#CA52 still looking like Republican flip opportunity
Republican DeMaio Gaining Momentum, Dem Peters Panicking
Carl DeMaio, the first openly gay Republican running for national office, is facing off against freshman Democrat incumbent Scott Peters in California’s 52nd District, which is largely comprised of the City of San Diego and nearby suburban areas and neighborhoods.
We have already covered this race twice, as we are pushing for a victory for DeMaio in what is a highly contested but realistically “flip-able” district.
Currently, Ballotpedia ranks CA-52 as “a battleground with a slight Democratic lean,” and a late July Roll Call poll found DeMaio trailing 48 percent to 43 percent, slightly outside the 4.9 percent margin of error.
Readers can see #CA52: Flip opportunity against 1st term Dem in evenly split district and Democrat Scott Peters plays the “Tea Party card” on opponent (#CA52) for coverage of the race during the summer and biographical information of the two candidates.
Peters has tried hard to link DeMaio with the Tea Party and the far-right “fringe” of the GOP. However, as his reelection seems increasingly unlikely, the freshman democrat recently turned to full-on desperation by calling out the apparently “unusual” fact that DeMaio is gay and running as a Republican. Worse, a few months ago Peters’ own campaign website used the derogatory term “Mary” to refer to DeMaio.
Meanwhile, DeMaio’s “Fix Congress First” plan of action has gained national momentum and recognition: Similiarly-named Florida Republican House candidate Carl Domino adopted DeMaio’s plan.
DeMaio has also released some scorching attack ads against Peters, including one a parody called “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: Government Edition.” According to the ad, Peters’ votes taken while on the San Diego City Council ballooned public officials’ pensions, often making millionaires out of them. The ad shows many examples of this extreme government largesse, including a city librarian who earns more than $234,000 a year from her pension.
The Peters campaign shot back stating that Peters was not on the council when the pension problem began, but there was no denial, according to the Times of San Diego, of the votes Peters made.
DeMaio, in addition to reaching out to the LGBT community as well as young voters, has made significant inroads into the traditionally Democrat Asian-American community. San Diego’s first Asian-American on the City Council, Tom Hom, endorsed DeMaio, as well as a local leaders of the Asian and Pacific Islander communities.
Peters, meanwhile, seems to staying in line with accusing DeMaio of being affiliated with the Tea Party and trying to retain his core support groups – LGBT, youth, and minority voters, to all of whom DeMaio is making significant headway in communicating his message.
Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS political action committee has made the CA-52 race one its top priorities, allotting it $750,000 in just this past week.
Surely, a DeMaio victory would spell great hope for those in the GOP desiring to see a new type of reformist, pragmatic and libertarian-leaning conservative emerge on the national political scene.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
I’m confused. Carl DeMaio is a pro-gay marriage, pro-diversity, pro-environmental regulation, pro-“immigration reform”, etc. etc. etc. apparently mostly progressive “Republican” candidate, who is successfully distinguishing himself from those right wing “extremists” and awful tea partiers — and this is a good thing?
You assume you know about DeMaio who is far more conservative than the Democrats and Libertarians
You do know that the Koch Bros. support Amnesty and gay marriage
The Koch brothers? Are they running for office? Or the icons of something? (I guess you’re a troll.)
This is to Casey: one can be libertarian or fiscal conservative, and in either case, think the government should just stay out of social issues. That works.
One cannot, however, support liberal social agendas (i.e. government support, not the kind of “support” that is in your mind), and simultaneously be a fiscal conservative. There are few (if any) of these issues that are not entwined by progressive with economics, and virtually all involve either direct government spending, bigger government and more regulations, or increased burdens on businesses and taxpayers.
I live in this district, and I figure that Karl Rove’s PAC is contributing because he believes this election is winnable, and I agree.
You must realize that a California Republican would be a Democrat in Texas and a lot of other states. The Republican party here is next best thing to non-existent. Nonetheless, DeMaio’s office was trashed by persons unknown, and Peters has been engaging in some nasty swipes at him and at the TEA Parties.
If I were voting for Democrats right now, I would not vote for the kind of candidate that serves up the trash talk like Peters. His campaign materials tell me that he is a jerk.
Carl is a reasonably straight shooter (pun intended) and a fiscal conservative with some libertarian leanings. He is not going to vote my way every day, but I expect him to be willing to balance a budget.
DeMaio is the candidate one thinks of in W. F. Buckley’s admonition, in any political contest, to vote for the most conservative candidate who is electable. No, Mr. DeMaio is not a Texas Republican. But a Texas Republican can’t get elected to Congress in suburban San Diego. Mr. DeMaio just might. I’m happy to see him run; let’s see if he can win.
So if Domino is using DeMaio’s strategy, does that mean he’s also switched his … ahem … orientation? Or was he of the rainbow persuasion all along?
Perspiring minds want to know (but I don’t really care).