Mundell Will Not Challenge Sen. Feinstein

By Michael Finnegan, Times Staff Writer


Bill Mundell, the only Republican making serious preparations to challenge U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein's bid for reelection, said Tuesday he has decided not to run, leaving the GOP with no clear contender for one of California's top races for 2006.

The move by Mundell, an education software executive, reflects the difficulty Republicans face in finding a strong candidate to challenge the popular Democratic incumbent.

In an interview, Mundell said he was willing to spend several million dollars of his own money on the race, but would have needed to collect much more from donors to mount a viable campaign. He said his conversations with the party's major contributors in California made clear that donors do not plan to put substantial money behind any push to oust Feinstein, and he had no interest in running a "vanity campaign."

Mundell, chief executive of Vidyah Inc., had raised his public profile this year as a major supporter of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Nov. 8 ballot measure to strip state lawmakers of their power to draw district maps for themselves and members of Congress.

more: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-me-senate30nov30,1,170312.story?coll=la-headlines-politics

He was smart to quit because he would have lost.

He probably wouldn't have had much of a chance against the most popular Democrat in California.

Based on her corporatist voting record.

She needs to go.

;)

although insofar as you seem to equate money with popularity- your position is logical.

a serious primary challenge. He alsmost lost the nomination. The guy (or gal) with the most money doesn't always win. Just ask Howard Dean and Al Checchi.

:shrug:

:shrug:

People know better.

A more progressive candidate to challenge her in the Primaries.

If we manage to end up with 51 Democratic Senators in 2006, and two of them are DiFi and Joementum, we still get control over the various commitees and such, right? The balance of power shifts drastically with the majority. Keep that in mind when thinking about certain Senators what calls themselves Democratic.

This will be her last term.

And now it appears they were wrong. Some politicians enjoy their jobs too much to retire.

but then again, Dianne is in good health so you never know.

:silly:

the last six?

her position on fiscal issues. and her strong positions on abortion, gun control secure her the dem voters.

it's a waste of money for republicans to run someone against her unless they do it more as a testing of new strategies for other elections where they have a better chance.

When was the last time some one challengered her in a primary?

"He said his conversations with the party's major contributors in California made clear that donors do not plan to put substantial money behind any push to oust Feinstein"

Could the "party's major contributors" be reluctant to mess with a good thing?

It appears that Senator Fienstein will be reeelcted no matter what the Republicans do.