Lodi resident Tony Amador this month entered the race to represent California's 9th Assembly District. Amador, a Republican, ran for the 11th Congressional District in 2010 and is currently vice-chairman of the San Joaquín County Republican Central Committee. Amador, 68, is a retired U.S. marshal and also formerly worked for the Los Ángeles Police Department.
The race will pit Amador against Assemblyman Richard Pan, a physician who represents the 5th Assembly District.
Pan is a Democrat, and the newly drawn 9th Assembly District has about a 13-point Democrat voter registration advantage.
Pan lives on the north side of Sacramento but says he is moving back to south Sacramento, where he lived when he first moved to the area to pursue his medical career.
"We can call him a carpetbagger," said Amador. "He's actually in Natomas."
Pan, 46, sees it differently.
"I am returning to areas I've done a lot of community work in," said Pan who lived in Sacramento's Pocket neighborhood when he first came to the region to practice medicine and teach at University of California, Davis.
The new 9th Assembly District includes Lodi, Elk Grove, Galt and parts of Sacramento south of Fruitridge Road.