Campbell leaps into GOP Senate race, drops gubernatorial bid

Former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell announced this morning that he is entering the race to unseat U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, confirming rumors that have flared this week that he was leaving the California gubernatorial contest.

Calling the nation's fiscal path "suicidal," Campbell said his economic background makes him the ideal candidate to rein in federal spending and growth.

“Our country is at a very perilous point in economic terms, and in terms of the size and intrusiveness of government” he said. "I believe I can help to restore our nation's economic health, and spirit of independence." 

Campbell has a doctorate in economics and his faculty advisor was the Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman. Campbell was also the last person to serve as California's budget director who oversaw a balanced state budget.

Campbell, who represented the Silicon Valley for 11 years in the House of Representatives and the state Senate, acknowledged that he was unable to compete financially in the governor’s race, with two rich opponents sinking millions of their personal fortunes into their efforts to win the GOP primary.

"The path of public service and teaching is rewarding, but it does not afford one the ability to invest millions of dollars in a campaign for office," Campbell wrote in an e-mail sent to supporters this morning.

Although his entry into the Senate race will clearly change the contest’s dynamics, his prospects in the primary are not necessarily any stronger. He's facing multimillionaire Carly Fiorina, who has lent her campaign $2.5 million, and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who is the favorite of the party's most conservative and committed voters.

Campbell is a budget hawk, but his liberal positions on issues such as abortion, guns and gay rights and his support of some tax increases may not sit well with the conservatives who will turn out in the June primary.

Well-liked and affable, Campbell has some name recognition among voters and unveiled an interesting list of endorsements today, including former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz. But he has never been elected to statewide office. In the 1992 Senate race, he lost the GOP primary to a more conservative candidate, and in 2000, he won the primary but was crushed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein. [Note: An earlier version of this post misspelled "Shultz" as "Schultz."]

Conventional wisdom holds that Campbell’s entry into the Republican primary for Senate will split the moderate vote and Silicon Valley support, benefiting DeVore. But others contend that Campbell will provide a liberal bookend for Fiorina, who can contrast her social positions -- she opposes abortion and voted for Proposition 8, the same-sex marriage ban -- with Campbell’s. Fiorina, who has been touting her business experience and trashing career politicians on the stump, can also lump DeVore and Campbell into that category at a time when voters are deeply skeptical of elected officials in Sacramento and Washington.

-- Seema Mehta

Comments

[Ian]

Read Naomi Klein's book "Disaster Capitalism" to best understand Campbell's mentoring by economist Milton Friedman, of the Chicago School.

[Breaking News]

No mention of how much the wars President Bush got us into are costing in lives and dollars.

[DavidW]

First Boxer then Fienstein.I have to agree with Arnold.What the hell are these people doing back there.We send more money to D.C. then we get back.Let's get someone that is going to change that.Our two senators have been there long enough and have dropped the ball.Time for some fresh people and new ideas.Enjoy the memories Barbara,that's all you'll have after Nov.

[howardx]

dream on davidw, boxer will breeze in after a vicious gop primary fight.

[Debbie]

Too bad...he was the only GOP candidate I would look at. Now jumping ship and running to the Senate election is cowardly. The qualifications for the two positions are different. Doesn't leave much choice.

There is no way I can or ever would vote for Whitman or Fiorina because they so easily ignored their right, duty and responsibility as citizens as to vote. That is the basis of Democracy and if they couldn't uphold Democracy as million of American's do every year then they shouldn't be given the opportunity to represent Democracy.

On the GOP side that only leaves Poizner and he is just poison. He has/would sell his soul for power. It's not about people its about power.

[Scott]

I like the fiscal responsibility he preaches. I'm interested to hear his take on foreign policy.

[Lornaj]

Davidw, I gut feeling before reading the story it about money with Campbell. Campbell cannot beat Brown, and he cannot beat Boxer.

[Darryl Morden]

Another shifting opportunist who could really care less about struggling Americans.