Congratulations to David Harmer, who as one of the Republicans running in the special election in Congressional District 10 in the East Bay Area, is now the officially endorsed candidate of the California Republican Party. In special elections, the State GOP's bylaws permit a pre-primary endorsement.

Harmer is an impressive candidate, a successful attorney with a strong resume of conservative involvement. His dad is former California Lt. Governor John Harmer, a great guy.

It's very likely that if I lived in CD 10, I would vote for Harmer in the September primary. That primary, on both sides of the aisle, is loaded up with a vast number of candidates. While technically anyone getting more than half of the vote in that primary, under the rules governing special elections, would win the election outright, there is more chance of President Obama passing an income tax cut for wealth Americans than anyone winning this race in September.

It's because of the fact that this race will be decided well after the primary that I voted against a pre-primary endorsement for Harmer as an elected party officer I believe the bar must be set very high to justify the party's elected elite, in the back room, conferring the State GOP endorsement on a candidate. For example, if we had polling data to show us that a win in the primary was an attainable goal, then I could understand.

Harmer is to be congratulated for his endorsement. But I feel bad for the other bonafide GOP candidates who deserve a level playing field in trying to win the Republican nomination.

That all said, I am honored to serve with some talented people on the CRP Board of Directors. And given that all of them saw this situation differently than I did, I'm sure they are all correct, and I am wrong. Oh well, wouldn't be the first or last time.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 4th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.