Election ‘all about jobs,' Palm Springs mayor says

palm springs — It's official: Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet will challenge Rep. Mary Bono Mack in 2010 for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“This election is all about jobs,” Pougnet told The Desert Sun on Wednesday. “This is about jobs, jobs, jobs and a passionate leader who is here, who has created jobs, and who's starting to bring this valley in line with an entire new industry on sustainability and renewables.”

As first reported on mydesert.com, Pougnet today is formally launching his campaign for the 45th Congressional District. He is the first Democrat to throw his name in the ring.

Pougnet said his campaign will focus on job creation, green energy and having a representative who is more “in touch with your constituents.”

Pougnet said he would not engage in any negative campaigning.

But he noted that he's begun evaluating Bono Mack's travel records and said she's not spending as much time here since she married Florida Rep. Connie Mack in 2007.

Pougnet touted his “proven track record,” including a hotel incentive program that he says created 1,100 permanent and temporary construction jobs at two local resorts.

“That program has worked: It has created jobs,” he said.

The city had a 10.3 percent unemployment rate in March, marking a climb into double digits.

“I would think Mr. Pougnet would be more concerned about helping people in Palm Springs by working to create jobs in his own community than he would be spending his time as mayor trying to get himself another job,” said Frank Cullen, Bono Mack's chief of staff.

Bono Mack, who was first elected in 1998, will seek re-election, he said.

Pougnet, 46, has been on the City Council since 2003 and has been mayor since 2007. He filed exploratory paperwork last month.

The 45th Congressional District is a large one, stretching across Riverside County to include Moreno Valley, Hemet, much of the Coachella Valley and Blythe.

Even in its infant stages, this race has garnered national attention. The 45th is one of eight California congressional districts represented by a Republican but that Barack Obama won in the November presidential election.

A spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has called Pougnet a “formidable candidate.”

“People are so sick of the Republican ‘no' attitude toward everything, including the stimulus package and the budget,” Riverside County Democratic Central Committee Chairwoman Betty McMillion said.

“She (Bono Mack) doesn't represent her constituents at all. They're in for a battle this time.”

Ken Minesinger, chairman of the Riverside County Republican Party, said Pougnet's chances of winning are “very small.”

Republicans have a 4 percentage point advantage over Democrats when it comes to registered voters. “We've heard the boasts before and it just hasn't happened. They haven't converted it into any kind of win on Election Day,” Minesinger said. “I don't know what (Bono Mack's) magic bullet is but it works. She appeals to lots of people”

Cullen added that “we take every race seriously and (Bono Mack) will do what she needs to to run a strong and vigorous re-election campaign.”

Pougnet formed a bipartisan campaign steering committee and wanted to start the outreach early in order to get his message out, especially in areas of the district that are not as familiar with him as the Coachella Valley.

“As we all know in the last couple congressional campaigns, lots of incumbent Republicans who thought they were untouchable were not,” Pougnet said.