The special election loss in CA-50 was not the only place where Democrats felt the air let out of their sails last week. In CA-11, where Democrats had hoped to put a credible challenge to GOP Rep. Richard Pombo, airline pilot and DCCC favorite Steve Filson was crushed by engineer and 2004 nominee Jerry McNerney 53 to 28 percent. A third Democrat took 19 percent of the vote. While Filson was certainly no superstar, Democratic insiders contend that he would have been a better fit for the district than McNerney. McNerney, who was endorsed by the California Democratic Party, is portrayed as more liberal than Filson. National environmental groups, however, who see the House Resource Chairman as enemy #1, and have already invested heavily in this race, remain encouraged about their chances to defeat Pombo.
Earlier this year, Democratic insiders were convinced that Pombo was a vulnerable target. Despite his 14-year tenure in Congress, Pombo was not very well-defined among the district's voters. And, while this district has a Republican lean (it has a PVI of R+3), this once
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