Press Release from Ron Nehring..
REPUBLICANS DISMISS FILNER MAYORAL CANDIDACY AS DESPERATE RETIREMENT PLAN
Controversial congressman’s announcement follows release of new district maps showing Filner could not be re-elected in 2012
SAN DIEGO — Citing Bob Filner’s decision to run for mayor coming on the heels of new Congressional district maps released this week, San Diego Republicans dismissed the controversial Congressman’s decision to run for mayor as a second-rate retirement plan for a politician who would not be re-elected to the House next year.
“The mayor’s office is a critical leadership post in our city, not a retirement plan for washed up politicians,” said Immediate Past Chairman Ron Nehring. “The new Congressional maps all but guarantee Filner could not survive a primary challenge from Juan Vargas next June, so he’s hoping to use the mayor’s office for a soft landing. That’s not a good reason to run for the top job in city government.”
The California Citizens Redistricting Commission has released draft Congressional district maps which show Filner’s district will become significantly more Latino in 2012, making it all but impossible for him to survive an expected primary challenge from longtime rival State Sen. Juan Vargas (D).
“Bob Filner’s days in the House are numbered, and he knows it,” added Nehring.
TOO LIBERAL FOR SAN DIEGO. Republicans note that in the House, Bob Filner has a voting record more in line with San Francisco than San Diego, putting him far outside the mainstream for a city that has elected moderate Republicans for most of the last four decades.
“For carrying Nancy Pelosi’s water all these years, Bob Filner earned a 100% voting record from the radical left wing group Americans for Democratic Action. While that record may earn him credit in the Democratic cloakroom in Washington, it makes him too extreme for citywide election in San Diego,” said Nehring.
In the House, Filner voted for the passage of President Obama’s unpopular health care plan (HR 3590), against freedom of speech in elections (HR 5175), and against the extension of the Bush tax cuts (HR 4853).
“Bob Filner is too liberal for San Diego. In Filner’s world taxes are too low, gas is too cheap, and labor unions don’t have enough power,” concluded Nehring.
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