No one ever said some of these legislative seats were competitive.  Short of the suicide nominees from the minority party and a few of their family, friends and newbies, most watchers know who will win a gerry-bastarded district.

Shirley Horton has the most competitive legislative race in San Diego, no doubt.  I still think she’s okay, and all the other incumbents are as safe as the proverbial babe in their mother’s arms.

Yet, an argument can be made that the easiest contest isn’t even an incumbent’s, but that being faced by the guy who perhaps had the toughest primary…Joel Anderson. 

His opponent in the 77th AD, Chris Larkin, is said to have taken a walk on the race.  Insiders say that Larkin, also the nominee against Jay La Suer two years ago, was expecting the Dems to pour a cool million behind his efforts, and when that didn’t happen, he quit in somewhat of a hissy-fit.  It looks as if he’s stopped filing any campaign financial statements, and his website is down as of this morning, although he does have a blog that hasn’t been updated since April.

To be fair, I’ll email this to the County Dems and Larkin to see if either has a comment.

I’ve met Chris Larkin.  He’s a nice guy, but I have some news for him.  Not even a million dollars would have changed the outcome in a 17-point district, Chris, and that’s why the parties don’t waste resources in such "contests," instead spending money where there is a chance…or a risk of losing a seat.

That may be hard reality, but there’s something more.  It isn’t easily forgotten who was the good foot soldier in an inevitable outcome and who wasn’t, especially when it comes to running for something one can win.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 4th, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.