Tom McClintock is termed out in ’08 and the race to replace him is heating up.
Tony Strickland is a leading GOP candidate, with McClintock staffer Mike Stoker also in the running. Since the eastern portion of the district is seen as key to victory, other names mentioned include Simi Valley councilman Glen Becerra. This promises to be a very ugly, expensive primary for the GOP.
Democrats are waking up to the possibility of taking this seat away from the GOP and adding to their current majority in the State Senate.
GOP registration advantage has been slipping and is now just over 4%, including many liberal republicans in Santa Barbara. The problem area of the district is seen as the GOP strongholds of Simi Valley, Moorpark & Thousand Oaks. We need a Democrat who can run strong in those areas.
Many Dems have been mentioned. Ventura Supervisor Steve Bennett, former Santa Barbara Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson and current Assemblyman Pedro Nava have said they’re not running or are leaning that way. They’re all from the Santa Barbara or the western part of the district.
My favorite possible candidate is Jim Dantona. We need to draft this guy to run!
He ran for a Supervisor’s seat last year in the Simi Valley/Moorpark area, which only has 30% registered Democrats. He is credited with unseating the longtime Republican incumbent in the June Primary, but unfortunately lost the final in a bitter general election race to a well funded ultra-right candidate in November, by only 895 votes. In the end, Jim Dantona took 48.5% of the vote in a heavily gerrymandered GOP district. It’s clear that he received strong support from voters across the isle.
Who is Jim Dantona? Currently a legislative advocate and small business owner, Dantona was Senate Pro-Tem David Roberti’s Chief of Staff for 10 years in Sacramento. A former major league baseball player and single father of 3, he taught & coached elementary school for 5 years, and has been involved in philanthropic projects in his community for over 20 years, including establishing the organization B.A.D. – Baseballers Against Drugs.
Strong on environmental issues, he’s been outspoken against Waste Management’s plan to triple the size of their landfill footprint in Simi Valley, and has consistently advocated for stronger action against Boeing to protect families & the community from the Rocketdyne facility groundwater/site contamination. This area’s residents have been plagued by cancer clusters & a myriad of health problems for years. Dantona has been one of the few community leaders to consistently demand answers and action.
We need a strong candidate in this district who has proven he can appeal to voters across party lines, while maintaining Dem core values.
We need to draft Jim Dantona.
Dantona 08: A home run for the 19th