The numbers in San Diego’s 5th Supervisorial District are in and thusfar it is brutal. Supervisor Bill Horn is showing around 195k cash on hand, and as reported last week former Assemblyman Bruce Thompson has around 14k cash on hand. Furthermore, it does not appear that Thompson has hired a professional firm to run his campaign but is rather paying a relative for campaign services. There are no payments from Thompson to a fundraiser – and from my calls I’m guessing there is not one on board. These are not the signs of a campaign which is serious about upsetting an entrenched Supervisor. Given the short time period between now and the June primary I don’t see Thompson having the capability of raising the money to be competitive. Instead, at this point, if he really wants to play he is going to have to rely on his own pocketbook, if he has the means, or independent expenditures, which is always a risky strategy.
February 8th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I’m not from that area, so I don’t know if Horn has any significant problems on the PR side. But anemic fundraising for his challenger, despite his status as a former legislator, means that Horn will likely coast to re-election. Although 200k in the bank for an incumbent Supervisor in a big county seems rather low. But maybe I am used to OC standards.