John Colbert: An Altadena Candidate Running Against Adam Schiff

John Colbert is one of the most visible Republican candidates to run in the 29th Congressional District since the last redistricting that made it a Democratic stronghold.

He has a campaign office in Pasadena, and his campaign signs have popped up at homes all over the district, including in Altadena.  Many of the previous challengers to Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, have been more anonymous- no signs, no office, and little fundraising.

At the same time, any Republican victory in the district, which includes Altadena, Pasadena, South Pasadena, and Glendale, would be improbable: 45 percent of registered voters have registered as Democrats, compared to 26 percent for Republicans.

Colbert is counting on a strong independent turn-out, but he also believes that his platform can appeal to Democrats.

"It does appear as a safe district for Democrats, but a lot of the Democrats themselves are upset by what is going on in Washington," Colbert said.

Colbert has about $533,000 in campaign funds, about half of what Schiff has, but much more than previous Republican campaigns in the district.  About $214,000 come from individual donors, and Colbert, who ran a local software company, has loaned his campaign $315,000.

Long-time political consultant Allan Hoffenblum, who publishes the California Target Book, said he expects Schiff will easily win reelection, though he expects Colbert will do better than Schiff's past challengers.

"All the Republican candidates are going to do better, and all the Democrat incumbents are going to do worse," Hoffenblum said. "But it's still a solidly gerrymandered seat for the Democrats.... it would be a major upset [for Colbert to win]."

He noted that President Obama got 68 percent of the vote in the district in 2008.

Colbert has been making several appearances a week at small neighborhood parties organized by the Pasadena Patriots, the local branch of the Tea Party.

At these events, Colbert says, there are often Democrats in attendance.  He believes that about 20 percent of the people he has encountered consider themselves Democrats.

Colbert says he does not consider himself a Tea Party member, though his wife, Tamara, is active at rallies.  He says he does agree with most of the group's views.

Those views are, in fact, Colbert's bread and butter.  He says he is socially conservative but freely admits that his real concern is  government spending.

"[Social issues] just aren't as important to me," Colbert said. "My campaign is being drive by fiscal responsibility issues."

Those issues include balancing the budget, cutting taxes, and eliminating earmarks.

Colbert favors privatisation of social security, though not cuts to military spending.

He'd like to see the health care bill passed last year repealed and replaced with a new plan featuring tort reform.

He wants to outright eliminate earmarks, which allow members of congress to tuck funding for local projects into legislation.

Schiff earmarks have paid for local projects like renovations at Charles White Park and planning funds for the Altadena Library expansion.

Colbert said that if he is elected, constituents should not expect him to bring home money for those kinds of projects, which he believes should be handled by local government.

"Earmarks corrupt Congress, and they strip power from local government," Colbert said.

Colbert has lived in Altadena for seven years.  He served in the Army for 1983 to 1986, and was an officer in the county Sheriff's Department for 13 1/2 years, though he never worked out of Altadena.

He started a company in Pasadena in 2001 that provides specialized software to civilian, government and law enforcement investigators.  He is now retired.

He's a political novice: he's never run for office before, and before 2008, he had never even voted in an election before.

Colbert believes that having an outsider status will serve him well, but his opponent has criticized him for it.

Rep. Schiff declined to comment for this story, but did send a statement written by his campaign consultant Parke Skelton.

"It's really hard to ask people to vote for you when you never bothered to vote yourself," Skelton wrote.  "There have been a lot of very important elections in the last 25 years, but Mr. Colbert didn't care enough to go to the polls or become involved in any local election"

Tamara Colbert, John's wife defends him as being a political outsider, and says Schiff should be more focused on the issues.  She said Colbert has never tried to hide his past non-voting, and said if he could go back and do it again, he would have been more involved.

"John has spent his entire life serving," Tamara Colbert said. "He may not have voted but nobody can say he didn't love his country or his community."