Republicans Leaning on Andal to Ramp Up Effort

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Correction Appended

Dean Andal, recruited by the GOP with great fanfare to challenge freshman Rep. Jerry McNerney (D) in California’s 11th district, is now coming under attack from Republicans in Washington, D.C., for running what they contend is a flawed campaign.

Andal, a former state Assemblyman, is facing increasing criticism for his fundraising and general campaign strategy, with the grumbling emanating from Republicans in the consulting and lobbying communities. Privately, Republicans on Capitol Hill are also expressing concern.

The handful of sources interviewed for this story on Tuesday declined to discuss their concerns on the record. But all are Washington, D.C.-based Republican strategists who had until recently been singing Andal’s praises and are intimately familiar with the GOP-leaning 11th district.

“I think the fundamentals are there to pull this off,” said one GOP operative. “But Andal still has to run a fundamentally sound race. He hasn’t done that so far.”

With 30 open seats to defend and far less cash to spend on House races than national Democrats, the Republicans have nevertheless felt highly optimistic about their prospects in the 11th district because of McNerney’s perceived weaknesses and Andal’s assumed strengths.

But lately, that optimism has transformed into some serious worrying. The grumbling surfaced in mid-April, following the release of Andal’s first-quarter Federal Election Commission fundraising report, elevating in mid-May upon the release of his pre-primary report.

McNerney reported more than $1.2 million in cash on hand as of May 14, while raising nearly $470,000 during the first five and a half months of the year. Andal reported $509,000 on hand as of May 14, while raising just $103,500 during the same period.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), noting that virtually the entire California House Republican delegation was raising money for Andal and committed to helping him win, indicated that he understood why some Republicans following this race might be concerned with Andal’s fundraising. But he said their concern was unnecessary.

“This is a marathon. There are some miles we run faster than others,” McCarthy said.

Richard Temple, Andal’s chief campaign strategist, said he understands that there might be some nervousness among Republicans in Washington, D.C. Temple recently served as former Rep. Doug Ose’s top strategist in his losing bid for the GOP nomination in California’s 4th district.

Temple suggested that the National Republican Congressional Committee is worried because they have little money to spend on the upcoming elections and are reeling from three special election losses. Still, he acknowledged that in such a highly targeted race — one of the GOP’s few potential bright spots on the 2008 map — scrutiny comes with the territory.

However, he referred to all of the hand-wringing coming out of the nation’s capital as “misplaced,” and he said Andal was executing a plan that will ultimately prove successful on Nov. 4.

“People can be nervous. People can say it’s not good enough,” said Temple, who is based in Sacramento. “The reality is, this is a non-story from the point that it’s inaccurate.”

Temple said Andal has been focused on walking precincts and building grass-roots support, including in the western portion of the district that Republicans have historically ignored but that have already proved fruitful. To date, Andal has knocked on doors in 25 percent of the district, and Temple said this one-on-one contact with voters is key to deflecting Democratic attacks that have already begun.

Andal hails from Stockton, in the heart of the Republican-strong San Joaquin Valley portion of the seat, and his base there is solid. In his state Assembly victories in the early 1990s, Andal appealed to Democrats and won in a majority Democratic legislative district while maintaining the strong support of his Republican constituents.

Temple said Andal is on pace to raise $1.5 million to $2 million for the cycle — McNerney had raised $1.9 million as of May 14 — emphasizing that money would not be a problem in a district where enrolled Republicans outnumber Democrats by 8,500 and most voters tend to lean philosophically conservative.