It seems as though every day, it is getting harder and harder to read the tea leaves and keep track of the changing dynamics of the special election in the 50th Congressional, to replace the disgraced and resigned Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who infamously admitted his guilt in taking over $2 million in compensation for doling out government contracts.
It is the backdrop of this being ground-zero for an electorate betrayed by their Congressman that makes the drama so intense. There is a dynamic here that has never existed in a California Congressional special election before…
I have told a number of people that because of the pricy real estate values in much of this coastal San Diego district, there are literally tens of thousands of potential candidates one mortgage away from self-funding a race. Well, today there is a new Republican candidate jumping into the race, and he won’t have to mortgage any of his (multiple) houses, including the one in Rancho Santa Fe that he, his wife, and their five children call home.
Meet Eric Roach. Roach is not well-known in political circles. As a matter of fact, until FR San Diego Correspondent Duane Dichiara alerted our readers last week about his potential candidacy, I had never heard of him.
That has now changed — so let me take an opportunity to tell you something about Eric Roach, his campaign, and his campaign team. You see, I spoke with Roach last night about his run for Congress. The first thing I will say is that he is an articulate, likable, energetic and passionate person – these things all come across as soon as you start to talk with him.
Of course, I first asked him why he wanted to be a Congressman, to which he said, "The sytem is broken. People like me and the people in this district have been embarrassed by our local Congressman."
He said he was running because Washington needs someone who represents change. He said that, "As an individual you sit back and you look at the competitors. I dIdn’t see anyone who truly represented a difference."
So into the fray he has jumped — with both feet, and an open wallet.
A RUN-DOWN ON ROACH’S BACKGROUND
Born in 1962, Roach is 43 years old. Born in Alabama, he has lived all over the country. Here in California, he has lived in the Bay Area, the Pasadena/Glendale area of Los Angeles, and now in Rancho Santa Fe in San Diego County. Roach went to Brigham Young University (as a pre-med major) but ended up excelling in the field of business — he went on to get an MBA from Pepperdine University. The paper he wrote at Pepperdine on the convergence of technology, finance and the internet was a harbinger of his wild success story.
With only $13,000 in seed funds, Roach went on to become a pioneer in the business area that allowed average people to be able to buy and sell stocks and commodities over the internet. This technology, of course, has been used by many major firms (E*trade would be a good example) to really empower individuals to do their own trades. Roach sold his pioneering work product to Morgan Stanley and become a senior executive with that financial services firm. While his campaign team won’t say how much money Roach is worth, based on my nosing around, I would say it is up in the many hundreds of millions of dollars. Pretty impressive given that he started his endeavor with less money than it took to start this website! Read more about Roach here and here.
ROACH ON THE ISSUES
Eric Roach is a very conservative man. When you ask him to define his conservatism, it starts with his belief in the importance of family. It is clear that his faith has shaped a lot of who he is, and how he approaches life. He is a traditional conservative in that he is pro-life, supports traditional families, supports the right to keep and bear arms, opposes tax increases and such. I am sure that he will be communicating all of these views, albeit with the suggested ‘spin’ from his campaign team, to the voters.
But in talking with his campaign team, it is clear that the main theme of Roach’s candidacy will be to take on the establishment that is the problem in Washington, D.C. (ethical lapses, to be sure, but also a GOP unable to cope with their own spending addiction).
He will be focusing his campaign on the fact that the special interests dominate Congress. He is opposed to the earmarking and pork-barrel spending that has become prolific in the Republican majority.
Roach says on his website, "It’s time for Republicans to renew the promises they made more than 10 years ago with the Contract with America! It is time for Republicans to start acting like Republicans."
Right out of the chute, Roach is leading with four campaign promises that really emphasize his campaign being against the established ways inside the Beltway (and also emphasize his personal wealth): He will take no PAC money, period. He will not take money from any leadership fund or from politicians that have taken PAC money. He will accept no gifts, junkets or money from lobbyists or special interests. He will not take more that $1,000 from any individual contributor (the limit is substantially higher). You can read all of this in his attached "pledge" letter.
It certainly makes sense that in a special election to replace a scoundrel and crook, ethical standards would be front and center in the debate.
ROACH’S CAMPAIGN TEAM
Roach seems to be approaching his campaign exactly how you would expect from an accomplished and savvy businessman, pulling together a complete campaign team. As a very loud testament to the conservative issues he champions, the campaign team he has hired are all conservatives.
General Consultant: John Feliz
John, with a long resume in conservative politics, is a senior advisor to Senator Tom McClintock in his bid for Lieutenant Governor, and worked last year on Proposition 73, the Parental Notification Initiative.
Communications and Day-to-Day Management: Stan Devereux
Devereux worked with Feliz on Proposition 73 last year, and also has a long track record, including a major role in the office of Treasurer Matt Fong.
Senior Poltical Advisor and Issues Management: John Stoos
John is a seasoned political veteran, also a senior member of Tom McClintock’s organization, and a good friend.
Graphics/Mail/Website: Jeff Evans
Evans is a strong jack-of-all-trades who has worked countless campaigns. He’s already put up Roach’s website.
Media Consultants: Bill Criswell and Bill Bayne
Both have extensive experience, and worked the McClintock for Governor campaign.
Ground Operations: Rich Allen
Allen is a grassroots type who cut his teeth on the Proposition 22, Defense of Marriage Act campaign.
I asked Roach what he thought about the campaign team he had assembled, and Roach told me that he is "exceedingly happy" with his team. He called it an "A-team" and said that great teams make for great organizations.
AGGRESSIVE CAMPAIGNING OUT THE GATE
I had a chance to speak at length with Stan Devereux about the campaign – and Stan made it clear that, "…Roach will spend whatever resources it will take to be competitive in this race."
Stan shared that the campaign has already made significant investments in the purchase of air time – both for television and radio spots. You can actually see and hear the spots here. I asked if Roach’s assets were liquid enough to be able to spend dollars in the next couple of months, and Stan assured me that would not be an issue.
As I mentioned, the campaign has a website up and running and they are in the process of opening a new campaign headquarters in Solana Beach.
They have already put their first mail piece out to special election voters included the attached letter.
EARLY ANALYSIS
Roach’s entry into this race is big news because he is wealthy, and has a story to tell. He is self-made, and successful. This is a model that worked quite well for Congressman Darrell Issa in the neighboring district (albeit Issa had run statewide for U.S. Senate first). His wealth has allowed him to pull together a top-notch team of campaign professionals to guide his effort.
At first glance, one has to assume that this is immediate bad news for the candidate who has been showing the most momentum in the race thus far, former Congressman Brian Bilbray. Bilbray has been racking up a lot of insider Congressional endorsements. The main campaign themes that will be emphasized by Roach — with a loud ($$$) voice — will strike right at the core of a Bilbray candidacy — given that Roach will be running as an outsider, and attacking the very system for which Bilbray is a poster child (since leaving the House, Bilbray has made his living as a federal lobbyist).
The Roach candidacy will present some unique challenges though for the two candidates who have been battling it out for the attention of conservative primary voters — State Senator Bill Morrow and former Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian. There is no doubt that both of these fellows are hard-right. Morrow has more strength with grassroots folk in the district, and Kaloogian has gathered an impressive array of national conservative endorsements.
That said, Roach appears to line up with both Morrow and Kaloogian on an ideological level, and will likely be trying his best to stake out his share of conservative voters. His challenge, of course, will be his lack of a track record, as a political newcomer. Though, if Feliz and Devereux can’t craft a conservative strategy for Roach, no one can.
If Roach can broadly define himself, and keep to his main campaign theme of cleaning up the corruption in Washington, he has a really good shot at winning the primary. If he gets defined by Bilbray, and by others like self-funding Alan Uke as ‘another right-winger’ – he may end up divvying up the most conservative vote and helping Bilbray cement his ‘front-runner’ position. This will be his challenge — although limitless resources assist greatly in meeting this kind of a challenge.
Roach, of course, does not have any notable endorsements. However, as Devereux told me, "Our focus is not on endorsements but on the 20,000 votes it will take to win this primary."
Roach goes into this campaign with the energy and common sense of a businessman. He told me before we ended our interview, "Rewarding the results, and not the actions. That’s what we need. You can try all you want, but if you never achieve the objective, it doesn’t matter."
Together we lamented the 33% growth in federal spending since Republicans took control of the House in 1994. Roach said that it all ties back to reigning in the pork spending, and the culture that allows the lobbyists to dominate the process.
I will be interested to hear what our FR contributors from San Diego County, Barry Jantz and Duane Dichiara, have to say about this new twist in this very high-profile special election.
Take care,
Jon
PS: Care to reach Roach or his campaign, you can contact Stan Devereux, via the FR, here.
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