Both looking vulnerable going into last leg of November polls.
By Sujeet Rajan
NEW YORK: It’s raining bad news for Indian American politicians in drought-ridden, parched California.
Incumbent Democrat Congressman Ami Bera, who last month was reported to have raised more than $700,000 in the last quarter – his best haul in the election cycle, boosting his war chest for the November polls to nearly $2 million, was comfortably placed against his Republican rival Doug Ose, who has a paltry $200,000 in comparison.
Bera had also drubbed Ose, a former member of the US House of Representatives, in the primaries, 46 percent to 26 percent, in a district with a strong GOP presence.
The matter should have been seen as closed, with Bera seemingly in an unassailable position, and set to go back to serve his second term in the US House of Representatives, from the Sacramento County area.
But in a jolt from the blue, Roll Call, a top Washington, D.C.-based political website, has now placed Bera in their ‘Not-so-honorable mention list’ where he just stayed out of the “Top 10 Most Vulnerable House Members” going into the polls. Roll Call didn’t cite a reason for Bera getting into the dubious list, but it’s evident that there is a shift in momentum, and national issues that are plaguing Democrats and a backlash against incumbents may come into play, with around three months still left for voters to take a decision.
Bera was one of three members of Congress on the list – along with Democrats Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona and John Barrow of Georgia.
While cash flow is not an issue for Bera, it’s become a handicap for one of the most promising Indian American candidates vying to join Bera on Capitol Hill: Ro Khanna. It’s been reported that his campaign is short of money going into the last leg of the contest against veteran Congressman Mike Honda.
Also worrying for Khanna, is the fact that the same Roll Call monthly report which had Bera on their ‘‘Not-so-honorable mention list’ has now taken out Honda out of the “Top 10 Most Vulnerable House Members” – where Honda had been placed since May.
Honda’s prospects brightened after he beat Khanna in the June 3 primaries 48 percent to 28 percent. And with an expanding war chest, he is more confident of warding off the threat come the big one in November. Khanna, unlike Bera, is struggling to raise money from a constituency which includes Silicon Valley, to mount a strong challenge to Honda.