All In the (Football) Family

San Diego — Since Chargers star running back LaDainian Tomlinson isn't going to the Super Bowl this year, he can now turn his attention to some of his other interests, which have included politics. On January 4, 2006, according to federal disclosure records, he gave $2100 to the congressional campaign of Scott Turner, the ex-Charger seeking to replace Randy "Duke" Cunningham in the 50th District. Turner lost but went on to nail a job with the eventual general-election victor, Republican Brian Bilbray. Meanwhile, Tomlinson's boss, team owner Alex Spanos, and his son were backing Richard Pombo, the conservative Northern California Republican who ended up narrowly losing his congressional seat in November. Spanos kicked in a total of $1500 in October; son Dean, who runs the Chargers, gave $2100.

One family contribution interesting in light of the team's well-publicized flirtation with Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman for a new home: on October 31, Dean's son Alexander, a team executive, contributed $1000 to the successful reelection campaign of Nevada senator John Ensign, who was running against the son of Jimmy Carter, a good friend of Padres owner John Moores.