From TahoeDaily.com:

Villines, 43, fared well in the Central Valley, where he lives and enjoys high name recognition. But he was vilified and called a tax traitor on conservative talk radio in Southern California for his 2009 vote to raise taxes to help close the state budget deficit.

He also was listed as incumbent on the ballot in a year when many voters are angry with politicians over high unemployment, the economy and the state’s persistent budget woes.

“It was more of a vote, potentially, against me than for somebody,” Villines said.

FitzGerald was listed ahead of Villines on the ballot as an insurance department attorney.

He lists his political experience as stints working for the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa while he was a student at Georgetown University and a San Francisco supervisor while in law school.

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