In the 37th state senate's GOP primary, it's Bogh and Benoit back-and-forth

NORCO - Talk to Russ Bogh about his opponent John Benoit in the 37th State Senate district’s Republican primary and the talk gets harsh, quickly;

“Unfortunately my opponent…”

“Tripled the car tax…”

“Voted to weaken…”

This rapid fire continues for most of a 40-minute conversation at a Starbucks in Norco, the horse-friendly town next to traffic-clogged Corona. Here too, Bogh blames Benoit; “The voters in Corona are stuck in traffic every day because of John Benoit.”

That charge goes back to budgets Benoit has voted on as the 64th District’s assemblyman, which he’s termed out of this year. When asked if Corona’s bumper-to-bumper agony is entirely Benoit’s fault, Bogh pushes more but finally eases up just a bit, saying of state budget cuts, “If it was a dollar, it was too much.”

This below-the-radar fight involves two legislators with conservative voting records so similar that it’s like slicing onions. State Senate District 37 covers Riverside County from Corona/Norco south to Hemet and Palm Springs and east to Arizona. Solidly GOP, the primary pits Bogh, Riverside’s District 65 assemblyman from 2001-2006 and now at his family’s construction business, against Benoit, a retired California Highway Patrol commander and District 64 incumbent assemblyman. Current 37th State Sen. Jim Battin is being termed out and is backing his friend Bogh.

The 37th’s dominant daily, Riverside’s Press-Enterprise, has reported that Bogh has accused Benoit of misusing state resources to campaign by promoting his state senate run while talking to assembly district constituents, but Assembly officials found no Benoit wrongdoing. The Press-Enterprise also highlighted an anonymous anti-Benoit web site, saying the site, “is owned by a consulting firm that manages Bogh’s campaign website.” The Bogh campaign denied any ties to it.

Benoit is focusing on his Assembly and CHP track records, which includes cool stuff.

“I was the CHP commander at Sonny Bono’s funeral,” said Benoit, referencing the beloved congressman’s 1998 passing.

At Benoit’s Bermuda Dunes home, two family dogs share the backyard with a modest, slightly weathered St. Francis of Assisi statue. Benoit’s usher-at-weekly-Mass Catholicism contrasts sharply with Bogh’s accusations about him voting to, “fund abortions.” Such charges also sound almost archaic in a national political culture in which Roe-versus-Wade shouting is becoming increasingly less prominent.

Bogh hopes to sway primary voters with the pro-choice stain, but Benoit said his supporters aren‘t buying it; “Frankly, some extremely good conservatives are saying, ‘What??’ ”