ShareThisBy MICHAEL DOYLE
Monday, November 20, 2006
Annette Pombo wants her husband home. Because of last week's election, that's right where he's going.
"She's got a list, a long list, of stuff that need to be done," Richard Pombo said with a laugh Wednesday afternoon.
For the next six weeks or so, Pombo still will be formally known as Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif. As he has for the past 14 years, he will remain the congressman for a Tracy-based district that now includes the cities of Ripon, Manteca and Escalon. He'll continue as chairman of the House Resources Committee, responsible for public lands bills that retain a sliver of a chance before the 109th Congress adjourns.
But with his defeat by Democrat Jerry McNerney on Nov. 7, Pombo has begun the transition back to private life. Several of his staffers already have received job offers. Others are polishing resumes and contemplating life away from the Capitol Hill adrenaline factory.
Pombo said no one has yet tried recruiting him. He has no plans for his Washington townhouse. He does know he's returning to his San Joaquin County ranch, where his wife and children have remained in recent years. His own future job prospects are entirely up in the air.
"I still want to be involved in public policy," Pombo said, but "at this point, I just haven't made a decision."
Elected office remains a possibility for the one-time Tracy City Council member.
"I have not ruled out whether or not to run again for something," Pombo said.
This was not, after all, a voluntary retirement. Pombo spent well over $2.5 million on his re-election bid during the 2005-2006 campaign cycle. McNerney spent well over $1.2 million. A host of environmental groups likewise spent more than $1 million.
The race was never less than nasty. Pombo said the Democrats spent the last several days trying to suppress Republican turnout by targeting GOP voters with anti-Pombo mailers. Whatever the reason, Pombo's support fatally faltered around his home base. This year, Pombo secured 44,965 votes in his native San Joaquin County, compared to McNerney's 43,721. Pombo lost by relatively large margins in Alameda, Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties.
In 2004, McNerney received about the same number of votes in San Joaquin County as he did this year. Pombo, though, had received more than twice as many _ 96,183. He attributed the sharp falloff between to the drumbeat of ads funded by groups like Defenders of Wildlife and the League of Conservation Voters.
Opponents were also successful in linking Pombo to disgraced Republican lobbyist and admitted felon Jack Abramoff, whose tribal clients contributed heavily to Pombo's past campaigns. Pombo himself had only met Abramoff in passing, although his staff had dealings with the lobbyist's office.
"It was all millions and millions of dollars of negative attacks on me," Pombo said.
He describes tactics that he says included anonymous billboards, misleading fliers distributed at church parking lots and late-night telephone calls he believes were intended to make potential GOP voters mad at him. Still, Pombo also seemed in good spirits Wednesday, shaking his head and chuckling sardonically at political gamesmanship.
Ask him what he will miss about Congress, and he turns the question around. Traveling between 300,000 and 500,000 miles a year was never his favorite pastime.
"I won't miss the airplanes," Pombo said. "I won't miss being away from my family all the time."
