We have a challenger in CA-19!

[Le Taz Hot]

I was driving down West Shaw Ave. the other day in Fresno and low and behold I see this storefront sign: "TJ Cox for Congress." After doing a very quick google search, I find out he's the Democratic challenger. Who knew??? CA-19 encompasses the northern part of Fresno, Yosemite, Merced, Mariposa and several mountain communities. Anyway, up until now CA-19 has been either unopposed or the local Dems run some sacrifice candidate who is never serious about winning. Radanovich has held this seat forever and basically dumb lucked into it due to the fact that the local Dems can never get their shit together long enough to mount a serious campaign. For those who are interested, here's his website (sparse though it may be).

http://www.tjcox.com /

I'll do more research on this guy and post more details when I get them. I also posted this in the CA forum but thought this could use a wider audience.

[Oceansaway]

1. Touche !!..n/t

[AlecBGreen]

13. map of the district

I think thats a pretty red part of Cali .. all farmland, isnt it?

[BrklynLiberal]

2. No Repuke should be unchallenged. Thanks for posting.

[katinmn]

3. K&N! Hope his camapign takes off!

[Le Taz Hot]

4. Kick

for the West Coast after work crowd.

[Doctor_J]

5. Is Fresno where that steroidal ex-actor is the mayor?

I forget his name.

[Innocent Smith]

7. Yes- Alan Autry

At least the ex-actor part - don't know about steroids. He was in "Heat of the Night" tv show with Carol O'Connor.

[Doctor_J]

11. He looked pretty steroidal in 'Heat'

[Le Taz Hot]

9. Yeah,

that would be our very own "Mayor Bubba," Alan Autry

[Innocent Smith]

6. 1994

Radanovich picked up this seat in 1994. He was my representative until redistricting changed the boundaries. While it is nice to have a challenger, given the demographics of this district (northern fresno & mountain communities), the chance of him losing is very low. That is probably why he has been unopposed at times in the past.

[Le Taz Hot]

10. Wellll, I'm not so sure about this

Within the last 2-3 years or so we seem to have this signicant spate of VERY liberal Democrats up in the hills, specifically in the Coarsegold, Oakhurst, North Fork, Mariposa areas. In early 2004 they were one of the first to ACTIVELY support Howard Dean for the nomination so they've been laying groundwork for at least the last 2 years. Further, everyone and I mean EVERYONE up there KNOWS what a crook Radanovich is and, given the moral depravity of the current administration, I've a feeling the Republican vote isn't going to be that strong up there this time. Call me crazy but I think it's winnable this year and this one wasn't EVEN supposed to go into play.

I've JUST e-mailed this guy and I'll see what kind of response I get and re-post.

[Innocent Smith]

12. Hope is a virtue

But just 18 months ago Bush won by roughly 61% to 38% in CA-19 and Radanovich did even better than that. He may not do as well as last time, but it is a very steep hill to climb.

[Le Taz Hot]

14. And 18 months ago

Bush's approval ratings were up in the 60's. I never trust statistics -- they don't tell the whole story.

[Innocent Smith]

15. Don't be the rain

You are right that Radanovich is more vulnerable than he ever has been. And here I am raining on your parade. I apologize. Take care.

[gratuitous]

16. Radanovich's chances of losing may be very low

But his chances of losing got a little higher once he faces some opposition. If we don't fight, we definitely don't win. If we fight, we will win -- sooner or later.

[Ce qui la baise]

8. Good news, as a former resident. It's about damn time.