Gay mayor seeks to boot out House incumbent in California

The race: US House of Representatives, California, 45th district

The candidates: Mary Bono Mack (Republican) vs. Steve Pougnet (Democrat)

The intrigue: Democratic knives are out for Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack, who is facing the toughest challenge yet for her House of Representatives seat from “out” Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet.

Republican Congresswoman Bono Mack replaced her late husband Rep. Sonny Bono (of Sonny and Cher fame) after his death in 1998, and has been re-elected ever since. In the run-up to the midterms Bono Mack was voted the sexiest female politician by the Internet site Sexual Congress. But that distinction will be of little consolation if Democrat Steve Pougnet ends her 12-year political run in southern California. Democrats have placed high hopes and party funds in Pougnet’s campaign. The Victory Fund and the Human Rights Campaign, the largest gay rights advocacy group in the US, have also doled out cash to Pougnet, who could become the first openly gay parent in Congress - he and his husband have four-year-old twins.

The odds: Bono Mack is favoured to hold onto her House of Representatives seat in a year that is expected to be cruel on the president’s party. Bono Mack has led Pougnet by a margin of at least 10 percent since February.

Winner: Bono Mack

Steve Pougnet photo courtesy of Mayor Steve Pougnet Facebook page.