Election Day

Yeah, it actually is today. In California's 48th district (the Fightin' 48th, as Stephen Colbert would say), five candidates are vying to take over Christopher Cox' vacated Congressional seat (he's now the head of the SEC). Democratic candidate Steve Young actually has a shot in this Republican stronghold (it's in the OC), thanks to a third-party challenger to the right of the GOP's John Cmapbell. The American Independent Party candidate, anti-immigrant founder of the Minutemen Jim Gilchrist, got 15% in the initial primary, and has been running a legitimate, well-funded campaign. He could grab as much as 20% of the vote, all of it from Campbell. Every LA Times story I see on this mentions Campbell and Gilchrist, but gives short shrift to Young, an excellent candidate who stands to benefit from a split in the Republican vote on the immigration issue. The Naitonal Republican Campaign Committee was so spooked that they dumped a ton of money into the race, not what they want to be spending it on (a rock-solid Republican district). It's unclear who they're using that money to even fight against, the challenge from the left or the one from the right.

It should be a very interesting evening.