Herger, Lewis to Retire

Between the time I went to bed and woke up two California Republican congressmen retired. Wally Herger (CA-1) and Jerry Lewis (CA-8) are both hanging it up. Herger has been in congress for 25 years. Lewis has been there for 33. Lewis was faced with a dilemma. He could run in CA-8, most of which is in his current district, or in the far more competitive CA-31, where he lives. He's said he doesn't want to move. Neither option was likely very appealing.

Doug LaMalfa is set to announce for CA-1. Obviously he's been in touch with Herger about his retirement. Colonel Pete Stiglich and Gregory Cheadle already were running. They likely will position themselves as tea party Republicans.

A number of Republicans have been vying for CA-8, but none have yet to announce for CA-31. Congressman David Dreier represents more of CA-31 than Lewis and is an obvious candidate. He's indicated he will run. He not only hasn't committed to a district but has insisted the districts won't be final.

Below are charts of the current California candidates. A green background is an incumbent or incumbent's party. A yellow one is a challenger. Blue is an open seat. There are now 9 open seats. On the end are the two party shares for Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina in the 2010 Gubernatorial and Senate elections. The column at the far left is what the consensus of the prognosticators (Cook, Rothenberg, Roll Call, Sabato).