Richard Temple

Congressional candidate Dean AndalDean Andal, challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerney in what is widely seen as one of the most hotly contested House races this fall, has tapped Republican operative John Franklin to serve as his day-to-day campaign manager, PolitickerCA.com has learned.

“John is a tough, experienced campaigner –– familiar with California, and familiar with congressional campaigns. He will be a real asset to the Andal team," said Richard Temple, an Andal consultant.

Franklin is no stranger in Republican circles. A longtime political and legislative aide to U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, Johnson served as the campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Brian Bilbray in his 2006 special election campaign for the seat of former U.S. Rep. Duke Cunningham. Later in that cycle he managed the campaign of Sharon Angle, a U.S. Congressional candidate from Nevada who narrowly failed in her primary bid against Dean Heller. Franklin is fresh off a tour managing the successful campaign to beat back the recall attempt against state Sen. Jeff Denham.

Franklin said he was ready to steer the effort for Andal, a former state Assemblyman and onetime member of the California Board of Equalization.

In the end, state Sen. Tom McClintock’s victory over Doug Ose in the Republican primary for the seat of retiring U.S. Rep. John Doolittle had as much to with the realities of the 4th Congressional District as the candidates themselves.

The conservative tilt of the district, which gave George W. Bush 61 percent of the vote in 2004 and supported the 2003 recall of Gray Davis by a margin of 70 percent to 30 percent, made it a natural fit for McClintock, a veteran state legislator who is widely considered to be something of an icon in right-leaning circles. The tendency for party die-hards and activists to turn out in Republican primaries made the task that much more difficult for Ose, who is widely perceived as a moderate.

“It was an uphill climb the day he got in,” said Richard Temple, Ose’s chief political adviser, referring to McClintock’s March entrance into the race. “Most candidates didn’t want to take on that challenge. Ose did.”

WASHINGTON - Republican congressional candidate Doug Ose made no secret of his campaign’s strategy heading into the final six-week run of the primary campaign: hit Republican opponent Tom McClintock hard – and often, he said in an hour-long interview Tuesday.

“We are going to be a broken record,” said Ose, who is seeking a return to the U.S. House after retiring from his 3rd District seat in 2005.