Today’s Antelope Valley Press has a story that is sure to further undermine Darren Parker’s longshot challenge to Sharon Runner.
(You can visit the AV Press here.)
Runner questions Parker’s officiating
By: Craig Currier
For the second time this week, candidates in the 17th District State Senate seat race are squaring off electronically, though they still haven’t agreed on a time and place for a public debate before the Feb. 15 special election.
In a press release sent via e-mail Friday, Republican candidate Sharon Runner questioned same-sex marriages performed by Democratic candidate Darren Parker in 2008, claiming her opponent did not have the authority to solemnize couples.
Parker and Runner were each interviewed for approximately 30 minutes Monday on a Santa Clarita radio station. Runner said she was surprised to hear Parker say he is a “sworn Justice of the Peace” on air.
“What oath did Mr. Parker take to become a Justice of the Peace if California does not administer one?” the press release reads. “It calls into question the validity of the marriage ceremonies he claims to have performed, which seems likely to have been done under the veil of his position as a deacon of his church, which likely does not align itself with the same-sex marriage movement.
“Mr. Parker appears to be bending reality to fit his purposes, and we can’t trust someone who will do so to represent us in the State Senate.”
A 26-second clip of the radio segment is included in the press release. On the recording Parker answers a question about Proposition 8 – the controversial 2008 ballot measure banning same-sex marriage.
“I support anyone that wants to marry anyone,” Parker says on the recording. “I think that the problem in that issue is the word ‘marriage,’ and as a deacon in my church I have personal views, but I’m also a sworn Justice of the Peace, so I was one of the ones that married some of the first couples here in the Antelope Valley.”
Parker said he had not seen the e-mail, which is headed by a “Sharon Runner for State Senate” logo, and declined to comment on its contents until he viewed it.
“I am disappointed that she would stoop to negative politicking at this point,” Parker said in a phone interview Friday. “It’s not good for our community.”
Also reached by phone Friday, Runner said she is simply “providing facts” to voters.
“That’s why I had people look into (his statements) this week because it didn’t make sense to me,” Runner said. “There are no Justices of the Peace in California unless you’re a judge or retired judge.”
If Parker was misrepresenting himself, Runner said the marriages he solemnized are in question.
“All I’m doing is letting people know he can’t go around posing as something he is not,” Runner said.
The Runner press release comes just days after Parker’s e-mail challenging his opponent to four debates leading up to the special election.
Runner said she is prepared to participate in two debates – Feb. 2 in Santa Clarita and Feb. 3 in Lancaster – with Parker, though he has not confirmed either date.
ccurrier@avpress.com
By: Craig Currier
For the second time this week, candidates in the 17th District State Senate seat race are squaring off electronically, though they still haven’t agreed on a time and place for a public debate before the Feb. 15 special election.
In a press release sent via e-mail Friday, Republican candidate Sharon Runner questioned same-sex marriages performed by Democratic candidate Darren Parker in 2008, claiming her opponent did not have the authority to solemnize couples.
Parker and Runner were each interviewed for approximately 30 minutes Monday on a Santa Clarita radio station. Runner said she was surprised to hear Parker say he is a “sworn Justice of the Peace” on air.
“What oath did Mr. Parker take to become a Justice of the Peace if California does not administer one?” the press release reads. “It calls into question the validity of the marriage ceremonies he claims to have performed, which seems likely to have been done under the veil of his position as a deacon of his church, which likely does not align itself with the same-sex marriage movement.
“Mr. Parker appears to be bending reality to fit his purposes, and we can’t trust someone who will do so to represent us in the State Senate.”
A 26-second clip of the radio segment is included in the press release. On the recording Parker answers a question about Proposition 8 – the controversial 2008 ballot measure banning same-sex marriage.
“I support anyone that wants to marry anyone,” Parker says on the recording. “I think that the problem in that issue is the word ‘marriage,’ and as a deacon in my church I have personal views, but I’m also a sworn Justice of the Peace, so I was one of the ones that married some of the first couples here in the Antelope Valley.”
Parker said he had not seen the e-mail, which is headed by a “Sharon Runner for State Senate” logo, and declined to comment on its contents until he viewed it.
“I am disappointed that she would stoop to negative politicking at this point,” Parker said in a phone interview Friday. “It’s not good for our community.”
Also reached by phone Friday, Runner said she is simply “providing facts” to voters.
“That’s why I had people look into (his statements) this week because it didn’t make sense to me,” Runner said. “There are no Justices of the Peace in California unless you’re a judge or retired judge.”
If Parker was misrepresenting himself, Runner said the marriages he solemnized are in question.
“All I’m doing is letting people know he can’t go around posing as something he is not,” Runner said.
The Runner press release comes just days after Parker’s e-mail challenging his opponent to four debates leading up to the special election.
Runner said she is prepared to participate in two debates – Feb. 2 in Santa Clarita and Feb. 3 in Lancaster – with Parker, though he has not confirmed either date.
ccurrier@avpress.com