McClintock to run for Congress
The Thousand Oaks state senator announces his bid to replace retiring Rep. John Doolittle, ruffling north-south feathers.
AUBURN, Calif. -- On the steps of the historic courthouse here, Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock announced his candidacy today for a Northern California congressional seat hundreds of miles from the beachfront district he currently represents.
Four unsuccessful campaigns for statewide office, including a 2003 run for governor, have made McClintock a hero to many California conservatives. Early polls suggest him as the instant front-runner in the contest to replace retiring Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Roseville), who is stepping down amid a federal corruption investigation.
In a state where north-south political enmity is legendary, McClintock is already catching flak from Northern Californians as the worst kind of carpetbagger: a Southerner.
"I don't believe the voters of this district want an L.A. politician who doesn't understand the issues and people of Northern California," said former Rep. Doug Ose of Sacramento, another candidate. "It's just different than representing Southern California beachfront."
McClintock is also being criticized by residents of his Senate district who say his run for Congress up north is a final acknowledgment that, although McClintock maintains his voter registration in Thousand Oaks, his home for years has actually been a short commute from the state Capitol.
"It wasn't a secret that he really didn't live in the district," said Hannah-Beth Jackson, a Democrat and a former Assemblywoman from a district that overlaps McClintock's Senate district. "He was busy trying to be something to all people in the state. He very rarely appeared in the district."
The Senate district includes the coastal cities of Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, Camarillo, Ventura and inland communities including Santa Clarita, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and Ojai.
By contrast, the congressional district includes arid and mountainous areas of northeast California, stretching from eastern Sacramento County to Lake Tahoe on the south and the Oregon border in the north.
patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com
