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Speier looks like early front-runner to fill Lantos’ seat
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Related Topics: San Mateo County
San Mateo County (Map, News) - A retired liquor-store owner, a 38-year-old health care advocate, a man running solely to reduce military funding and a former California utilities commissioner have their work cut out for them in the next six weeks, local political analysts said.
The quartet of San Franciscans and San Mateo County residents will be taking on heavy favorite Jackie Speier for the U.S. House of Representatives seat vacated by the late Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, who died earlier this month from cancer.
All five have qualified for the special and general election ballot, according to the San Mateo County Elections Office. They are vying for the 12th Congressional District, which represents San Mateo County and parts of San Francisco.
The special election will take place April 8 and the general election will take place in June 3. If Speier wins more than 50 percent of the vote in the special election, she will automatically win the June general election outright and serve the remainder of Lantos’ term, which ends Jan. 3, 2009. If she doesn’t, the five will face off again in June.
“They have no chance,” said Ed McGovern, a longtime political consultant.
Speier has spent six years on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, 10 in the California Assembly and eight in the state Senate. But that’s not stopping her challengers from running small-budget campaigns, some of which involve a first-time run at public office.
Mike Moloney may be the best known of the challengers. The retired former owner of a liquor-store chain lost to Lantos in three previous elections, most recently in 2006. He hopes to raise about $50,000.
“I personally think that I have a legitimate chance of winning this thing,” Moloney said.
Michelle McMurry, 38, is running for public office for the first time but has served in Washington, D.C., under Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.
Barry Hermanson will run as the lone Green Party candidate. He admits his candidacy is based on only one issue: the nation’s “obscene” level of military spending. He is running mostly a grass-roots campaign, using about $5,000 in contributions.
Speier spokesman Alex Tourk said she is not taking anything for granted. An expected low turnout from the special primary has left her team working seven days per week, he said.
Republican candidate Greg Conlon was president of the California Public Utilities Commission from 1993 to 1998 and lost to Phil Angelides in the 2002 race for state treasurer.
Comments from Examiner Readers
1:54 PM MST on Fri., Aug. 1, 2008 re: "Lawmakers head home after impasse on gas prices"
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4:06 PM MST on Sat., May. 26, 2007
re: "Congress loads up $20 billion in pork"
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5:49 PM MST on Mon., Apr. 30, 2007
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3:03 PM MST on Mon., Apr. 30, 2007
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Examiner Reader said:
its time to get out the disguies and lay low so the dummies that elected them dont get out the tar and feathers.
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wayne hutchings said:
the dems throw out their chests, decry the war, get the pork and prove they are the same as the neocons
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Examiner Reader said:
Fixing Social Secuirty is a breeze--and no reductions in benefits or increase in retirement age is necessary. You make it a true defined benefit pension system by changing PayGo to actuarial advance funding using an actuarial cost method called Entry Age Normal. This will allow you to invest a substantial part of the assets in stocks or stock like investments once the short term cash outflows are taken care of by Treasuries. The excess of stock returns long term over Treasury bills is huge--around 6-7% per year. Compunded annually it makes all the difference. I estimate that we already have enough money in Treasuries--around 2 trillion dollars and this is around 4 times one year's cah payout--more than enough. In fact, the SS actuaries forecasts show we do not need any more money until about 2041, or around 34 years from now. For example, just put an additional $50 billion a year into the system and invest it all in a low-cost broad based stock index fund, and that will fix it!
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Examiner Reader said:
It's a shame and a disgrace how our people in Wash. D.C. seem to avert the Social Security and Medicare issues. Then again, why should they be concerned they will not have to rely on either of the two issues and I am sure they will syphon off funds for "more pressing" concerns. The Seniors don't seem to count and are more of a liability than they used to be,
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