One of the most conservative congressional districts in California will pick a new Republican nominee today, in an election that pits state senator Tom McClintock against former congressman Doug Ose. The outcome may reveal the mood of GOP voters in the state: Will they prefer the ardent conservative McClintock or the well-funded moderate Ose?
The 4th Congressional District runs from the suburbs of Sacramento to the rural northeastern corner of the state, in an area sometimes called “Gold Country.” Voters there are strongly Republican: In 2004, 61 percent of them voted for President Bush. John Doolittle has represented the area since 1990, but he is now retiring. Doolittle’s ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff almost cost him his seat two years ago to Democrat Charlie Brown, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel. Brown will run again in November — and currently has more than three times the cash of either of his prospective Republican rivals. The question today is: Who will Brown face?
Tom McClintock is familiar to Californians because he has appeared on statewide ballots seven times. Republicans vividly remember his spirited run against Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 2003 governor recall election, when he finished a distant third. He was also the GOP’s nominee for lieutenant governor two years ago, but lost by four points. This year he will complete his second term as a state senator from Ventura County, north of Los Angeles, though his family lives primarily in Sacramento.
Geography, in fact, is an interesting feature of this race: Both McClintock and Ose have scrambled to declare residency in the district they now hope to represent. Ose claims that he’s a local because he represented the neighboring 3rd Congressional District for three terms, from 1999 to 2005. His sister tried to succeed him but lost in the 2004 primary to Dan Lungren, who currently represents the district in Washington.
Ose has disappointed conservatives on several key issues. He voted against restoring the “Mexico City” policy prohibiting federal funding to international groups that provide abortion services. In 2004, he signed a letter urging President Bush to expand his policy on stem cell research that destroys human embryos. Ose also has called for elevating the Environmental Protection Agency to cabinet status. While his voting record as a House member was generally anti-gun control, he voted in 1999 to close the “gun-show loophole.”
The candidates have debated personal issues, including mutual accusations of carpetbagging and dirty tricks. They’ve also gone punch-for-punch on personal expenses. Ose has questioned McClintock’s decision to accept a per diem stipend of $170 for expenses incurred from maintaining a home in Ventura County. McClintock fired back with a TV ad questioning Ose’s connection to farm subsidies on his land and demanding that he release his tax returns.
McClintock can’t run again for the state senate because of term limits, which has made overcoming doubts about his motivation to run in the 4th one of his principal tasks in this race. A May 15 Ose campaign letter — signed by Ventura County officials Judy Mikels, Madge Schaefer, and Greg Stratton — alleges that McClintock is interested in representing the 4th only because he is “obsessed with preserving his political career.” McClintock allies sense sour grapes: McClintock beat Mickels in a GOP primary in 2000.
For his part, Ose faces widespread skepticism among local Republican activists about his conservative credentials. Tom Hudson, chairman of the Placer County GOP, handicaps the race thus: “We are the most conservative district in California,” he says. “Tom McClintock is like the north star: You can set your watch to him. Doug Ose, on the other hand, was the most liberal Republican in the California’s congressional delegation. He’s out-of-step with the 4th.”
Defending Ose in a recent phone conversation, Mike Holmes, Mayor Pro-Tempore of the city of Auburn and an opponent of Doolittle in the 2006 Republican primary, cited Ose’s “moral fiber and integrity.” Holmes also noted that Ose’s six years of congressional experience will allow him to regain seniority, even if he is elected in the 4th district.
Endorsements further reflect the ideological split between the candidates. McClintock has garnered the support of conservative mainstays like the Club for Growth, the National Rifle Association, and National Right to Life. “Tom McClintock was a leader in the fight for lower taxes and spending in the California State Legislature,” says Nachama Soloveichik of the Club for Growth. “Ose’s record was rife with support for pork projects, farm subsidies, and big-government programs like the Medicare prescription-drug benefit.”
“Actions like those have cost our party the majority so painstakingly assembled by Newt Gingrich,” McClintock notes.
Nevertheless, Ose has won the support of virtually every local government official and editorial page in the district. The campaign made headlines last week after gaining the endorsement of former California governor Pete Wilson.
“This is the race with the clearest split, the biggest ideological divide in California,” says Placer County’s Hudson, noting the tension between the values of local government officials and the conservative base. “You can tell a lot about the candidates by the company they keep. Local governments often favor higher taxes and more spending.”
McClintock shares this view. “As Grover Norquist would say, this is about the difference between the ‘leave us alone’ party and the ‘takings’ party,” he says.
Ose is a strong fundraiser who has much more money than McClintock, in part because he has donated personally to his campaign. Under federal election rules, the “Millionaire Amendment” has kicked in for McClintock, allowing his supporters to donate up to $6,900. Campaign spokesman Stan Devereux says that 33 people have contributed that amount. “We’ve received over 10,000 small donors,” he added. “There’s been a real groundswell.”
“Local Republican activists have been absolutely solid,” echoes McClintock. “I would never have made it without their enthusiastic support from the outset.”
In the weeks leading up to the election, local residents commented on the intensity of the TV- and radio-ad campaigns, and the volume of direct-mail appeals. “You could paper your house with all of the direct mail that’s in the garbage can,” says Steve Thompson, a Butte County Republican who supports McClintock. “Still, spending more money won’t win an election. The voters are smarter than that.”
McClintock perceives larger significance in the race. “This is a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican party — the grassroots Reagan coalition against the established party leadership,” he says.
– Elise Viebeck, a Collegiate Network intern at National Review, is an editor emerita of the Claremont Independent at Claremont McKenna College.