Posted on 02/21/2011 6:39:17 PM PST by Libloather
Some activists want wealthy Jane Harman to pay for special election vote
By Sean J. Miller - 02/21/11 06:08 PM ET
A grass-roots movement fueled by anger over the cost of a special election for Rep. Jane Harman’s (D-Calif.) seat has sprung up in the coastal towns surrounding Los Angeles.
Harman announced Feb. 7 that she was stepping down as the representative for California’s 36th district to become head of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, a Washington-based research institution. She’s set to remain in the House until Feb. 28, according to her office.
Her departure only two months into her new term has some activists suggesting the wealthy Democrat should cover the cost of the special election to fill her seat.
“Certainly the public is outraged with the fact that she quit,” said Richard Grenell, a former Bush administration official who is coordinating the effort. “She’s not even coming back to the district.”
Harman is the third wealthiest member of Congress, according to a list compiled by The Hill. Together with her husband, Sidney Harman, the congresswoman is worth more than $152 million, according to her 2010 financial disclosure forms.
Grenell noted that news broke last May that former Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.), whom Harman is succeeding as president of the think tank, was planning to step down. “I would really like to know when she started negotiating for this job,” he said.
If she knew before the midterm vote last November that she was going to get it, Grenell added, “she sold the voters of the 36th a false message.”
A spokeswoman for the Woodrow Wilson Center did not respond to a request for comment. Harman has she said she regrets the cost to taxpayers, telling the Los Angeles Times she wanted her departure to be "as inexpensive and as convenient for voters as possible." A special election for two vacant state Senate seats in the Los Angeles-area earlier this month cost some $3 million, according to one estimate.
With that in mind, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) is looking to schedule the special election for Harman's seat in June, when a statewide vote will be held on tax issues. A primary would be held eight Tuesdays before the special election.
In the meantime, Grenell, who lives in the neighboring 35th district, said he’s hoping public pressure will convince Harman to cover the cost. “We don’t think it will be accomplished through a petition,” he said. “We think it will be accomplished through media pressure."
That has already started to build, with local blogs and talk radio host John Phillips taking up the issue. Harman’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
While there’s no question that California is facing a budget crisis, there isn’t any precedent for a member of Congress having to cover the cost of a special election. Moreover, it raises questions about the credibility of the vote if it’s funded by an independent source.
Grenell said that wasn’t a concern. “We’ll take her money and we’ll take that risk,” he said.
That didn't take long. Poor planning on her part?
Good luck to them....Getting a rich Democrat to pay for something THEMSELVES...You’d have better luck asking the First Wookie to skip a meal! LOL
Hardly.
Harman's your typical Elite opportunist...
So she’s decided to “cross the aisle” and go to work for a (neo)conservative organization? How bipartisan of her.
Why bother with an election, just put the next commie in by acclamation..
Wait—Harmon is RICH? I thought only Republicans were rich and that the Rats were all “of the people”.
Piglosi rich.
Not a single Democrat incumbent lost last Nov.
Not even the dead one.
I’m not kidding.
That started when he bought Newsweek for $1. He got a lot of security problems with that purchase.
In 2010, a dozen Dems did not run for re-election - their seats went to the GOP. My guess is that these pols decided to jump before they were pushed - why wait until you get laid off before looking for a job?
Jane, you ignorant slut...
If you know anything about Harman you know she’s long been targeted as “too far right” for the Democratic party. Her district used to be Republican and had a lot of defense contractors but that industry is dead and the district’s makeup has changed. Whoever ultimately replaces Harman will be LEFT of center and certainly left of her.
Indeed, her district could be fairly characterized as a gaggle of anti-American dirtbags.
I do know, as I have followed most of her career and I live in her district. I recall Queen Nancy deprived Harman of a committee chair position that was rightfully hers recently. Bad blood between the women.
I'm not kidding.
Dude, try a little civility and then, maybe, google on something to the effect of “United States House of Representative Elections, 2010”.
That you've now changed that claim to apply only to the US Congressional delegation from the State of California is an apology which I will accept.
That you've now changed that claim to apply only to the US Congressional delegation from the State of California is an apology which I will accept.
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