(In the interests of providing a fair and balanced opportunity for debate here on the FR Blog, I’ve posted this submission from Kelly McCarty, in response to this post by our Riverside County Correspondent Barry Nestande.)
FROM KELLY MCCARTY:
Assemblyman John Benoit’s Chief of Staff Barry Nestande has posted on this site that it was outrageous for me to have considered running against his employer in the Republican primary if Proposition 93 would have passed.
First, Nestande does not disclose that his brother Brian is one of my opponents for the Republican nomination in Assembly District 64. That would seem to be an important disclosure for an author to make.
Second, I opposed Proposition 93. Further, I would have lived by the real term limits passed by the voters in 1990. Assemblyman Benoit should have been willing to do the same if Proposition 93 would have passed. It is easy to be opposed to Proposition 93 and call it a “fraud”. It takes political courage to live by the spirit of the law as well as the letter of the law. I will do that when I am elected to the Assembly this year.
Third, the people that encouraged me to consider continuing my run for the State Assembly even if Proposition 93 passed were Riverside County residents.
Finally, the 64th Assembly District doesn’t belong to John Benoit or the Nestande family. It belongs to the voters. Giving them an option to support an anti-illegal immigration businesswoman would seem to be something that is allowed in a democracy.
This is another example of where people live in world of theory. I don’t live there. I live in the business world like the hard working families and small businesses I will represent in the Assembly in December if the VOTERS honor with me with their support.