As the Republican candidate for the 46th Congressional District, Jerry Hayden is hoping to “retire” Rep. Loretta Sanchez from her 16-year long post.
Hayden, who has no political experience, touts his credentials as a financial and investment strategist for over 20 years–but his campaign is nearly bankrupt.
Sanchez has spent over a half million dollars on her campaign, with another million cash on hand. Hayden has spent $57,657 with only $12,596 cash available with a little over a month and half until the election.
Hayden, who describes himself on his website as not a “career
politician,” says money won't stop him from running a tough campaign.
“I
think we have a very good shot,” he says. “Is it going to be easy? No.
She's won eight times in a row. So she's a formidable candidate and she
knows how to run. But I think people are ready for a change.”
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Latinos make up 41 percent of registered voters in the newly carved district, which includes most of Santa Ana, parts of Garden Grove, Anaheim, Westminster and Fullerton.
As to why he thinks he can boot out Rep. Sanchez from her long-held seat in Congress, Hayden says a poll was conducted showing she is falling behind him.
The poll, done by conservative think tank Probolsky Research, purportedly shows Hayden ahead of Sanchez. The group surveyed over 500 people, representing .2% of the registered voters in the district.
“If the election were held today, Jerry Hayden would defeat Loretta Sanchez 28.6% to 26.9%, and people are still learning about Hayden. This is bad news for Sanchez,” Hayden's campaign manager Jeff Corless wrote in a press release last week.
(Of course, these numbers are grossly spun–what about the rest of the voters in the district, the vast majority who'll probably vote for the incumbent like they always do?)
So what has Rep. Sanchez failed to do that Hayden thinks he can do better?
He says Sanchez had missed opportunities to help out her district when she voted for the
stimulus bill, in which he says, “no new jobs were created, state employees
kept their jobs because they are the ones who give money to the
Democratic party.”
People kept their jobs, so therefore Sanchez…failed? Why yes!
Although this completely ignores the reality of
stagnant wages for many industrial warehouse and small business office
workers in his district, I continued on with the interview, asking Hayden about what he is going to do about the 10 percent of Californians who don't have a job?
So, with all of the campaign money Sanchez still has on hand compared to Hayden, does he really expect he will win, especially given Sanchez has slaughtered every opponent the Republicans have thrown her way since bitter, defeated ex-congressman Bob Dornan?
Hayden's response? “It's not my fault your questions are long-winded.”
Yeouch.