"The Peoples Seat"

Republican Rick Tubbs of Vacaville, who last year lost a bid to unseat Rep. George Miller, announced that he will challenge incumbent Democrat John Garamendi in the newly configured 3rd Congressional District in the 2012 general election.

"I'm running to win and to do the job," Tubbs, a pilot for United Airlines and a U.S. Air Force Reserves lieutenant colonel, said in a telephone interview late last week.

The issues, he added, remain unchanged from his days on the 2010 campaign trail.

"It's the 21st century," said Tubbs, a squadron commander at Travis Air Force Base when not flying out of United's San Francisco hub. "The federal deficit is in the trillions of dollars. The challenges need new ideas and new solutions. What I see in Congress right now is ... both parties are doing the same thing -- they're tinkering around the edges of issues instead of finding real solutions."

Married and the father of three teenagers, he officially declared his candidacy at a Saturday morning pancake breakfast in the Fairfield home of Frank Miranda, the new head of the Solano County Republican Central Committee.

Tubbs' wife, Kristy -- an inspirational speaker and accredited financial counselor who helps military families with a service member facing deployment to, or a return from, war zones -- said 100 people attended the event.

At about 10 a.m., Tubbs said he made his formal announcement, beginning by saying, "I'm officially declaring my candidacy ..." for the 3rd Congressional District.Many of his previous supporters were there, "And there were some new faces," he said. "It went very well. We spoke about the issues ... and a little bit of a battle plan."

"I enjoy giving a speech and telling folks the hope we have and how we're going to get there," he added. "The crowd was pretty excited. It's neat to see their faces light up."

The newly reshaped congressional district, the result of state redistricting completed in August, includes central and eastern Solano County, the Rio Linda and Elk Grove areas of Sacramento County, and all or parts of Yolo, Yuba, Sutter, Colusa, Glenn and Lake counties.

Tubbs, who earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from California State University, Fresno, said the voter registration spread between Democrats and Republicans is much narrower in the 3rd than the 7th district, which heavily favored Miller last year.

He likes his chances for victory in the newly drawn district, where, Tubbs said, registration is 42 percent Democrat and 33 percent Republican, with the remainder largely given to independent or decline-to-state voters.

"Where the Democrats are strong, we're strong," he said. "I'm pretty optimistic."

Tubbs agreed that Garamendi -- a Harvard graduate, former Peace Corps volunteer, former state Insurance Commissioner and former California lieutenant governor -- will be a formidable foe.

But, he added, change is needed, because "the old guard" and lifelong politicians such as Garamendi and Miller are out of step with popular political will.

"We've got to end these problems," he said, adding that Garamendi has "good name recognition, he's been around a long time, but he represents a philosophy that has failed."

Tubbs said his entry into the race was doubtful just two weeks ago because of his wife's health, but she has recovered and the time to begin fund-raising will begin in earnest.

"We have had some experience with that," he said, alluding to the 2010 race. "When we started running (last year), the money just comes. But you have to go out and ask for money, that's for sure. We raised $100,000 last time but we'll need more to run against someone like Garamendi."

Tubbs, who last year received hundreds of small donations, many from $5 to $20, estimated that he will need at least $500,000 -- to pay for newspaper and TV ads, mailers, billboards and campaign signs -- to effectively challenge the experienced and politically savvy Garamendi.

"The race is going to garner a lot of attention because it's competitive," he said. "The bigger players are going to step up and put money into this race."

He did not specify who "the bigger players" were.

Increased campaign funding, said Tubbs, "allows us to get the message out to the voters, so they can make a choice."

Acknowledging that the 2010 campaign was "difficult on the family," Tubbs, a Vacaville resident for 16 years, said, "If there were no chance, I would not run."

If elected, he would "probably resign" his Air Force commission, but still try to serve in uniform, if possible. If elected, he will take a leave of absence from his United pilot's job.

"Right now, I'm a family man first," said Tubbs, who last month returned from a temporary, one-week duty assignment in Afghanistan.

He was soundly defeated in the 2010 race, lagging well behind in the vote count to Miller, the longtime holder of the East Bay congressional seat. Miller tallied 67 percent of the vote to Tubbs' 33 percent. The focus of Tubbs' campaign was a desire to preserve the American Dream for his children and the nation.

Election Day is Nov. 6, 2012.

[Note: The Reporter endorsed Rick Tubbs during the 2010 campaign for congress district seven.]

Credits of the article to Richard Bammer of the Vacaville Reporter.