies would be created by the Pelosi bill.
Be careful of what you wish for. You could get someone worse. I sure wouldn’t call Campbell a RINO, although I did not support cash for clunkers which seemed like union payback to me. So don’t just vote out incumbents. Compare their voting records all around–not just on a couple of things, vs whoever may be running against them.
Anyone else notice that the types of employment that have benefited the most from the stimulus bill have been those dominated by unions such as the auto industry and construction.
I don’t disagree with you, but I feel this is the only way to keep him honest. His office hardly ever answer my questions when I call, and when I do get more than a 2 minute conversation they can be very rude and condescending!
It’s nice he fights against pork, but its a tiny fraction of the budget.
We shouldn’t have to compromise on our core conservative values in these red districts! Let DeVore run for that seat. He has no chance against Boxer anyways and actually shows up to tea party events and speaks to OUR issues!
Campbell didn’t even weigh in on the NY-23 race!!!
In a district with 65% Hispanic population and a huge advantage in cash,registration and incumbency, Sanchez is in no danger at all.
then you might want explain how two vietnamese were the two top vote getters in the supervisor race that also covers that area.
Tran’s problem will be how to counter all the ballots generated after the election by the Sanchez crowd.
Why no mention of Quang Pham? He has a real shot at beating Tran in the primary - and would be a far more dangerous opponent for Sanchez, given that Pham is a moderate while Tran is a typical knuckle-dragging Republican hack.
We all work hard for our money and about this so called tax relief for 2009 and 2010 be aware you might get a bigger paycheck but beleive me you have to pay it back. my husband and I usually break even but htis year we owe the so called governement over $2000.00 dollars so where is the positive in that. I would rather have the correct amount taken out of my paycheck then have to owe the next year. now we have to raise our witholdings that come out so this did not do any good as far as Iam concerned