Q&A With George Plescia… The SDUT, often known for doing these Sunday Insight section interviews 
with folks like presidential cabinet heads, national party leaders, governors and the like, focuses on the new Assembly Minority Leader. Good for the UT…and good for George!
Read the interview here.
Can I hope for a little more state legislative news coverage in the UT now, too?
The Juan Vargas-Insurance Co. Connection… Maybe the answer to my question 
above is reflected in another UT piece this morning, Lawmaker Vargas’ ties to insurers questioned. Adding to the UT’s recent string of investigative pieces on the City of San Diego, Duke Cunningham (the UT won a national Pulitzer Prize for this, if you missed it), and National City Mayor Nick Inzunza, the paper today on the front page provides Congressman Bob Filner at least one great mail piece against Vargas in their CD 51 primary.
Vargas, who five years ago influenced the state’s reapportionment to ensure a Filner congressional seat he viewed as "competitive," at least for him, is gaining absolutely no traction in the race. A series of ill-fated hits on Filner have been effectively turned on Vargas in most every case.
SDPolitics on FR… In Mr. Roach Goes to Washington, the SDPolitics blog equates our fearless leader Jon Fleischman’s posts on his DC trip with the Roach Road Crew to "a roadie/groupie getting to sing live on stage with his/her favorite band."
Internal Dem Target List… Ron Nehring sends it along, showing how much the Democrats are pinning hopes on Francine Busby, at #3 (also of note, the Pombo challenger at #10):
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s internal list, leaked and published in The Hill, of the Democrat non-incumbent candidates they are pinning their hopes on in order to take control of the House of Representatives and elect Nancy Pelosi speaker this year.
Democratic challenger Incumbent District’s % for Kerry
Darcy Burner (Wash.) Dave Reichert 51
Phyllis Busansky (Fla.) Michael Bilirakis — retiring 43
Francine Busby (Calif.) Vacant (Duke Cunningham’s seat) 44
Joe Courtney (Conn.) Robert Simmons 54
John Cranley (Ohio) Steve Chabot 51
Jill Derby (Nev.) James Gibbons, running for gov. 41
Tammy Duckworth (Ill.) Henry Hyde, retiring 47
Brad Ellsworth (Ind.) John Hostettler 38
Diane Farrell (Conn.) Christopher Shays 52
Steve Filson (Calif.) Richard Pombo 45
Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) John Sweeney 46
Tessa Hafen (Nev.) Jon Porter 49
Baron Hill (Ind.) Mike Sodrel 40
Mary Jo Kilroy (Ohio) Deborah Pryce 50
Ron Klein (Fla.) Clay Shaw 52
Ken Lucas (Ky.) Geoff Davis 36
Patsy Madrid (N.M.) Heather Wilson 51
Harry Mitchell (Ariz.) J.D. Hayworth 45
Chris Murphy (Conn.) Nancy Johnson 49
Lois Murphy (Pa.) Jim Gerlach 51
Heath Shuler (N.C.) Charles Taylor 43
Peter Welch (Vt.) Bernie Sanders (I), running for Senate 59
Double Helix… Not politics perhaps (unless the politics of the NFL draft), but I don’t care, Helix High School is my alma mater, and I can see its football field from my upstairs window as I write. With USC’s Reggie Bush going number two in the draft yesterday, he does not create a new trivia question along with QB Alex Smith. Helix would have been the answer to "Name the only high school to produce two number one NFL draft picks in consecutive years." Oh well. Please look up, instead, "Name the only high school to produce a number one NFL draft pick (Smith) and Heisman Trophy Winner (Bush) in the same year." For now, I’ll stay away from any current NCAA investigations that might change the answer. Read the UT’s front page story on the high school powerhouse here.
Gay Rodeo Moves From Del Mar to East County… No commentary, I’ll just post Friday’s UT link, other than to say I’ll bet my life that Duncan Hunter, Dennis Hollingsworth, Jay La Suer and Dianne Jacob will not attend the festivities, even though it’s smack in the heart of their respective districts.
Have a great Sunday!
April 30th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I can’t speak for the “Target” candidates outside CA and NV, but I can say with certainty, if Tessa Hafen is in top 20, the Reps may actually keep Congress in November. Hafen is (by all accounts) a very nice 29-year-old conservative Mormon Democrat, former press secretary for Senate Democratic Leader Reid. Jon Porter, a fairly popular GOP incumbent (and my Congressman), has outraised her about 5-to-1, dispatched a self-funding former Big Gaming executive with only moderate discomfort in the last election, and has an excellent district operation.
On the other hand, Jill Derby (the candidate running for the Gibbons seat) has at least an outside chance. Current officeholder (Higher Education Board of Regents) and backed by the extremely powerful (and wealthy) Higher Education chancellor and TV station owner, Jim Rogers.