Larry is the best candidate to win the 5th AD and get California Working!

Open Seat.  The 5th Assembly District is an open seat  (the Republican incumbent is termed out), a District in transition.

The District.  The district extends from eastern Sacramento through Arden and Fair Oaks to Folsom. The District is primarily located in Sacramento County, with a small extension into Placer County, and includes communities like Natomas, Arden-Arcade, Carmichael, Citrus Heights, Orangevale, Granite Bay, and Folsom.  The San Juan Unified School District covers over 75% of the District.

Democratic District.  Larry is a pragmatic Democrat running in a district that rejects ideologues in favor of moderates and independents. As recently as 2006 registered Republicans outnumbered Democrats by over six percent. Since 2002, Republican registration has dropped 5 1/2 points, from a high of 44.4% to 39% in the 2008 race, while independents have grown from 13.6% to 19%.  Democratic registration has grown to 39%, and thanks to an active voter registration drive Democrats have overtaken the GOP in the district. Voters registering Decline-to-State increased from 17.5% in 2006 to over 19% of the electorate today, meaning Democrats and moderate independents now hold the balance of power in the 5th AD.

This transition has not been lost on District observers.  Commenting on the CD3 race, which includes much of the 5th AD, the publisher of the California Target Book observed that Congressman Dan Lungren earned the lowest percentage of the vote of any California Republican in the 2008 election, the Republican registration advantage in the district has narrowed dramatically, and the Hispanic population, an increasingly loyal Democratic voting bloc, has grown by nearly two-thirds in the past decade. 

Asked if Lungren is the most at-risk Republican in the Golden State, Allan Hoffenblum, the publisher of the California Target Book, said flatly, “Yes.


“This is a Sacramento suburban area that is trending Democratic,”  Hoffenblum said.

Divisive Republican nominee.  Republicans are likely to nominate the extremely conservative author of Proposition 8. The probable Republican nominee's strict conservatism is out-of-step with the district’s moderate profile.  

Obama Carried District.  Senator Barack Obama defeated Senator John McCain in the district by four percentage points. The 5th Assembly District is one of only five open seats now held by Republicans that went for Obama in 2008.  Democrats nationally will be making an all-out effort in this part of the state. Much of the 5th Assembly District overlaps with the 3rd Congressional District. Rep. Dan Lungren received just 49.5% of the vote in 2008 and is a top target of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

A Proven Vote Getter.  Larry is a proven vote getter in the 5th AD having twice been elected to the San Juan School Board of Trustees, a school district that overlaps with roughly 75% of the Assembly District. Larry has served as President of the district twice since first being elected to the Board in 2004. In 2008 Larry won re-election topping a field of five candidates.