SD-03: Joe Nation enters the race

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Well, I must say, the timing of this is a bit surprising.  Former Assembly member Joe Nation has decided to run for State Senate in the 3rd district. From Mr. Nation on his candidacy:

"It's late to be getting in in some respects," Nation said after his announcement in a patch of wetlands near the Petaluma Marina on Saturday. Migden and Leno have been campaigning for more than a year already, while Veronese began only slight later, he said.

But Nation said he was "thrilled" by poll results showing a dead heat between him, Migden and Leno if he entered the race, with lesser known Veronese trailing.

"I know it will be a sprint," he said, but plans to take a leave from his consulting work, allowing more time to campaign. "I more or less have 16 hours a day, seven days a week to work, and I think I can get it done," he said. (Santa Rosa Press-Democrat 2/9/08)

The polls he references are internals, of course, but I'd expect that to be fairly reasonable. Nation has decent, but not great, name ID in the district from his days in the Assembly and from his ill-fated run against progressive Democrat Lynn Woolsey. However, I would imagine that there are a lot of people who remember the guy well. He's a pretty smart guy when it comes to policy, that has never been the question.

The question of how this affects the race are quite numerous. It substantially diminishes Joe Veronese's chances, given that the son of Angela Alioto was trying quite hard to lure those North Bay constituents. Nation's entrance into the race puts that much more incentive for SF to either rally around one candidate, or face the possibility of being represented in the Senate from outside of the County.

Either way, it is even more clear that SD-03 will be the most interesting legislative primary this year.