Lacking cash, House challenger runs as a California ‘insurgent’

Democratic congressional candidate Dr. Bob Derlet faces long odds and a shortage of campaign cash as he challenges Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove.

So he’s making do; currently, with a low-cost hiking, biking and motoring roll through the congressional district’s myriad mountain counties that he’s dubbed the Ten to Win Tour. The tour that started Sept. 7 in the small Alpine County town of Markleeville concludes Tuesday in Fresno County.

“The ‘Ten To Win Tour’ is one more example of Dr. Derlet’s insurgent campaign to unseat incumbent Rep. Tom McClintock, who Dr. Derlet has criticized as ‘out-of-touch’ with...constituents,” the campaign website states.

By terming his campaign an insurgency, Derlett may be making a virtue out of financial necessity.

A Tuolumne County resident who’s scheduled to campaign in Madera and Mariposa counties on Monday, Derlet reported having $4,946 on hand as of June 30. McClintock, running for reelection to his fifth House term, reported having $309,375.

And as he makes his first political run in a congressional district where Republicans enjoy an overwhelming 45 to 30 percent voter registration advantage over Democrats, the former chief of emergency medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center could find fundraising a continual headache. Since announcing his candidacy last year, he has reported raising a total of $30,714.

McClintock, who was first elected to public office in 1982, has raised $788,512 during the 2016 election cycle.

This story was originally published September 19, 2016 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Lacking cash, House challenger runs as a California ‘insurgent’."