There’s only one unsettled race left in Orange County after Tuesday’s primary election: the 5th Supervisor District, which goes to a November run-off between Pat Bates and Cassie DeYoung. Pat took 44.3% on Tuesday to DeYoung’s 36.7%.
Both campaigns say transportation will be a central issue of the campaign, meaning much Cassie DeYoung Chicken Little-ism over the Terrible Tunnel. During the primary campaign, DeYoung attempt to make an issue out of Cong. Ken Calvert’s support for studying a possible tunnel underneath the Santa Ana Mountains connecting Orange and Riverside counties. Pat Bates supports studying whether a tunnel is even technically feasible before making a decision whether or not to build it.
I’ve blogged elsewhere of my free-floating anxiety about the collateral impact DeYoung’s demonization of the tunnel project might have on the resolve of other politicians who favor building, or at least studying, a mutli-use tunnel through the Santa Ana Mountains.
Take, for example, this Los Angeles Times article from mid-May attempting to link the earmarks Calvert has brought to his district with the increased value of his holdings. I didn’t find it convincing — the nearest transportation earmark was 16 miles from Calvert’s property — but I’m surprised at how much play in got in other media outlets — CQPolitics.com, Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire, FOXNEWS.com, the SD Union-Tribune online, KTLA, the Club for Growth‘s blog and KCBS-TV, for example.
It’s fun and often easy to poke fun at the MSM and extoll the blogosphere, but the above is an example of the power a major daily like the LA Times has to broadcast a message.
So what does this have to do with the tunnel? Well, Rep. Calvert — along with Rep. Gary Miller — is a key figure in securing $15 million in federal funds to do a geotechnical study of the tunnel’s feasibility. My concern is this kind of negative publicity might put a chill in whatever Calvert’s level of resolve is regarding a Santa Ana Mountains tunnel.
Thus far they have been returning Cassie DeYoung’s fire. It will be interesting to see how the dynamics of the Bates-DeYoung campaign affects the politics of a Riverside-Orange County tunnel.