Labeled one of the 20 most corrupt politicians by the non-partisan Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington in 2006, Pombo, chair of the House Resources Committee, has been under increased scrutiny this election year.

Among the reasons: Pombo accepted $32,000 from convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and paid members of his family hundreds of thousands of dollars for work on his campaign. The congressman has also riled up environmental activists nationwide by supporting weakening the Endangered Species Act as a tactic for helping the plight of farmers, and increasing domestic oil drilling.

Environmental groups including the Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club have spent more than $1.5 million on mailings and negative ads criticizing Pombo’s environmental record.

“Congressman Pombo is one of the most powerful powers in Washington and he has misused that power,” Sierra Club spokesperson Eric Antebi said. “His policies benefit very well-connected special interests, oil companies, mining companies, and big developers. He is not looking out for ordinary taxpayers who own a stake in the environment.”

Repeated calls to the Pombo campaign went unreturned as of press time.

Although last-minute outside advertising funded by environmental groups has helped level the playing field, Pombo has still out-fundraised his opponent. The congressman has raised more than $3.7 mi¬llion to defend his seat, while McNerney, an engineer from Pleasanton who specializes in wind energy, has corralled slightly more than $1 million.

Despite the lopsided fundraising, this race promises to go down to the wire according to a late October Constituent Dynamics poll showing McNerney leading Pombo 48 to 46 percent.

While McNerney’s lead is within the poll’s margin of error, the numbers still represent a significant accomplishment for a novice politician who did not even get the endorsement of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee at the start of the election season.

Nonetheless, Pombo still has a good chance of winning reelection, according to California Republican Assembly President Mike Spence.

“I think he will pull through, but I think it will be close, Richard Pombo is a fighter,” said Spence. “We’ve endorsed him because he shares our values. He generally is for less government control and basically for freedom.”

If Pombo, whose family has been in the real estate business in Tracy for 40 years, loses, it will be a major upset, according to UC Santa Cruz politics professor Daniel Wirls.

Although redistricting changed the makeup of the 11th district in 2000 to include suburbs of the traditionally liberal Bay Area, Pombo’s values -- protecting agriculture interests through private property rights, supporting the war on terror, and championing traditional family values -- still resonate with conservatives, Spence said.

According to Wirls, whose academic specialty includes the study of Congress, the war in Iraq and ethics scandals among the Republican-controlled Congress is making it more difficult for GOP candidates this season.

With Republican congressmen Bob Ney, Randy “Duke” Cunningham and Mark Foley all falling victim to separate scandals over the past year, Republicans who are not “completely isolated” from scandal are facing more of an uphill fight, according to Wirls.

“Pombo is vulnerable in that way,” Wirls said. “He’s been in trouble because of links with Abramoff, and at a certain point it begins to accumulate. He used campaign funds to pay family members high fees and these things can begin to add up, and in concert with the national news it can look like part of a problem.”

Even Spence agrees with Wirls’ assertion that the questions of ethics could likely impact this year’s congressional races.

“The drum beat of the media on the war, ethics problems, its all in the mix,” he said.

But in Tracy, where the Pombo name is well known, the congressman is still very popular, according to Bob Pombo, a realtor and cousin of the Congressman. Bob Pombo described his cousin as an “approachable,” good humored man, who puts his family “number 1.”

Nonetheless, the ethics scandals, the war and environmental issues have motivated residents from the largely Democratic Bay Area to spend time walking precincts in the 11th district, which encompasses parts of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Santa Clara Counties, to get Pombo out of office.
“I’m just here to do what I can to help McNerney beat him,” said Scott, a McNerney volunteer from Berkeley who made the trek down to Pombo’s hometown of Tracy on a recent Sunday to pound the pavement. He declined to provide his last name.

Michael Ottati, another McNerney precinct walker described Pombo as a “plunderist” because of his environmental policies.

“I have children,” said Ottati, a software engineer from Pleasanton. “I want to make sure they have a world left when they are my age.”

According to National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Jonathan Collegio, the environmental attacks have had an impact on the race.

“The radical environmental groups, by spending millions of dollars on the race, have elevated Jerry McNerney from being a b-list backwater candidate to a b-list candidate in a slightly competitive race,” Collegio said.

Nevertheless, Collegio, whose organization has spent over hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent weeks on advertising supporting Pombo, still maintains that the congressman is in good shape to win reelection this year.

McNerney campaign manager AJ Carrillo believes the race is tighter than Collegio is letting on however.

“We have an excellent chance to take this guy down,” he said. “The NRCC wouldn’t drop a bunch of money on this race if they thought it was in the bag.”