Updates from the 45th

Another Democrat throws his hat into the ring:

Marty Schwimmer, a deputy public defender for Riverside County, has entered the congressional race to unseat U.S. Rep. Mary Bono, R-Palm Springs, in the November election.

Schwimmer, a Democrat, is running against David Roth, in the Democratic primary on June 6.

Schwimmer announced his candidacy at a fund-raising reception Saturday at the Cathedral City home of Gregory Johnson and Meanie Roe.

Schwimmer, the article notes, refers to the Roth campaign as a "hollow effort" by the Democratic Party. Facts aside, it's a shame that Schwimmer wants to raise his chances by trying to bring down a fellow Democrat. If Schwimmer thinks he'll be that much better than Bono and Roth, then good for him. But please don't give Mary Bono any ammunition to use against Roth if he manages to win the Democratic primary. She simply doesn't need the help.

Meanwhile, Roth has earned the Press-Enterprise's endorsement for the Democratic primary. And the Roth campaign has announced that internal polling has them over Mary Bono:

According to an independent and confidential poll just taken for business clients of a well-known pollster, once voters in the sample were presented with my vs. Bono's personal and professional characteristics, the results show that if the election were held today I would be 7 percentage points ahead!

I'd be interested to see what characteristics are attributed to each candidate to get these results.