GOP congressional candidate Dean Andal of Stockton (pictured on left) continues to press Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, for face-to-face debates.

Andal’s campaign sent out a letter this afternoon titled “Local Leaders for Open Debate” signed by esteemed officials — and Republicans — including Contra Costa County Sheriff Warren Rupf, Walnut Creek Councilwoman Sue Rainey, Danville Councilwoman Karen Stepper and retired Pleasanton police chief Bill Eastman.

“This is just another slap in the face to voters,” Rupf was quoted saying in the press release. “First, Mr. McNerney refused to debate Dean Andal in an open forum …”

Sheriff Rupf is an admirable elected official (who carries a gun, so I try to be really nice to him) but this is pure politics, folks.

There’s no evidence that McNerney has turned down any specific requests to debate.

Instead, Andal’s camp says McNerney didn’t answer in kind the challenger’s letter calling for a series of debates. Gee, how rude of McNerney not to reply to a letter that was sent out to the media. Maybe McNerney should have sent candy and flowers, too.

But it is true that incumbents often put off debates until late in the campaign and keep them to a minimum. It denies the challenger the free media coverage and reduces risks of a misstatement by the incumbent. It also denies voters the time and opportunity to hear from both the candidates face-to-face. Read the rest of this entry »

Political analysts Bob Novak and Tim Carney of the Evans-Novak Political Report gave the edge to Rep. Jerry McNerney in the freshman’s re-election campaign over Republican Dean Andal, largely due to the Democrat’s substantial fund-raising lead.

Here’s what Novak/Carney wrote in their report published on the conservative web site called www.HumanEvents.com:

California-11: One of the biggest Democratic coups of 2006 was unseating conservative property-rights champion Rep. Richard PomboJack Abramoff corruption scandals. The scourge of liberal, pro-government environmentalists, Pombo fell under the weight of massive independent expenditures. This makes Rep. Jerry McNerney (D) a top target for the GOP this year. (R) by tying him to the

This valley district east of the Bay tilts Republican, but not overwhelmingly—Bush garnered 53% and 54% in 2000 and 2004. To compensate for the tilt of his district, McNerney has roped some local GOP politicians into his campaign. He also has a heavy fundraising advantage, thanks to his being one of very few vulnerable Democratic incumbents this year. McNerney now sits on a two-to-one cash-on-hand edge over former state bureaucrat and former state Assemblyman Dean Andal (R).

McNerney realizes he needs to work hard to win this seat, but he has the edge early on. Leaning Democratic Retention.

Stu Rothenberg, author of the Rothenberg Political Report, slightly shifted his prediction of the outcome of the McNerney race from Pure Toss-Up to Toss-Up/Tilt Democratic, a slight move in the Democrat’s direction. Rothenberg cites Andal’s lackluster fundraising thus far and says “McNerney is starting to look like a survivor this time.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, introduced today legislation that would increase pay rates for the military’s most dangerous jobs.

The Combat Operations and Medical Benefit Authorization for Our Troops Act would also raise wages for servicemembers undergoing rehabilitation after evacuation from combat zones and hike salaries of the psychologists and other medical personnel who care for them.

In addition, military personnel involuntarily separated from their spouses and children would receive an increase.

Co-authored by reps. Tim Bishop, D-N.Y., John Hall, D-N.Y., and Bob Brady, D-Pa., the bill comes as Congress prepares to head home for its summer break where many face arduous re-election campaigns.

McNerney, a Democrat in a district with a small Republican Party registration lead, has actively sought to advocate for veterans.

“Raising pay for soldiers who encounter injuries, hazardous duty and separation from their families is the right thing to do,” said McNerney, a freshman running against Republican challenger Dean Andal of Stockton.

The bill focuses on eight types specialty pay given to service personnel. Categories include working under hostile fire, imminent danger or other hazardous conditions.

Read more for McNerney’s full press release. Read the rest of this entry »

The environmental community is paying out some bucks to help Rep. Jerry McNerney of Pleasanton win re-election in November.

The Sierra Club will run radio ads today through Friday in six congressional districts nationwide where Democrats are running in competitive races against Republican challengers, including that of McNerney.

Environmental PACs spent millions in 2006 but they were chiefly motivated by an intense loathing of the incumbent, Republican Richard Pombo of Tracy. Some folks wondered whether the greenies would bother to come back.

Titled “Rolling In It,” the 60-second ad encourages members of Congress to fight subsidies to “Big Oil” and comes just before major oil companies announce their profits starting with BP on Tuesday.

McNerney is running against Republican challenger Dean Andal of Stockton, pictured on the right, a former Assemblyman and member of the state Board of Equalization.

Read more for the full Sierra Club press release. Read the rest of this entry »

Democratic Rep. Jerry McNerney has named the members of the “Republicans for McNerney Steering Committee.”

What’s next? The “Moveon.Org Fan Club for Andal,” referring, of course, to McNerney’s Republican opponent Dean Andal of Stockton.

If you’re curious as to the names of the Republicans who support McNerney, read on. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m on hold at the moment waiting to listen to Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, talk to folks via telephone using an interesting communication technology: An automated system dials voters at their homes in his district and invites them to participate in a live question and answer session.

Anyone can answer a question and everyone gets to listen to the answers.

It’s not a campaign event but of course, McNerney is running for re-election and he’s taking advantage of his incumbency status. His opponent is Stockton Republican Dean Andal.

it’s getting started. I’ll update you as we go along.

(Interestingly, it’s not quite a live town hall. Questioners get a McNerney staff member first, who vets the question. Arguably, that keeps out the crackpots but it may also keep out strong critics of the congressman’s political positions.)

Michelle from Tracy: What is Congress doing about the foreclosure crisis?

McNerney: He referred to today’s passage of a bill that will help rescue the mortgage industry, raise loan guarantee limits and help homeowners stay in their homes. Click here to see an Los Angeles Times story on the subject.

Julie: How can we make solar panel installation more affordable?

McNerney: He referenced his push for legislation that would extend federal investment and development tax credits for alternative energies.

Dan in Manteca: With the high fuel prices we’re seeing right now, I was wondering, will Congress before it goes on recess open up offshore oil drilling in the U.S. so we can see some relief?

McNerney: The congressman continues to oppose domestic offshore drilling, arguing that the oil companies already have under lease nearly three-quarters of the nation’s oil reserves. The oil companies, he argued, are simply trying to lock up these reserves before the change of administration in January 2009.

As for President George Bush’s decision to lift his adminstrative ban on domestic offshore drilling, McNerney called it a political ploy that wouldn’t reduce prices at the pump. Instead, he repeated his call for Bush to release small amounts of the national petroleum reserve into the market.

A story today in Politco.com quotes an unnamed GOP political expert with ties to California who suggests that Dean Andal, the Republican from Stockton challenging incumbent Democrat Jerry McNerney, isn’t raising enough local cash to win in November.

How much cash is enough?

Washington Post blogger “The Fix” by Chris Cillizza is reporting a major advertising buy in multiple congressional campaigns including the district of Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton:

House Democratic Campaign Arm Broadens TV Buy

Moving quickly to capitalize on their massive financial advantage, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has reserved television time in nearly two dozen more House districts, bringing their total investment in competitive contests to $53 million.

The new buy encompasses 20 districts and comes ten days after the DCCC dropped an estimated $35 million on ad time in 31 House districts.

One-term McNerney is running against Republican Dean Andal from Stockton.

Gasoline doesn’t come in red or blue and with folks of all political stripes paying high prices at the pump, Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, (pictured on the right) and his GOP challenger Dean Andal of Stockton (pictured on far right) are both talking this week about how to ease the pain.

McNerney repeated this week his call for President George Bush to open up the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve and dump more oil on the market in an effort to drop prices.

The reserve was created after the gas crisis of the 1970s and is intended to help the U.S. survive a major interruption in the supply of oil. It holds roughly 700 million barrels of oil.

“President Bush is sitting on over 700 million barrels of oil, purchased with tax dollars, in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” McNerney said. “Releasing oil from the reserve will help bring down the cost of gasoline and aid families who are struggling with the cost of filling up their tanks.”

Andal also called on the president to release some of the reserves and immediately embark on an increase in domestic drilling and exploration. Bush recently lifted a moratorium on offshore oil drilling although it was a symbolic gesture as Congress has maintained laws barring the practice.

Andal does not, however, support drilling off the California coastline where it is highly unpopular but said the nation should focus on areas where public support is attainable.

McNerney opposes any expansion of domestic drilling, arguing that oil companies already hold leases on 68 million acres that contain 81 percent of untapped U.S. oil supplies in the ground.

Unfortunately for the campaigns of McNerney and Andal and everyone who buys gasoline, neither of these options, more drilling or opening the spigot at the reserve, will lower prices at the pump, says UC Berkeley Energy Institute Director Severin Borenstein.

Oil prices are determined on the global market, and the Petroleum Reserve holds about a relative pittance, or about eight days worth of the world’s oil consumption.

“You might drive prices down a bit, probably less than $10 a barrel, but you would begin to deplete the supply rather rapidly,” Borenstein said. “The reserve wasn’t designed to control high prices.”

Expanded domestic drilling won’t add a single drop of oil to the supply for at five to 10 five years and probably far longer if expected lawsuits hold up projects, Borenstein said.

“Everyone wants to appear to be doing something,” Borenstein said.

Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, (pictured on the far right) continues to outraise GOP challenger Dean Andal of Stockton (pictured on the immediate right) in one of the most competitive congressional races in the nation.

McNerney raised $2.1 million for his re-election as of June 30, according to federal campaign finance documents filed today. Andal amassed $829,000 in the same time period.

Click here to read McNerney’s report to the Federal Election Commission.

Click here to read Andal’s report to the Federal Election Commission.

The men are running in congressional District 11, which stretches from Danville to Morgan Hill, through the Tri-Valley and into Tracy and western and central San Joaquin County. (Click here to see a map of the district.)

Taking advantage of his incumbent status, McNerney has successfully collected cash from party and political action committees totalling about a third, or $768,000, of his contributions.

Andal has also harnessed the financial power of such groups, reporting contributions of $254,000 or slightly less than a third of his contributions.

The Republican challenger’s viability came under fire earlier this year when his fundraising numbers were lackluster for a major race.

But Andal raised $171,000 in the last reporting period, a nearly tenfold increase over the prior one. Andal spokesman Richard Temple said the Republican has four times more cash on hand than McNerney had at this point in the congressman’s successful 2006 race against then-Rep. Richard Pombo.

Andal reported $663,038 in the bank as of June 30 compared with $1.4 million for McNerney.

Despite the cash gap four months before Election Day, both men are expected to have plenty of money in a contest that national political experts and the two parties consider one of the top five most competitive congressional fights in the country. There’s also no way to know at this point how money special interests groups such as business and environmental organizations will spend independent of the candidates.