Free Republic

Rep. Jerry McNerney has won his race to retain his 11th Congressional District seat. The latest ballot-tallying updates from the most populous part of the district showed McNerney, D-Pleasanton, again had widened his lead over Republican challenger David Harmer to a margin of 2,475 votes, or about 1 percent of the 237,808 ballots counted. The Associated Press reported fewer than 1,900 ballots remained to be counted. McNerney had declared victory Nov. 10, when he was up by 1,681 votes or about seven-tenths of a percent; Harmer has yet to concede, and recently attended the GOP's freshman orientation on Capitol Hill....

While the California races for governor and U.S. Senate are hot, the battle for a single House seat in the East Bay and Central Valley has turned into a bellwether for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's hopes of retaining her Democratic majority. Both national political parties are pouring money into the contest between two-term incumbent Democrat and former windmill executive Rep. Jerry McNerney, 59 - who voted with Pelosi on the stimulus, the bank rescue, health care, and cap and trade - and Republican David Harmer, 48, a small-government conservative and son of a former California lieutenant governor under Ronald Reagan...

Republicans are trying to regain control of Congress in November but political oddsmakers have said there is only one Democrat in California at risk of losing his congressional seat - Rep. Jerry McNerney of Pleasanton. His challenger in the Bay Area's 11th Congressional District is Republican David Harmer, an attorney who says he is running to rein in federal spending. Republicans are using the same charges against McNerney as they are against Democrats around the country - that he supports bigger government, has voted to increase taxes and is in lockstep with his party's leadership. "On every major vote, he's...

Police searched the Lodi business of Republican congressional candidate Robert Beadles this morning in connection with allegations of theft from a competitor and former employer. Beadles, who has declared his candidacy in District 11, owns and operates Robert Beadles, Inc., which provides portable signage at construction sites.A spokesman for the San Joaquin Sheriff’s Department confirmed that it had executed a search warrant at the business on W. Kettleman Lane in Lodi. He declined to provide further details, citing the ongoing investigation.No one has been arrested

Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, proudly issued a news release recently showing his conservative side — he broke ranks with House Democrats on a bill that would raise the federal debt limit by $290 billion. McNerney says he's not as liberal as his critics say, yet Republicans trying to oust him from Congress next year say he agrees with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about 97 percent of the time. "Our district is a moderate district," McNerney said in a recent interview. "Sometimes I'm aligned with the speaker; sometimes I'm not. By and large, I'm a moderate." McNerney, who was elected in...