Matt Ortega

In the past few weeks, there’s been a few developments in the battle for control of California’s 11th Congressional District. Freshman Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton, Calif.) looks to win a second term against the apparent GOP nominee, former Assemblyman Dean Andal (R-Stockton).

California Majority Report updated the money race last week with Congressman McNerney holding a $700,000 lead in funds raised thus far.

Freshman Rep. Jerry McNerney is holding his own in the fundraising side of his re-election campaign, with $1.1 million, to about $400,000 for his Republican challenger, former Assemblymember Dean Andal, the Contra Costa Times reports. McNerney was the only California Democrat to oust a GOP incumbent last year in a Bay Area swing district whose demographics have gotten more liberal, especially on the environment.

Democrats in Washington believe the GOP’s reluctance to pass the S-CHIP reauthorization will hurt their chances at the polls. In potentially tight races, Republicans may be less likely to go to bat against the bill as some Republicans have. Last week’s The Hill caught up with Andal and it looks like the former assemblyman is hedging his bets.

A spokesman for former California Assemblyman Dean Andal (R), who is seeking Rep. Jerry McNerney’s (D) seat, made a similar remark. “He’s looking at it, like all of us reading a paper,” Richard Temple said. “Until he has all the information, I don’t think he can [definitively] say whether the president is doing the right thing,” Temple said.

However, Andal does have some issues with the bill, Temple emphasized. “It’s absolutely a huge expansion,” he said, and Andal is concerned that the bill would allow middle-income children to get benefits and would encourage people to get rid of private health insurance in favor of SCHIP.

In unrelated campaign trivia, Dean Andal’s Congressional campaign website uses the same Campaign Site Builder template as Democrat Nancy Skinner in Michigan.