California State Senator Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks and California Representative Elton Gallegly – (R) CA 24th

Will Ventura County be losing a home-grown politician to Congress and Northern California?

The closely watched Republican primary race to replace outgoing Rep. John Doolittle is drawing added intrigue as a leading California conservative says he is “seriously” considering entering the field.

State Sen. Tom McClintock, a former GOP gubernatorial candidate, confirmed in an interview Tuesday that he is eying the race and hopes to make a decision in the coming weeks.

“Obviously, it is a matter I take very seriously,” said McClintock.

Tom who all intents and purposes has lived for more than a decade in the Sacramento area (while representing his hometown of Thousand Oaks in the California Legislature) and who has rented a house in the CA-4 Congressional District would easily win a GOP primary this June. Since the Congressional district is overwhelmingly gerrymandered “RED” whoever wins the GOP primary election will win the seat.

Moreover, there is precedence with Sacramento area (CA-3) Congressman Dan Lungren, formerly California Attorney General and a Member of Congress from Long Beach in Southern California.

What McClintock has to decide is whether he wants a Washington – California bi-coastal lifestyle or would rather remain in California.

Would McClintock challenge CA-24 incumbent GOP Congressman Elton Gallegly as this piece suggests?

No, why bother when polling already shows him up by over 30 points in CA-4.

Flap’s bet is that McClintock goes for the CA-4 Congressional race and is elected a new Member of Congress.

Tom McClintock: Thank You

I cannot begin to thank you enough for everything that you did for me during this campaign. My gratitude to you for your faith and generosity and support makes it all the harder to accept the result. I was very much looking forward to delivering you a victory after all that you have done and sacrificed for my candidacy.
By all accounts, we ran a solid campaign of which I am intensely proud. And according to all of the final polls, we were poised to win.

But those polls were based upon normal voter turn-out – and that’s the tide that went against us. Unfortunately, a very high percentage of Democrats and a very low percentage of Republicans actually cast ballots. (For example, only 47.7 percent of voters turned out in the Republican stronghold of San Bernardino, while 61.2 percent turned out in the Democratic bastion of Alameda County).

California and the country did not suddenly take a dramatic turn to the left. Rather, Republican voters were disenchanted with the direction of their party and simply stayed home. The political fundamentals are still sound – it is the abandonment of our party’s core principles that must now be challenged if our voters are to return to the polls.

I intend to do my part, and I know that you will, too. In this campaign, we pulled together the largest coalition of supporters of any candidacy on the ballot because each of us is firmly committed to a simple principle called freedom. And I don’t think that a single one of us is willing to meekly abandon that principle or our beautiful California .

On the contrary, we can all draw increased confidence that the policies of higher taxes, greater regulation and less freedom that will inevitably follow from this election can not be sustained and will not be tolerated by precisely those voters who sat at home this time.

We must rally them and return them to the polls – and on that day we will certainly save our state.

Again, thank you for standing firm. I could not possibly be more gratified or more humbled than to have had your support in this campaign.

Time to come home to Thousand Oaks, Tom, and run for the 24th Congressional seat of retiring Congressman Elton Gallegly, R- Simi Valley. Or maybe NOT retiring Elton Gallegly.
Watch for such a move and fundraising efforts by termed out California State Senator McClintock after the first of the year.

McClintock will have NO challengers in the GOP primary.

Stay tuned………

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