I’ve known Richard Pombo since before he ever a Congressman. He’s a great guy, with a lot of integrity, and there isn’t a dishonest bone in his body. That said, by the time the onslaught against him was over in Congressional District 11 last November, Pombo was out of office because of a lot of accusatory voter communication that made it out like Richard was tainted by a rather iffy connection to the now-imprisoned Jack Abramoff. Pombo is a great example of how it is perception, not reality that often times matters the most in the arena of politics.
To be honest, I don’t really know Guy Houston (pictured to the left) too well. We’ve met a few times, and I find him to be quite pleasant. He’s a good conservative, and he has some great people on his staff. Like the rest of us, he has seen Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, I’m sure. He would like to be a United States Congressman, and the East Bay/Central Valley district in which he lives is the one that Democrat Jerry McNerney snatched away from Pombo. While every candidate for Congress in every District in America has to be concerned about the taint of corruption, with a cynical electorate that has seen too much of the Duke Cunningham lack-of-ethics from some.
That said, the 11th District is going to be one where the issue of ethics and corruption are going to weigh in front and center. When Senator Smith (played masterfully by Jimmy Stewart) made it to Washington, he found out very quickly that everything isn’t like the Boy Scouts. Unfortunately, Assemblyman Houston may find out this lesson before he ever gets a chance to even declare his intent to run.
Since his first election to the Assembly, there has been a nasty seemingly-personal lawsuit out there involving Houston’s father and some allegedly defrauded business investors. I don’t really know or care about all of the details, except the most significant one — which is that the allegations also include Houston’s son, the Assemblyman. Now all along, Guy has maintained that the entire matter is really political theatre. Well, according to the Contra Costa Times, a judge just decided, after looking at the merits of the case, to let a trial move forward, with the Assemblyman still named as a plaintiff. Of course the justice system will play itself out, and Guy will have his day in court, as will his dad. God willing and the facts backing him up, the Assemblyman will eventually be vindicated.
But now we leave the legal courtroom, and enter the courtroom of public opinion. Now this rather nasty legal battle and trial will be taking place heading into the primary season, where (cynical) Republican voters will have to pick a candidate to go up against McNerney. Up to this point, the 
conventional though had been a two-horse race between Houston and former Board of Equalization member and legislator Dean Andal (pictured right). Being in the middle of court-battle, accused of defrauding investors, is not a good thing for Houston.
Houston’s plans may still be to run for the GOP nomination in the 11th — as term-limits will cause him to step down from the State Assembly next December (and his local State Senate seat is safely in Democrat territory). But if I were an odds-maker, it would be hard for me not to place long odds on Houston’s ability to convince primary voters that the lawsuit mess is a non-story, not to mention a contentious general election that will be Ground Zero for the western United States.
I genuinely feel bad for Houston, and while there was a slight chance that the decision by the judge could be successfully changed, a decision yesterday seems to have closed that door. But the likely is that Houston will now being the long (and potentially political-career ending) process that leads to a messy trial. In the meantime, the candidacy of Dean Andal is likely to gain more steam immediately from this news.
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Speaking of the candidacy of Dean Andal… I heard from Andal’s consultant late last night, who let me know that his candidate held a tremendously huge and successful fundraising dinner in French Camp. Temple told me that Andal’s take in that one event was a cool quarter of a million bucks — not too bad at all! He told me that the host committee alone for the event had 187 names on it. I called him on it and he sent over the actual invitation which I have attached below. Sure enough, it was true! Congrats to Dean for a successful event!
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