CA-4

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee made a $445,000 media buy in the 4th Congressional District on Tuesday. This follows a $270,000 ad buy last week and brings the committee's total spending in the district to nearly $800,000.

On the heels of some potentially encouraging public polling, Charle Brown's (D) 4th Congressional District bid against Tom McClintock (R) got some more welcome news today.

CQ has updated their rating of the race from "Leans Republican" to "No Clear Favorite."

Tom McClintock, a strongly conservative Republican state senator, no longer holds a clear lead in the race to succeed embattled GOP Rep. John T. Doolittle as the campaign heads into its final days. Democratic nominee Charlie Brown, a former Air Force lieutenant colonel, continues to gain local and national support despite the northeastern California district’s usual conservative lean. A string of regional newspapers, including The Sacramento Bee, have endorsed Brown’s campaign, describing him as holding moderate and independent views, And even Republican strategists continue to mark this race as one of the most competitive in the nation.

Charlie Brown (D) leads Tom McClintock (R) 48 percent to 42 percent in the the 4th Congressional District, a recent poll conducted by Research 2000 between Oct. 20 to 22 found.

The Cook Political Report today issued another round of changes in their House race ratings. Four races in the state saw their ratings changed.

The biggest shift occured in the 50th Congressional District where U.S. Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Carlsbad) is being challenged by Nick Leibham (D-Rancho Santa Fe). The rating was changed from Solid to Lean Republican.

WASHINGTON – National Republican Congressional Committee chair Tom Cole is set to launch a three-week national tour of competitive house races, beginning with stops in two hotly contested districts in California.

While the schedule is still tentative, according to an NRCC source familiar with the plans, the trip will bring Cole to California’s 11th and 4th Congressional Districts on Oct. 2 and Oct. 3, respectively. The 11th district matchup features Republican Dean Andal challenging U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Stockton), while Republican Tom McClintock is battling Democrat Charlie Brown in the 4th district.

Cole, a third term congressman from Oklahoma who is in his first stint as the GOP House campaign chief, is a top fundraising draw for House candidates across the country.

WASHINGTON – Republican U.S. House candidate Tom McClintock said in an interview Tuesday evening that his campaign was prepared for heavy spending on the part of national Democrats in his race.

“We’re ready for them,” said McClintock. “Prudence requires planning. We have, and we’re ready.”

McClintock, a state senator from Southern California, is running against retired Air Force officer Charlie Brown in a conservative Northern California district that has been historically unfriendly to Democrats. But on Tuesday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee waded into similarly Republican trending districts in Kentucky and Maryland. And while the DCCC has yet to air advertisements in the 4th Congressional District, it has reserved time in the local media market.

“We’ve planned all along on the assumption that they would end up being in the district,” he said. “We’ve assumed that $1 million and as much as $2 million of DCCC money will enter this race.”

WASHINGTON – With just one week before Congress is scheduled to break, Capitol Hill is filled with House candidates looking to raise funds ahead of Election Day.

Tom McClintock, who is running in California’s open 4th Congressional District, is among those making the rounds on the Washington cash circuit. The Republican state senator will be the beneficiary at the Capitol Hill Club in an event Tuesday evening headlined by House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, House Minority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri and National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole of Oklahoma.

The reception will fetch checks tallying $5,000, $2,500 and $250, according to a fundraising invitation. Twenty to 30 donors are expected to attend.

McClintock is facing off against retired Air Force officer Charlie Brown in November, a Democrat who narrowly lost to retiring U.S. Rep. John Doolittle (R-Roseville) last cycle.     

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark will campaign with congressional candidate Charlie Brown Thursday in Roseville and assist in Brown's program to benefit veterans who need help.

Clark, who ran for president in 2004, will make a $30,000 presentation of new donations to Brown's "Promises Kept Veterans Charity Challenge" campaign, which donates 5 percent of his campaign donations to nonprofit community-based groups that help veterans and their families.

Congressional candidate Charlie BrownCongressional candidate Charlie Brown's campaign fired back at opponent state Sen. Tom McClintock this week, saying a campaign mailer McClintock sent to 4th Congressional District voters is "rife with fabrications."

Brown campaign manager Todd Stenhouse said the mailer, which compares McClintock's (R-Thousand Oaks) stances on issues to Roseville Democrat Brown's, is incorrect in several instances.

A new Politicker.com analysis suggest that despite House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's efforts to increase her ruling majority in the U.S. House, her party will be unable to pick up any seats in her home state of California.

The Pindell Report, which launched today, predicts that Democrats will continue to occupy 36 of the state's 55 Congressional seats after the November elections.

Only two of the state's congressional races were considered to be competitive, according to Politicker.com Managing Editor James Pindell. Of the 435 U.S. House races nationwide, California's 11th Congressional District race with Democratic incumbent Jerry McNerney is considered to be the 19th most competitive. Another Northern California race, the 4th Congressional District, features a matchup between Republican Tom McClintock and Democrat Charlie Brown. That race is considered less competitive and is ranked 55th.