20th Congressional District candidates weigh in on Panetta endorsement
During her campaign stop in Salinas on Wednesday, democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton endorsed Jimmy Panetta, who is running for the 20 th Congressional District seat. That seat is up for grabs now that longtime Rep. Sam Farr is retiring.
“Jimmy is running on his own,” Hillary Clinton said. “He’s his own man, he has his own ideas, he’s going to fight for you.”
Clinton’s endorsement is a big boost to the Panetta campaign.
“Panetta wants to be identified as a Democrat,” political analyst David Anderson said. “He wants to be identified as a Democratic candidate and an association with Hillary Clinton, who we know has support among a lot of mainstream Democrats, is the logical choice.”
Just last week, Republican challenger Casey Lucius was identified by the GOP party as a “Young Gun.” She says she wasn’t surprised by Clinton’s endorsement.
“There’s only one Democrat running, there’s only one Republican running,” Lucius said. “So that makes it a little more easier for the parties because there’s no inner-party rivalry in this district, so it really comes down to the two of us.”
But it may not speak well to voters who are against mainstream candidates.
Bernie Sanders supporter and socialist candidate Joe Williams is calling on Panetta to “repudiate the endorsement of a corrupt candidate.”
Meantime, Sanders supporter and progressive moderate candidate Jack Digby is happy Clinton endorsed Panetta because he said “There are a lot of people who won’t want her to be president. If she’s aligned herself with him, people may want an alternate choice.”
Barbara Honegger, running under a No Party Preference ticket, said “Hillary Clinton, Sam Farr and Leon Panetta don’t decide who goes to Congress. The voters do.”
Lucius said, the political process is at work.
“I have to say, the other three candidates have been great,” Lucius said. “They’re very professional and experienced and they have a lot to offer so I do hope voters will take them seriously as well because I think we want to have a robust debate and we want to have a good election where people have a choice.”
