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Oct 23, 2006 9:06 pm US/Pacific
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Garamendi, McClintock In Tight Race For Lt. Gov.
by Hank Plante
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) ―
It is the race for the number two job in the state, Lieutenant Governor. The race is neck and neck, and features one of the hottest ads that's running on TV.
The ad takes aim at current Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, who is running for Lt. Governor against State Senator Tom McClintock. The ads have Vince and Sue Watson of Phoenix, who accuse the Insurance commisioner for selling their insurance company to a foreign bank and a junk bond king.
Both candidates took part in a debate at CBS 5 Monday, sponsored by the San Francisco Chronicle.
When asked about the ads, Garamendi had some choice words. "Well they are nasty and they're not truthful, I suppose you're referring to the Executive Life ad. In that situation, Executive Life was bankrupt the day I arrived in 1991. We took quick action. 90 percent of the policy holders got their money back because of my action."
McClintock responded, "The Watsons are in the next room. They came here because they wanted to tell their story when John Garamendi says that 80 percent of their losses became whole. He is simply doing what the judge in the case said about his testimony saying it was utterly devoid of credibility."
And yes indeed, McClintock did bring the Watson family to the debate, in a bit of political theater aimed at Garamendi.
"I think that a lot of people made a lot of money and unfortunately our daughter Katie was the main victim," said Vince Watson. When asked about the policy the Watson's purchased being high risk, Sue Watson said, "Our policy was involved with about 150,000 other people which were pensions and annuties so I don't believe that's true."
For McClintock, it's an issue he thinks will stick with the voters. "He seized a viable company, sold it for pennies on the dollar to a French consortium, then turned it around and sold it to billions of dollars in profit," McClintock said. "And all of that money came out of the settlements, the annuities and the pension of people like the Watsons"
But for Garamendi, it's a distortion of events out of his control. "There were some people who had a special policy, a very high risk policy that wasnt covered by the law. I went to bat for those people, I took their case all the way to Appelate Court and the appelate court said, 'no you can't do this Commissioner because the law doesnt allow it.' And so we backed off. Nevertheless they've recieved some 80 percent or so of what they were due."
In any event, the polls show this race is a toss-up. Republican McClintock think he is being helped by Arnold Schwarzenegger's popularity at the top of the ticket. While Democrat Garamendi may be hurt by the low poll numbers of Phil Angelides. The irony here is that both candidates for Lt. Governor don't actually agree that much with their runningmates for Governor.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)