Free Republic

In a very disturbing post by SFmom on the conservative web site Freerepublic.com, an email from Catharine Baker, an attorney who supervised the election count for the David Harmer campaign, writes of numerous irregularities in the recently decided election for the 11th Congressional District in California. Baker contends in an email from the Harmer campaign that on Election Day “several polling places experienced serious and persistent problems involving vote-by-mail ballots ("VBMs," or absentee ballots) delivered at the polls”; and that in post election counting of in Alameda, Contra Costa, and Santa Clara counties problems continued with mismatched signatures, missing registration...

In an email to supporters Republican congressional candidate David Harmer has conceded the tightly contested race for California’s 11th Congressional District.

Last night Congressman Jerry McNerny (D) held a press conference and declared victory in the race in Congressional District 11, which twists and winds from the uber-tony San Francisco suburb of Danville to the farmlands of San Joaquin County (see story). Yes, the candidate from the party of “every vote counts” (except the military), the man representing the party of hanging chads and divining voter’s intentions (see the oracle Al Gore), the party of let’s count until we get the vote we want (Sen. Stuart Smalley aka Al Franken) has decided they’re tired of counting votes, since he has what...

Democratic Rep. Jim Costa has declared victory in his race against Republican challenger Andy Vidak. New vote tallies from Fresno County put Costa 1,200 votes ahead of Vidak — Costa was losing to Vidak Tuesday by 145 votes — and his campaign believes his lead will continue to increase as the final absentee ballots are counted. “This has been a hard-fought campaign. It appears that it is now over. I believe our 1,200-vote margin will not only stand up, but will increase as the remaining few ballots are counted,” Costa said in a statement Wednesday evening.

Waiting game in 11th District by Jon Mendelson / Tracy Press Tracy Press Nov 05, 2010 David Harmer (left) and Rep. Jerry McNerney are still unsure as to who will sit in the next Congress. Will Tracy next be represented in Congress by Jerry McNerney or David Harmer? It’s a question that might not be answered for weeks. That’s because even though the incumbent Democrat congressman led Republican challenger Harmer by 134 votes as of Thursday, according to the California Secretary of State, thousands of ballots remain uncounted. The 11th Congressional District spans four counties — Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa...

To undecided voters deciding whether to re-elect Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, I have one question: What do you know about Republican candidate David Harmer? Are you aware that he favors privatizing Social Security, even after the Wall Street meltdown (no surprise, given his discredited deregulate-everything philosophy)? Or that he has spoken at a local Tea Party event? Or that he wrote in favor of abolishing public schools and returning education to “the way things worked through the first century of American nationhood” in an op-ed piece in the San Francisco Chronicle in 2000, a position he has not backed away...

The nationally targeted 11th Congressional District is generating tens of thousands of dollars in campaign ads and mailers, which predictably contain a mix of truth, distortion and outright falsehoods.The biggest flap centers on GOP nominee David Harmer's 11-year-old treatise on the ills of public schools and his advocacy for school vouchers.Harmer, who is challenging Democratic Rep. Jerry McNerney, wrote in a 2000 newspaper opinion piece, "So long as the state constitution mandates free public schools, a voucher system (or refundable tuition tax credit) is the best we can do. To attain quantum leaps in educational quality and opportunity, however, we...

But as Bay Area commuters populated — and liberalized — the district’s new suburbs, Mr. McNerney appeared to be a symbol of its new complexion: moderate, mild-mannered and more concerned with local issues than national battles. That, however, was then. Today, many of those new suburbs sit in a region with some of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. Since 2006, the district has lost more than 30,000 residents. And while unemployment statewide is more than 12 percent, the rate is more than twice that in several towns in the 11th. All of which is obvious to Mr. McNerney....

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Democratic incumbent in California's most reliably competitive congressional district appears to have a significant financial advantage leading up to the Nov. 2 election. Rep. Jerry McNerney, who represents Northern California's 11th Congressional District, had raised $700,000 during the past three months, leaving him with $1.4 million cash on hand, his campaign said Friday, the campaign-finance reporting deadline for U.S. Senate and House candidates. His Republican opponent, San Ramon attorney David Harmer, has reported more than $550,000 in donations between July 1 and Sept. 30. His campaign said it had $489,278 cash on hand. Last quarter, McNerney...

Recent polling conducted for the American Action Forum has revealed that Republican David Harmer has pulled ahead of incumbent Democrat Congressman Jerry McNerney in California’s 11th Congressional District. Harmer, who trailed McNerney by 10 points just after a tough June primary contest, has now pulled to a 45% Harmer, 44% McNerney lead in this swing district. More remarkable, 52% of voters say that they would prefer someone new as their congressman, rather than re-elect Jerry McNerney. “The Harmer campaign has been working very hard to contact voters in the precincts and get our message out,” said Harmer spokesman Tim Clark....

David Harmer of San Ramon, the Republican nominee to challenge incumbent Democrat Rep. Jerry McNerney this November, has been named one of the National Republican Congressional Committee’s “Young Guns” – the top of the NRCC’s campaign recruitment and training program.

Rep. Jerry McNerney's re-election bid changed dramatically in the new year when San Ramon attorney David Harmer jumped into the Republican primary. McNerney has benefitted from gale-force tailwinds pushing Democrats in both his upset win over longtime incumbent Richard Pombo in 2006 and his re-election campaign against Republican Dean Andal in 2008. The winds have shifted with the country's increasing discontent with the extreme leftist agenda and radical spending pursued by the Democrat-dominated Congress. McNerney has done little to separate himself from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her henchmen, such as longtime Congressman George Miller of Martinez. With a group...

David Harmer, the Republican candidate for Congress in California's special election in their 10th congressional election, does have a chance of winning this election today. While running in a district which has not elected a Republican in decades, their last Congresswoman easily claimed victory with near 70% of the vote, and it is rated D+11, does not seem possible. Then again, 2009 has not been a normal election year...

Despite election countdown fervor from pro-GOP David Harmer forces, the National Republican Congressional Committee does not yet view him as a “contender” in his bid against Democratic Lt. Gov. John Garamendi in the 10th congressional district special election on Tuesday. A Roll Call story today reports that the committee elevated nine candidates in its Young Guns program — its targeted candidate initiative — from “On the Radar” to “Contender.”Harmer was not among the nine selected for the second tier. No candidate has yet achieved the highest ranking of “Young Gun.” NRCC spokeswoman Joanna Burgos insists Harmer’s status does not reflect...

<snip> The highest profile race locally has been the runoff to replace former Rep. Ellen Tauscher in the 10th Congressional District. The heavily Democratic district includes much of Fairfield. The U.S. Senate confirmed Tauscher in June as under secretary for arms control and international security in the U.S. State Department. Democrat and Lt. Gov. John Garamendi is the front-runner by virtue of his political party and high name identification. He faces GOP nominee attorney David Harmer. The names of three minor-party candidates also will appear on the ballot. <snip> Harmer, whose father, John, was a state senator and appointed by...

Ooops. A campaign mailer from 10th Congressional District candidate and Democrat Lt. Gov. John Garamendi that hit mailboxes today contained a reference to a quote from the wrong guy. The Garamendi mailer states that his Republican challenger “David Harmer supports off shoring jobs” and cites a story from the Utah’s Deseret News from April 23, 2004. Unfortunately for Garamendi’s opposition research team, the story quotes the David Harmer who was executive director of the Utah State Department of Community and Economic Development. The David Harmer who is running against Garamendi never held that job and wasn’t living in Utah at...