Auburn’s Mike Holmes is itching for a return match with Congressman John Doolittle, but it remains to be seen if he’ll actually go up against the nine-term incumbent in next June’s Republican primary election.
Holmes, an Auburn city councilman and former mayor, let it be known
this week that he’s hatching an exploratory committee “to lay the
foundation for a potential 2008 Republican primary election campaign in
California’s 4th Congressional District.”
Holmes, a retired U.S. Navy captain, decorated Vietnam War veteran and
Placer County native, tried unseating Doolittle in the June 2006
primary and lost, although he captured one out of every three votes
cast.
Doolittle, whose close relationship with imprisoned lobbyist Jack
Abramoff remains under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department, is
pooh-poohing Holmes’s announcement and saying that he still enjoys
widespread GOP support throughout the eight-county 4th District.
Holmes charges that “incumbent Republican John Doolittle’s recent legal
trouble, potential ethics violations and overall poor representation
have caused me, who was not planning on running for Congress again, to
reconsider.”
Holmes makes prominent mention of the FBI’s raid on Doolittle’s
Virginia residence last April “in an attempt to uncover his link to
convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.”
Holmes concludes with this statement: “The 4th Congressional District
deserves to be represented by an ethical and honorable member of the
House. John Doolittle is not that person and I believe it’s time for a
change. Without an ethically sound Republican running in 2008, John
Doolittle’s flagrant behavior places the 4th District within the reach
of Democrats. It is time for a change and we must act quickly to ensure
victory in November of 2008.”
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