Last December I took a look at the potential for a Special Election in CA-41. While that scenario would be the best opportunity to pick up the seat, Democrats would have a strong shot against the embattled congressman. Yet there is a third option, an Open Seat. And GOP insiders on the Hill are floating trial balloons to Bob Novak that Jerry Lewis won’t be running for re-election. I especially enjoyed the context provided:

Lewis is one of at least six Republican House members from California who have faced ethical scrutiny, beginning when Duke Cunningham was sent to prison. Most recently, Rep. Ken Calvert, who was sponsored by Lewis for a coveted Appropriations Committee seat, is under attack. He replaced Rep. John Doolittle, another Californian who resigned from the committee because the Justice Department was investigating him.

The CA GOP has been running a racket and it is finally catching up. And if last night’s blograiser was any indication, the Democratic Party base is pumped.

Any word on potential candidates? Is San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris interested? I’d expect that there should be a lot of chatter following this story.

With Republican Congressman Jerry Lewis expected to be indicted for corruption charges, strategists on both sides are gearing up and discussing potential candidates in California’s 41st congressional district.

Unlike the anticipated Special Election in CA-04, there are no clear favorites on either side.

On Tuesday, PuckLady diaried on candidate recruitment and mentioned she was, “hearing rumors from two directions now that the recently-reelected Jerry Lewis from CA-41 will be stepping down soon”.

Steven Maviglio looked at potential  candidates on both sides of the aisle and layed out a case for San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris as the “best hope” for Democrats.

Like all Special Elections, this will become a sprint the moment Lewis steps down. Hopefully we can leverage the media limelight the race will draw to lay out a strong case for Democrats and create lasting infrastructure in the district.

This map is a hybrid satellite/road map from Gov Track. Here is the district map and this nighttime lights map is kinda fun.