A new Survey USA poll shows former Mayor Jim Patterson tied for the lead with State Senator Jeff Denham in the race to succeed retiring Congressman George Radanovich.  The shocking part of the poll is that former member of Congress Richard Pombo in in 3rd place, well back of the leaders.

Now, while I have not made a personal endorsement in this race (that’s coming), it is interesting to note that Mr. Patterson has literally spent zero money promoting his campaign, while both Denham and Pombo have been hitting the airwaves regularly in their quest to become better know in the Fresno market.

Powerful ag and business interests have lined up behind Pombo, as well as respected Member of Congress Devin Nunes, but the question remains:  in 2010, will voters select a 14 year former Member to represent them, in this year of throwing out everyone connected to the failures of the federal government?

This is the central issue to be overcome by Pombo, and while he’ll have enough money to get his message out, serving in Congress from 1992 – 2006 might be too big of a liability for him to win the nomination.  With 29% undecided, its still way too soon to predict a winner, but this one is going to be interesting all the way to the end.  Count on it.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 21st, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.