"There are times when voters realize the best thing they can do in a race is to hold their noses and vote for their party's candidate.

In the 11th Congressional District race involving Richard Pombo, Republican voters must avoid that temptation. Instead, they should cast their ballots for Democrat Jerry McNerney.

Pombo, the seven-term congressman from Tracy, will take delight in proclaiming that we oppose his re-election because we don't like his radical views that call for eviscerating smart environmental laws.

He's right.

But the case for why Democrats and Republicans should support McNerney's candidacy in the sprawling 11th Congressional District goes far beyond Pombo's desire to sell off national parks, drill for oil off the Pacific Coast and make the Endangered Species Act extinct.

Pombo is a national disgrace to the Republican Party. His unseemly connections to scandal-ridden lobbyist Jack Abramoff should be an embarrassment to all Republicans. A Washington watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, put him on its list of the 13 most corrupt Republicans and Democrats in Congress. And his questionable connections to oil companies, gambling interests and mining companies have been well documented.

It's past time that mainstream Republicans let Pombo know there isn't a place for his kind of politics in their Big Tent."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Republicans should give Pombo the boot (The San Jose Mercury News 10/16)
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Relevant Links:
Rep. Richard Pombo - http://www.house.gov/pombo
House Resources Committee - http://resourcescommittee.house.gov

Related Stories:
Billing records link Abramoff and Rep. Pombo (10/11)
Rep. Pombo easily beats off GOP primary challenger (06/07)
Rep. Pombo said to be in 'trouble' over Abramoff (05/01)
Follow Pombo's money to oil, Indians and Abramoff (4/26)
Staffers paid by Interior but work for Rep. Pombo (03/01)
Pombo starts investigation of DOI royalty program (2/16)
Pombo says Abramoff 'never lobbied me on anything' (02/14)
Pombo has accepted more than $500K from tribes (01/30)
Pombo takes on Indian issues but avoids Abramoff (12/20)
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Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe donated $32K to Pombo (12/06)
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Pombo asked again to investigate Abramoff (4/15)
Pombo brings off-reservation hearing to California (6/7)
Pombo continues hearings on off-reservation gaming (05/02)
Pombo collected $40K from tribes so far this year (04/25)
Pombo asked again to investigate Abramoff (04/15)
House committee takes up off-reservation gaming (03/18)
Off-reservation gaming hearing set by Pombo (3/15)
Congress steps into off-reservation casino fight (3/14)
Pombo circulates draft of off-reservation bill (3/11)
Pombo took on controversial topics in 108th Congress (12/16)
Pombo took $5K from tribe with bill before committee (07/19)
Pombo accepts money from tribes, tribal lobbyists (06/22)
Pombo visit to South Dakota highlights tribal issues (04/20)
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House chairman shares common concerns (11/18)
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