CA-31: Red to Blue

Democrats have added several districts to their Red to Blue program, Republican districts they want to take in November. Actually it includes open seats currently occupied by Democrats, as these candidates are also challengers. I suppose Blue to Blue wouldn't be nearly as sexy. The Democrats have added Raul Ruiz (CA-36) and Pete Aguilar (CA-31) to their list that already included Jose Hernandez in CA-10, Mark Takano in CA-41, and Blong Xiong in CA-21. I have no idea why Ami Bera (CA-7), Julia Brownley (CA-26), and Alan Lowenthal (CA-47) are not yet on the list. They've indicated they are targeting these districts and there's only one serious Democratic candidate in each one.

Aguilar has long been known to be the establishment pick for CA-31. The party had chosen not to add him to the Red to Blue list before now, even though most of the others were already there. I assumed they didn't want to take sides in the primary. I don't know how much this means, as I doubt the DCCC will be marshaling their resources to push one Democrat over another. Still, any recognition of this kind has to be a disappointment to Justin Kim. The battle in CA-31 is going to be difficult and this could help Aguilar.

The Republican establishment has been in Rep. Gary Miller's corner since he declared. State sen. Bob Dutton hardly seems to be positioned to be the outsider in the race. He was minority leader, which put him as one of the people who decide who is inside. He even received a legislative award today. He too has an uphill challenge.