Remainders
Carly Fiorina defended and promised more of the wildly popular (and widely-mocked) "demon sheep" advertisements.
In a video released on the web, Meg Whitman received flack from the conservative base for disavowing a supporter that said they were a "proud racist." Whitman released a television ad that begins airing today.
Fresno Bee: Steve Poizner backed a voter initiative that led to $40 billion in more taxes.
A new poll showed Gavin Newsom leading the field of Democrats -- Janice Hahn and Dean Florez -- for lieutenant governor. Newsom "shot down" such a run a month ago but the San Francisco Chronicle believes the San Francisco mayor ain't out yet.
Jackie Speier ruled out running for the state's top cop job. Kamala Harris raised $1 million in the last six months but Chris Kelly leads the field in cash-on-hand, while Republican Steve Cooley is getting hammered by conservative activists.
Republicans collectively raised several hundred thousand to unseat Jerry McNerney in CA-11 while most lent themselves a huge chunk of their campaign cash.
Richard Pombo raised $260,000 campaigning for a return bid to Congress in CA-19.
San Ramon Mayor Abram Wilson (R) outraised the AD-15 Democratic incumbent, Joan Buchanan.
CA-11: NRCC Statement of Neutrality
NRCC staffer Rebecca Mark was kind enough to reach out regarding the characterization of David Harmer as the "establishment candidate" in the race. Her statement:
We are excited to have several great candidates who are sharing real solutions for the issues that matter to Californians. To date, the NRCC has not been involved in the primary and will remain uninvolved so that the GOP voters of California’s 11th district may decide who is best suited to go up against Jerry McNerney in the Fall.
The characterization of Harmer as the "establishment candidate" comes from a claim Harmer himself made about "prominent Republicans" that urged him to run even though he was "relieved to return to private life" after his defeat to John Garamendi last November. Harmer claimed that "Republican leaders have asked him to run for the 11th District seat."
It strikes me as curious who these "prominent Republican leaders" that Harmer claims encouraged him to run.
CA-11: Few Differences Between GOP Candidates
GOP candidates assemble in Manteca. (Photo by Clifford Oto/Stockton Record)
Last night's 11th Congressional District candidate forum proved rather uneventful -- there was few differences on the issues, like on Afghanistan.
(Brad Goehring supports Obama's efforts to send more forces to Afghanistan. David Harmer believes 30,000 forces are not enough. Jeff Takada said the nation needs someone better at the helm than Obama to deal with the war, however, he's previously staunchly opposed the war altogether believing it to be a "death wish," and stated he would sponsor legislation bringing American forces home.)
Goehring needled on Harmer's carpetbagging, which the latter responded to, but Robert Beadles spiced things up a bit in his final two minutes as he confronted Goehring as behind the raid on his business:
But candidate Robert Beadles took off the gloves during closing statements when he accused fellow candidate Brad Goehring or one of his supporters of accusing Beadles of stealing property. "Brad, would you please do something about this?" Beadles said before a large crowd at Crossroads Grace Community Church in Manteca.
Stockton Record reporter Zachary K. Johnson adds:
He said it appeared his political competition was working alongside business competition against him and that he had filed lawsuits earlier that day.
"This was all politically motivated," he said. "This is why honest, hardworking individuals don't want to get involved in the political process."
Goehring, however, deflected the charges.
Goehring didn't respond during the forum, but he said afterward that he wants to run a clean campaign. He said he's been told by advisers that as the front-runner, competitors will take shots at him.
Regardless, Beadles plans to file a lawsuit.
Beadles said that he filed lawsuits Monday morning against who he believes was responsible, but did not name any specific names in relation to the pending legal matter.
It appears this race comes down to establishment-backed frontrunner Harmer and self-funder Goehring until another candidate can make a move in the fundraising game. Goehring's challenge will be to solidify support of the base and fashion himself as the candidate of the grassroots fighting the D.C.-picked Harmer.
Update See here for clarification.
Remainders
Democratic Governor's Association launched an independent-expenditure campaign in California.
Steve Cooley, Republican district attorney in Los Angeles, formed an exploratory committee for the state's attorney general.
Carpetbagger switch: Larry Pegram dropped out of the 11th Congressional District campaign and backed David Harmer, who said Republican leaders reached out to him about running.
It was Elizabeth Emken's turn for a Manteca Bulletin puff piece.
In the nearby 19th Congressional District, Richard Pombo seeks a return to Congress. In an editorial, the Los Angeles Times says, "this is a comeback we don't need."
It's the other things we know about Pombo -- that he's rabidly anti-environment, ethically challenged, overly eager to hand public resources to private corporations -- that worry us and were among the reasons a Democratic challenger was able to oust the seven-term Republican from his reliably GOP seat in 2006. Endorsement season hasn't started yet, but we don't need a campaign to know that Pombo would not contribute anything useful if he rejoined the House of Representatives.
FDL provided steady coverage of the Proposition 8 trial's first day.
CA-11: Harmer Skips to 11th District
Harmer's 2010 candidacy makes him a carpgetbagging hypocrite.
Republican David Harmer is running for Congress again but not for a rematch with John Garamendi, who defeated him for the open seat in the 10th Congressional District last November. Instead, Harmer will join a crowded field to campaign for the GOP nomination in neighboring 11th Congressional District held by Jerry McNerney.
He is the only candidate among the current field of Republican choices with any campaign experience. However, in last year's special election, his campaign attacked John Garamendi as a carpetbagger any chance he could get. For him to jump over a district shows the callous political calculati0n on his part.
Residency is not a legal barrier. The Constitution requires that members of Congress live in the state from which they are elected, not a specific district.
But Harmer made a big deal in 2009 about Garamendi living outside his district, calling him a career politician in search of a place to serve.
Harmer's 2010 candidacy is a parody of his 2009 candidacy and he only just announced. His website looks exactly the same as it did last year. It even includes press releases from the 10th District campaign, including an endorsement McNerney's 2008 challenger, Dean Andal.
If his political opponents wanted to crush Harmer's candidacy in infancy, they'd bury him with carpetbagger attacks from his campaign last year. (This wouldn't work for Larry Pegram and Tony Amador, however.)
To wit, immediately following his campaign's victory for the Republican nomination last year, the "carpetbagger" attack was featured in a letter to supporters.
The other candidates from his own party accused Garamendi (accurately) of being part of the problem in Sacramento, a symbol of the old boys' network, and a carpetbagger who doesn't live in the district. Those charges produced a substantial negative reaction, with 60% of the Democratic base voting against him. By contrast, we gained 60% of the Republican vote, while spending only a fraction of what the Democrats did. [emphasis added]
Harmer also attacked Garamendi's photo op with former President Bill Clinton in San Francisco during the campaign with the "carpetbagger" line.
Clinton’s appearance at a Garamendi Whistle-Stop at SFO Airport, is a sign of weakness in Garamendi’s campaign. Garamendi’s opponents battered him in the recent Primary as an opportunist who dumped his faltering gubernatorial bid to run for an easier seat, and does not even live in the district.
If Harmer gets a late invite to Monday's Republican debate, it should make round two very interesting.
Aquila said he has developed several questions for the first round of the debate that will be answered by each candidate. The second round consists of the one question submitted by each candidate for the other five candidates to answer. The third segment, called the "lightning round," will consist of questions already submitted from the community. Each of those questions will be answered by only one candidate at random. [emphasis added]
Updated It appears that Harmer will, in fact, appear at the Republican candidate forum tomorrow in Manteca.