George Radanovich (R-Mariposa) has just announced his retirement from the House, and already the Republicans are lining up to take a crack at his seat. You can read Radanovich's full retirement speech at the flash report.
Of course, one of those seeking to replace him is Sen. Jeff Denham. Denham is termed out in 2010, and has been wandering the state looking for a place to land. He was running for LG, but switched to run for Assembly. But now it seems he's managed to secure Radanovich's endorsement and begins as the frontrunner.
But, wait -- there's more! There is already a frontrunner for the GOP nomination (only in politics are front runners in place before retirements are announced) -- apparently Radanovich has drafted as his hopeful replacement State Senator Jeff Denham. Yes, you read that right. Apparently Denham (pictured left), who just a few weeks ago departed from the race for Lieutenant Governor to seek the Republican nomination for a safe GOP Assembly seat centered in Stanislaus County (the Modesto area) will now be shifting his sights, instead, on a bid for a rare open GOP Congressional seat.
Radanovich will announce that he called Denham and asked him to consider running, and he will be doing everything he can to see Denham secure the GOP nomination in June, and win the general election for his seat come November. (FlashReport)
Hurray! Jeff Denham finds a place to land, and maybe this is really, for reals now, the race he is going to run in 2010. Hopefully, his campaign lit just says "Denham 2010." All this flip-flopping must be pure gold for his printer.
Given Denham's past antics, you'd expect him to be a lot more outspoken and visible than Radanovich has been during his career. But, of course, there are a couple of elections before he can be sworn in. The district went 52% to McCain, so it's a tough district for Democrats, but I'm sure there will be some sort of campaign to make Denham earn it at the very least. And you never know, we might pull off an upset.
(bump cause I like congressional and numbers - promoted by Lucas O'Connor)
Turnout from Tuesday's primary by party. Every district with a Republican leaning PVI plus Barbara Lee just for fun and comparison's sake. Of the Republican leaning districts, Dem turnout was higher in 8 and close in several others. Might be an interesting November. Just sayin.
Numbers on the flip.
Update: I should have mentioned in the first place, there are still no Democratic candidates in CA-02, CA-19, CA-22, or CA-25. Turnout was dead even in the 19th and higher for Dems in the 25th, just for starters.
This is almost a placeholder diary so I can get to it later in my monthly roundup, but this diary at Open Left shows the very real opportunity available in California this time around. Six Congressional Rpublicans who are running for re-election have less than $250,000 in cash on hand. The NRCC, the campaign arm for the House GOP, is spread thin by retirements and challenges. So many incumbents are going to be on their own in 2008. And saying "Hello, I'm a Republican member of Congress" just doesn't rake in the money like it used to. Here's the list:
John Doolittle, CA-04
George Radanovich, CA-19
Ken Calvert, CA-44
Mary Bono, CA-45
John Campbell, CA-48
Darrell Issa, CA-49
I can add to this the fact that Gary Miller only raised a paltry $40,000 last quarter. And Doolittle's problems are well-documented.
Unfortunately, our Democrats statewide haven't fully stepped up. Two of these incumbents (Radanovich, Issa) don't have challengers yet, and Mary Bono just got one in Paul Clay. But I would hope that Art Torres and the team would wake up to the fact that there are opportunities all over the map, in places that would significantly help down-ballot races as well.
