SACRAMENTO — There are dozens of contests for state and federal legislative office on the Nov. 4 ballot, but attention is focused most sharply on just a handful.
California's ballots include 46 congressional seats for which the incumbent faces at least one challenger, but the way voting districts are drawn in the state means several are safe bets for the officeholders.
For example, Rep. Diane E. Watson (D-Los Angeles) is being challenged by Republican college student David C. Crowley II in a district where more than 65% of voters are Democrats and 11% are Republicans. Similarly, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) is seeking reelection against three less-known challengers, including anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, in a district that is 56.8% Democratic and 9.2% Republican.
Seven congressional incumbents, including Los Angeles County veterans Howard Berman, Henry Waxman, Xavier Becerra and Hilda Solis, have no opposition.
The two hardest-fought congressional races are in Northern California.
One features Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks and Democrat Charlie Brown, a retired Air Force officer from Roseville, in the 4th District northeast of Sacramento. The other is in the 11th District, extending from San Jose to the Central Valley, where freshman Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton) is facing a tough challenge from Republican Dean Andal, a former state Assemblyman from Stockton.
"Those are the two priorities," said State Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres. "We took the 11th District away from the Republicans and we want to keep that seat."
Countered Ron Nehring, chairman of the California Republican Party: "The 11th provides us with an opportunity to take back a congressional seat which was lost a couple of years ago. The 4th District is an open seat and Tom McClintock is a very strong candidate."
In the state Legislature, all Assembly seats and half of the Senate seats are on the ballot.
Although 12 of the 20 state Senate posts are without incumbent candidates, the real contest for many of those offices was in the June primary election. But there is a hot race for McClintock's seat in the 19th District, which the senator is vacating because of term limits.
There, former Assemblyman Tony Strickland, a Republican businessman from Thousand Oaks, is competing against former Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, a Democrat and attorney from Santa Barbara.
