1. But he remains popular with traditional constituents in the agricultural sections of an area that straddles the San Joaquin Valley and the San Francisco Bay area, including his hometown of Tracy, where signs for his uncle‘s real estate firm dot rural roads.

2. But he remains popular with traditional constituents in the agricultural sections of an area that straddles the San Joaquin Valley and the San Francisco Bay area, including his hometown of Tracy, where signs for his uncle‘s real estate firm dot rural roads. He comes from a good family, a long, longtime Tracy family,‘‘ said Linda Alegre, who works at a menswear store in the fast–growing exurb‘s faded downtown. The Democrats want to get rid of him because he‘s gotten too strong.‘‘ But Claudia Hess, a gallery director in Pleasanton and a Republican undecided about how to vote, says, He looks like a hick to me.‘‘ In 2004, Pombo won with 61 percent of the vote in a district where Republicans outnumber Democrats.