Remainders
Carly Fiorina defended and promised more of the wildly popular (and widely-mocked) "demon sheep" advertisements.
In a video released on the web, Meg Whitman received flack from the conservative base for disavowing a supporter that said they were a "proud racist." Whitman released a television ad that begins airing today.
Fresno Bee: Steve Poizner backed a voter initiative that led to $40 billion in more taxes.
A new poll showed Gavin Newsom leading the field of Democrats -- Janice Hahn and Dean Florez -- for lieutenant governor. Newsom "shot down" such a run a month ago but the San Francisco Chronicle believes the San Francisco mayor ain't out yet.
Jackie Speier ruled out running for the state's top cop job. Kamala Harris raised $1 million in the last six months but Chris Kelly leads the field in cash-on-hand, while Republican Steve Cooley is getting hammered by conservative activists.
Republicans collectively raised several hundred thousand to unseat Jerry McNerney in CA-11 while most lent themselves a huge chunk of their campaign cash.
Richard Pombo raised $260,000 campaigning for a return bid to Congress in CA-19.
San Ramon Mayor Abram Wilson (R) outraised the AD-15 Democratic incumbent, Joan Buchanan.
CA-11: Few Differences Between GOP Candidates
GOP candidates assemble in Manteca. (Photo by Clifford Oto/Stockton Record)
Last night's 11th Congressional District candidate forum proved rather uneventful -- there was few differences on the issues, like on Afghanistan.
(Brad Goehring supports Obama's efforts to send more forces to Afghanistan. David Harmer believes 30,000 forces are not enough. Jeff Takada said the nation needs someone better at the helm than Obama to deal with the war, however, he's previously staunchly opposed the war altogether believing it to be a "death wish," and stated he would sponsor legislation bringing American forces home.)
Goehring needled on Harmer's carpetbagging, which the latter responded to, but Robert Beadles spiced things up a bit in his final two minutes as he confronted Goehring as behind the raid on his business:
But candidate Robert Beadles took off the gloves during closing statements when he accused fellow candidate Brad Goehring or one of his supporters of accusing Beadles of stealing property. "Brad, would you please do something about this?" Beadles said before a large crowd at Crossroads Grace Community Church in Manteca.
Stockton Record reporter Zachary K. Johnson adds:
He said it appeared his political competition was working alongside business competition against him and that he had filed lawsuits earlier that day.
"This was all politically motivated," he said. "This is why honest, hardworking individuals don't want to get involved in the political process."
Goehring, however, deflected the charges.
Goehring didn't respond during the forum, but he said afterward that he wants to run a clean campaign. He said he's been told by advisers that as the front-runner, competitors will take shots at him.
Regardless, Beadles plans to file a lawsuit.
Beadles said that he filed lawsuits Monday morning against who he believes was responsible, but did not name any specific names in relation to the pending legal matter.
It appears this race comes down to establishment-backed frontrunner Harmer and self-funder Goehring until another candidate can make a move in the fundraising game. Goehring's challenge will be to solidify support of the base and fashion himself as the candidate of the grassroots fighting the D.C.-picked Harmer.
Update See here for clarification.
Remainders
Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget plan would strip cities and counties of cash. Darrell Steinberg, top Democrat in the State Senate, uttered, "You've got to be kidding" in response to the plan. Cuts to welfare support would be added pain to the state's poor. Meanwhile, the Governor's idea to get the federal government to fill-in the $6.9 billion gap in the state budget did not receive the kind of support he would have wanted from Nancy Pelosi, nor the state's Senate delegation.
Sacramento and San Joaquin County experienced all-time highs in bankruptcies and the Bay Area residents struggle to keep their heads above water, too.
The GOP candidates for George Radanovich's seat are so similar on the issues that the race is bound to get personal and nasty.
Jerry McNerney delivered $238,000 for a women's center in San Joaquin County.
George Miller, a Democrat from Martinez, and John Garamendi joined together to issue a call for a new direction on trade policy.
A sizable 6.5 earthquake struck northern California on Saturday. Early reports show no injuries or fatalities but minor damage and power outages. The event marks the third day in a row for the state. The quake, apparently, did not damage the Calaveras Dam, crews say.
Manteca Bulletin profiled Pombo-lite Brad Goehring with yet another Republican puff piece.
Hayward City Council unanimously passed a ridiculous measure that fines parents on a sliding scale for their children cutting class.
Schwarzenegger will appear on tomorrow's Meet the Press.
CA-11: GOP Debate Scheduled for Jan. 11
Several Republican candidates will meet in Manteca on January 11 to debate their candidacies for the GOP nomination to take on sophomore House Rep. Jerry McNerney.
Candidates Tony Amador, Robert Beadles, Elizabeth Emken, Brad Goehring, Larry Pegram and Jeff Takada are expected to attend. They are running for the seat held by Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton.
Let's take a look at the candidates:
De facto front-runner Brad Goehring, a self-financier described as a "Pombo-lite," may have to answer for comments he made boasting his use of undocumented labor in his business. With Jon Del Arroz out of the race due to his son's health, Goehring dwarfs the competition in the money race.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect to watch for is if Tony Amador, known as the "lazy candidate" of the bunch, even shows up at all. His Twitter account has been dormant for almost two months. The last tweet is regards his announcement to run. The Flickr account's most recent photos are from September 17. His participation in the debate is news unto itself. Should Amador show up at all, will the settlement of a 1993 sexual harassment suit become an issue?
Robert Beadles, a small businessman from the Central Valley, is a man of many contradictions. Much to his credit, Beadles created a successful small business after a tough life struggling to get by. It is an admirable story and Beadles makes it the backbone of his candidacy. But that's when the message goes off the rails and he goes Craig T. Nelson. Excerpt from his biography:
I am not your typical candidate. I don’t have a doctorate degree, my parents did not graduate from some ivy league school, nor were they ever ambassadors to some foreign country. What I do have, I have built and earned on my own.
My family and I have pulled ourselves up from the bootstraps, and we are now living the American Dream. I pride myself on doing what is right and just, because at the end of the day, we all have to face our accomplishment and our failures. [emphasis added]
Just a few short paragraphs prior, Beadles notes that he depended on welfare, food stamps and Medi-Cal.
Like many young families, we struggled to make ends meet. I swallowed my pride and did what was necessary to support my family. We depended on food stamps, welfare, and Medi-Cal and I worked several jobs. [emphasis added]
To be certain, there is no shame in seeking and accepting government assistance when it is necessary but Beadles wants to fashion himself in the mold of a Tea Party ideal that is not true. Beadles created a successful small business, nobody can take that away from him. But this "bootstraps" is misleading rhetoric used for political reasons. (Update: A reader points to the lone item posted under "welfare" on the Beadles website, which is an article from the Washington Times that decries the "welfare-state" so add "hypocrite" to his list of accomplishments.)
Here's hoping Elizabeth Emken shows up with something a little more fleshed out than what's her campaign has done already.
A thing to watch for with Larry Pegram is what, if any, role his involvement in the Values Advocacy Council play in the debate. Pegram strikes me as too much of an evangelical conservative. That read will be tested at the debate. Since Pegram is moving into the district, maybe he's brushed up on the recent history and learned that McNerney was first elected in 2006, not 2008.
Jeff Takada, a Manteca high school teacher, is a phantom candidate that only exists on paper thus far. He has generated no news other than his involvement in the debate and no known web presence. (Update: A representative with the Takada campaign contacted me over the holidays to say that their website is now up.)
CA-11: Cook Dishes Dirt on GOP Candidates
Charlie Cook reported on the state of the race in California's 11th Congressional District at the Cook Political Report.
Goehring boasted about his use of undocumented labor.
On presumptive front-runner by way of self-financing, and Richard Pombo clone, Brad Goehring:
In 2006, a newspaper quoted Goehring, a farm labor contractor, as saying he suspected 40 percent of his workers were illegal immigrants, but that they needed laws to ensure access to cheap immigrant labor because "Americans simply won't reliably do the work."
The spate of candidates don't get any much better for conservatives from there.
Amador settled a sexual harassment suit.
Tony Amador, the former U.S. Marshal, is viewed by establishment Republicans as a "lazy candidate" and his shady private settlement after a former colleague accused him of sexual harassment won't help him either.
Several Republicans privately suggest that Amador will be a lazy candidate, and others note he carries some personal baggage. In 1993, the Washington Post reported that Amador, then a presidentially appointed member of the federal Merit Systems Protection Board, was accused of sexually harassing a female colleague and then firing her, though Amador denied the allegations and the parties reached a private settlement.
As of this may, Republicans hold a razor thin margin of .45% over Democrats with a large "decline-to-state" electorate.