Jan. 2, 2010 By Jason Campbell
Reporter –Manteca Bulletin

LODI – By all accounts Tony Amador had the job that many men would dream of.

For seven years he held a position as a United States marshal after being appointed by President George W. Bush, and had absolutely no reason to do anything but what had become his dream career – being a member of the oldest federal law enforcement agency in the United States.

But there just wasn’t something right about how the politics of the 11th Congressional district had played out over the course of the last couple of years.

“The burning reason I viewed it as a district that could be won back by Republicans – it never should have gone to Democrats,” Amador said. “In that first McNerney election they did a job on Pombo and that’s what turned the tide.”

It was back in March that Amador was first approached and asked if he’d run for the position. He staunchly turned it down to stick with his federal law enforcement career. It is a position that put him in charge of a geographic area that ran from Bakersfield to the Oregon border and Vallejo to Nevada.

Needless to say, he was a busy man.

The more he thought about, however, it  began to weigh on Amador – the lone Hispanic in the race – who began thinking about ways that he could possibly win a district that while typically conservative also played into his favor in other ways as well.

“I started thinking, and there has been a 20 percent decline in voting in the state, and whether that’s because people are upset at the Democrats or the Republicans, it appeals to my campaign,” Amador said. “Plus this district is 24 percent Hispanic and I think that in a general election I could get some crossover votes. By the time I decided in September that this is something that I wanted to do, people thought that I might be behind.

“Since I lived in Sacramento at the time and didn’t want to be labeled a ‘carpetbagger,’ I moved my family to Lodi and I’m now focusing on my campaign.”

But old habits die hard.

Every morning Amador rises at 5 a.m. and runs between four and five miles before working out, and spends the rest of the day working exclusively on his campaign – often until 10 or 11 p.m.

“I’m a fighter – I’ll do this no matter what through the general election,” Amador said. “I’m going to do this, and I’m going to be myself in this election.”

Amador lives in Lodi with Evelia – his wife of 44 years. Together they have 4 daughters and 13 grandchildren, and he still misses coaches his daughters in fast pitch softball.