A Long-Distance Race for Reelection

Oxnard City Clerk Daniel Martinez kicked off his reelection campaign Thursday night, drawing dozens of supporters to a downtown restaurant to launch a bid for a fourth term. The only no-show was the candidate.

Called to active duty by the California Air National Guard, the 46-year-old public servant has been stationed at Travis Air Force Base in Northern California since January and has been told to be ready to head to the Middle East in a few days.

He is scheduled to be overseas for three months. But at a time when reservists and active military alike are seeing their tours extended, the Oxnard native has fashioned a campaign strategy designed to return him to office in November -- even if he is not around to see it happen.

“I want to make sure everyone tells their friends and family members that I’m running again,” Martinez said Thursday during a conference call to supporters, which included his 10-year-old daughter, Macaria. “We will continue to do our very best job for this community.”

An untold number of elected officials across the country have faced a similar dilemma.

Although no one keeps track of the numbers, elected officials in Pennsylvania, Missouri and Iowa are among those who have been tapped to fight on various fronts, forced like Martinez to prove they can serve their country and their constituents at the same time.

In Pennsylvania, state lawmaker John R. Pippy won election to a Senate seat last year, even though the Republican legislator was stationed at an Army base in Maryland awaiting orders to deploy. Pippy took the oath of office in March 2003 and shipped out to Iraq a month later, returning earlier this year.

And in Ohio, state legislator John Boccieri has been on active duty since January and shipped out Saturday to Iraq. Like Martinez, the two-term Democratic representative and C-130 pilot is in the midst of a reelection bid.

In Oxnard, Martinez was tapped for active duty in January and told his mission could last up to a year.

With that in mind, the former Air Force military policeman and 20-year reservist decided to launch his candidacy six months before the election.

He has set up a campaign committee that intends to pull reelection paperwork when the filing period opens July 12, gather the 20 signatures required to run for the city office and return the paperwork within a week to ensure his name is on the ballot.

First elected in 1992, Martinez was challenged in his 1996 and 2000 reelection bids. So far, there are no challengers for the post, which involves a variety of record-keeping duties.

Martinez expects to be back in the country before the Nov. 2 election. But even if he isn’t, campaign workers vow to carry his message for him.

“We’re going to make him a winner, whether he’s here or on the other side of the world,” said Oxnard businessman Ray Gonzales, a Vietnam veteran and coordinator of the reelection committee.

“Certainly people have a right to run against him,” Gonzales added. “But we are prepared to run like it’s his first campaign. And we are going to remind people he is out there trying to hold down two jobs, doing his duty for the public and for the country.”

Indeed, even while he has been at Travis Air Force Base unloading cargo from military aircraft, Martinez said he has been keeping tabs on the office.

City officials said the office has continued to run smoothly in Martinez’s absence, with the assistant clerk assuming his duties. They said they foresaw no problems in the operation of the office, even if Martinez was gone for the full 12-month tour or longer.

In fact, his supporters said it was a testament to Martinez’s management skills that the office continued to run so efficiently. And they believe that as much as anything will pay off at the ballot box in November.

“The response I’ve gotten from people is that Daniel has done a very good job during the past 12 years,” said Oxnard businesswoman Nina Duarte, Martinez’s girlfriend and a campaign worker.

“These people know him and they’ve put him in office three times,” she said. “Now knowing that he’s away serving his country, it’s like they’re all coming together to take care of one of their own.”

Supporters came together Thursday in a Mexican restaurant decked in red, white and blue banners, balloons and bunting. Mariachi musicians strolled through the restaurant, which was graced with yellow ribbons to remember soldiers who are away.

Martinez’s daughter thanked the crowd for coming.

“I really miss my dad, but I know he’s doing really hard work, not just for Oxnard, but the whole country,” she said.