California's 11th Congressional District Election, 2006 - General Campaign

General Campaign

As of June 30, 2006, Pombo had raised $2.2 million for his reelection campaign and had $939,000 on hand. McNerney had raised $449,000 and had $152,000 in cash as of that date. Even though Pombo generally votes against pro-labor legislation, Unite Here, representing 90,000 workers in the gaming industry, and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, an AFL-CIO affiliate, each donated $10,000 to Pombo's 2006 campaign. Pombo had a 4:1 advantage in terms of "cash-on-hand." McNerney was helped by the presence of many environmental 501c4 organizations working to defeat Pombo, including Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, Sierra Club, League of Conservation voters, and Clean Water Action.

In late July, Republicans McCloskey and Thomas Benigno endorsed McNerney.

In September, the Swing State Project reported "The NRCC wouldn't drop over a quarter of a million dollars on this seat if McNerney wasn't threatening Pombo in their internal polls".

Signalling the closeness of the race, both candidates received late-season campaign support from national political figures. In early November, former President Bill Clinton stumped for McNerney; President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush both campaigned for Pombo in the last month before the election.