Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Stockton's Republican mayor endorses McNerney

Stockton Mayor Ed Chavez, a Republican, has endorsed Democratic Rep. Jerry McNerney for re-election over GOP challenger and Stockton resident Dean Andal.

Chavez, mayor of the 11th Congressional District's largest city as well as a 30-year Stockton police veteran, including 10 years as chief, said in the McNerney campaign's news release that he's impressed with what the freshman Democrat from Pleasanton has done so far.

"He's back in California every weekend — in fact, it's nearly impossible to spend a Saturday in Stockton without running into him," Chavez said. "He's committed to serving his constituents well by helping create family-wage jobs in renewable energy, bringing home federal funds for important infrastructure projects in our region, working to make sure veterans have access to services they've earned, and being open, available and accessible to members of our community. He puts the needs of his constituents first; that's why he earns my endorsement."

Andal campaign spokesman Richard Temple noted Thursday that Andal has more than 100 endorsements from local officials, "an overwhelming advantage over Jerry McNerney."

It's the second hometown snub this week for Andal, a former assemblyman and Board of Equalization member: McNerney was endorsed Tuesday by Dr. Everett Low of Stockton, who serves beside Andal on the Lincoln Unified School District's board of trustees.

Although less than half of Stockton lies within AdvertisementMcNerney's district — some of the city's Democratic-heavy areas were carved out in the last redistricting and attached to the 18th District, now represented by Dennis Cardoza — the city still constitutes the 11th District's biggest municipal bloc. Chavez announced in December he would not seek a second term this year.

The widely observed Cook Political Report last week changed its rating for this race — the Bay Area's only competitive congressional contest — from "toss up" to "lean Democratic," citing Andal's weak fundraising as well as his apparent involvement in a San Joaquin Delta College Board dustup.

A San Joaquin County civil grand jury report says a consultant to developer Gerry Kamilos — later identified as Andal — improperly used knowledge of closed-session deliberations to lobby board members to pursue and develop a more expensive site as a new campus. After the grand jury's criticisms, state Sen. Mike Machado, D-Linden, urged the state controller's office to audit the board's possible misappropriation of a $250 million public grant for this campus.

McNerney's campaign had $1,375,936 cash on hand, compared to Andal's $663,038 as of June 30.



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