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To guard against fraudulent votes or improper counting, the Harmer campaign established a comprehensive ballot-integrity operation. As the volunteer attorney who oversaw it, I want to share some of what our volunteers observed on Election Day and during the post-election canvass. Election Day On Election Day, trained volunteer poll watchers monitored targeted polling stations throughout the district from the time they opened to the late hours after they closed. At most of the polling places we observed, few ballot integrity issues arose. But several polling places experienced serious and persistent problems involving vote-by-mail ballots ("VBMs," or absentee ballots) delivered at...

Rep. Jerry McNerney has won his race to retain his 11th Congressional District seat. The latest ballot-tallying updates from the most populous part of the district showed McNerney, D-Pleasanton, again had widened his lead over Republican challenger David Harmer to a margin of 2,475 votes, or about 1 percent of the 237,808 ballots counted. The Associated Press reported fewer than 1,900 ballots remained to be counted. McNerney had declared victory Nov. 10, when he was up by 1,681 votes or about seven-tenths of a percent; Harmer has yet to concede, and recently attended the GOP's freshman orientation on Capitol Hill....

McNerney takes his seat in 111th Congress; Harmer at orientation for new members -- Both 11th District Congressional candidates in the Nov. 2 General Election are now in Washington, D.C. Congressman Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton) returned to his congressional seat for the opening session yesterday of one week of deliberation before the Thanksgiving recess. He plans to return again after Thanksgiving for the final session of the 111th Congress. Also in Washington is McNerney's Republican challenger in the still-undecided 11th District race, David Harmer. Harmer attended the orientation for new members of Congress. "Since we don't yet know whether I'll become...

Two-term Democrat Congressman Jerry McNerney tried to put an end to the closely fought race for the California 11th Congressional District, but opponent David Harmer refuses to concede the battle. McNerney declared to a small gathering of supporters that "The votes are in, the results are clear. The voters of this district have chosen me to be their congressman for the next session." As of Thursday evening, McNerney led Republican David Harmer with an edge of 1,685 votes out of just over 230,000 counted.

For most of the country, the midterm elections ended last Tuesday when the final ballots were counted. However, the race in California’s 11th Congressional District remains a tight race between Democratic Rep. Jerry McNerney and Republican challenger David Harmer. In a careful recount of the ballots, Harmer is currently trailing McNerney by just 2,000 votes, leaving no room for error. Bay Area tea party members have been serving as careful watchdogs over the process. One group, the Tri-Valley Patriots, caught an interesting snapshot which suggests some ballot counters may have a vested interest in keeping the Democrat in office:

Democratic Rep. Jim Costa has declared victory in his race against Republican challenger Andy Vidak. New vote tallies from Fresno County put Costa 1,200 votes ahead of Vidak — Costa was losing to Vidak Tuesday by 145 votes — and his campaign believes his lead will continue to increase as the final absentee ballots are counted. “This has been a hard-fought campaign. It appears that it is now over. I believe our 1,200-vote margin will not only stand up, but will increase as the remaining few ballots are counted,” Costa said in a statement Wednesday evening.

The hotly contested race for California’s 11th congressional district is up for grabs, and Republican David Harmer is suing Contra Costa County over its method of verifying ballots. McNerney has widened his lead from an election night margin of 121 votes.

Waiting game in 11th District by Jon Mendelson / Tracy Press Tracy Press Nov 05, 2010 David Harmer (left) and Rep. Jerry McNerney are still unsure as to who will sit in the next Congress. Will Tracy next be represented in Congress by Jerry McNerney or David Harmer? It’s a question that might not be answered for weeks. That’s because even though the incumbent Democrat congressman led Republican challenger Harmer by 134 votes as of Thursday, according to the California Secretary of State, thousands of ballots remain uncounted. The 11th Congressional District spans four counties — Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa...

In the gerrymander-gone-awry California 11th congressional district, sprawling across four counties from Gilroy to Lodi, incumbent Democrat Jerry McNerney is ahead 121 votes to GOP challenger David Harmer: McNerney 82,124 votes, 47.5% Harmer 82,003 votes 47.4% A third party spoiler, Tracy's David Christensen of the conservative American Independent Party, has 8,809 or 5.1% That's with all precincts reporting as of 5:41 a.m. It would appear that Harmer would have won had Christensen not been in the race.

In the gerrymander-gone-awry California 11th congressional district, sprawling across four counties from Gilroy to Lodi, incumbent Democrat Jerry McNerney is ahead 121 votes to GOP challenger David Harmer: McNerney 82,124 votes, 47.5% Harmer 82,003 votes 47.4% A third party spoiler, Tracy's David Christensen of the conservative American Independent Party, has 8,809 or 5.1% That's with all precincts reporting as of 5:41 a.m. It would appear that Harmer would have won had Christensen not been in the race. . . .

We'll see what happens here.

CA House 11: Republican challenger David Harmer in a tight race to oust Democrat incumbent Jerry McNerney.

I am sorry for the vanity but I got so angry last night and this morning I nearly retailiated. McNerney's people - I can't say who, most likely Liberals, Dems, Marxists, MoveOn.org and/or the Commies, took ALL of David Harmer's signs down all over Pleasanton. I wanted to go out at 2 AM and remove all of McNerney's signs, but decided, with my wife's advice, that doing what they do is utter hypocricy. Saul Alinsky would be proud of these maggot Leftists who justify the means to an end. Go Harmer!

With just 72 hours until the polls close, the numbers are breaking for the Harmer campaign in a dramatically positive way. Last week, RealClearPolitics moved California’s 11th Congressional District into their “Leans GOP” column. This week, Larry Sabato, Director of the U.Va. Center for Politics, agreed, promoting California-11 from “Toss Up” to “Leans Republican” — the only congressional seat in California presently held by a Democrat to be so rated, and one of only two on the entire Pacific Coast. Now FiveThirtyEight, the New York Times election blog, gives David Harmer a 70% chance of winning on Tuesday, with incumbent...

But as Bay Area commuters populated — and liberalized — the district’s new suburbs, Mr. McNerney appeared to be a symbol of its new complexion: moderate, mild-mannered and more concerned with local issues than national battles. That, however, was then. Today, many of those new suburbs sit in a region with some of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. Since 2006, the district has lost more than 30,000 residents. And while unemployment statewide is more than 12 percent, the rate is more than twice that in several towns in the 11th. All of which is obvious to Mr. McNerney....

"McNerney has tried to chart a centrist course"

While the California races for governor and U.S. Senate are hot, the battle for a single House seat in the East Bay and Central Valley has turned into a bellwether for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's hopes of retaining her Democratic majority. Both national political parties are pouring money into the contest between two-term incumbent Democrat and former windmill executive Rep. Jerry McNerney, 59 - who voted with Pelosi on the stimulus, the bank rescue, health care, and cap and trade - and Republican David Harmer, 48, a small-government conservative and son of a former California lieutenant governor under Ronald Reagan...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Democratic incumbent in California's most reliably competitive congressional district appears to have a significant financial advantage leading up to the Nov. 2 election. Rep. Jerry McNerney, who represents Northern California's 11th Congressional District, had raised $700,000 during the past three months, leaving him with $1.4 million cash on hand, his campaign said Friday, the campaign-finance reporting deadline for U.S. Senate and House candidates. His Republican opponent, San Ramon attorney David Harmer, has reported more than $550,000 in donations between July 1 and Sept. 30. His campaign said it had $489,278 cash on hand. Last quarter, McNerney...

(CBS 5) – The third time may be the charm for Republican David Harmer as he tries to get elected to Congress, according to a KPIX-TV CBS 5 poll released Tuesday. The poll, conducted for CBS 5 by SurveyUSA, found Harmer edges out Democratic Congressman Jerry McNerney in California’s 11th congressional district by 48% to 42%.

Republicans are trying to regain control of Congress in November but political oddsmakers have said there is only one Democrat in California at risk of losing his congressional seat - Rep. Jerry McNerney of Pleasanton. His challenger in the Bay Area's 11th Congressional District is Republican David Harmer, an attorney who says he is running to rein in federal spending. Republicans are using the same charges against McNerney as they are against Democrats around the country - that he supports bigger government, has voted to increase taxes and is in lockstep with his party's leadership. "On every major vote, he's...

My discussions with Republican strategists and conservative House-watchers yielded a list of 20 races in which this quarter’s donations are most likely to prove decisive: Martha Roby, Alabama’s 2nd district...Rick Crawford, Arkansas’s 1st district...David Harmer, California’s 11th district...Cory Gardner, Colorado’s 4th district...Adam Kinzinger, Illinois’s 11th district...Randy Hultgren, Illinois’s 14th district...Bobby Schilling, Illinois’s 17th district...Jackie Walorski, Indiana’s 2nd district....Larry Bucshon, Indiana’s 8th district....Todd Young, Indiana’s 9th district....Andy Barr, Kentucky’s 6th district...Alan Nunnelee, Mississippi’s 1st district...Joe Heck, Nevada’s 3rd district...Chris Gibson, New York’s 20th district....Renee Ellmers, North Carolina’s 2nd district....Lou Barletta, Pennsylvania’s 11th district....Mick Mulvaney, South Carolina’s 5th district....Kristi Noem, South Dakota’s...

In the strange world of politics, where up is down and down is up, Republicans tout as a victory David Harmer's 10-point loss to Democrat John Garamendi in Tuesday's special congressional race. With an 18-point party registration advantage, off-the-charts name identification and double the cash of his opponent, Republicans say Garamendi should have won with a far bigger margin. "Harmer winning 43 percent of the vote in an overwhelmingly Democratic district in the Bay Area does not speak well for the Democrats," California GOP Chairman Ron Nehring said the morning after Tuesday's election. Yes, this is largely spin. Harmer outperformed...

100.00% (264 of 264) precincts partially or fully reporting as of Nov 4, 2009, 12:13 a.m. Candidate Votes Percent David Harmer (Rep) 53,441 42.69% Jeremy Cloward (Grn) 2,314 1.85% Jerome "Jerry" Denham (AI) 1,435 1.15% John Garamendi (Dem) 66,311 52.98% Mary C. McIlroy (P&F) 1,672 1.34% Nov 2008 Ellen Tauscher (Dem) 192,226 65.2% Nicholas Gerber (Rep) 91,877 31.1% Eugene Ruyle (Peace and Freedom) 11,062 3.7% Nov 2006 Ellen Tauscher (Dem) 130,859 66.5% Darcy Linn (Rep) 66,069 33.5% Nov 2004 Ellen Tauscher (Dem) 182,750 65.8% Jeff Ketelson (Rep) 95,349 34.2% Nov 2002 Ellen Tauscher (Dem) 126,390 75.6% Sonia Alonso (Libertarian) 40,807...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi has won a special election to a Northern California congressional seat, keeping the district in Democratic hands. Garamendi's victory on Tuesday was all but certain after he won the September primary election because Democrats enjoy an 18-point registration edge over Republicans in the 10th Congressional District. He easily defeated Republican David Harmer, a 47-year-old attorney.

0% precints reporting David Harmer (Rep) 0 0.00% Jeremy Cloward (Grn) 0 0.00% Jerome "Jerry" Denham (AI) 0 0.00% John Garamendi (Dem) 0 0.00% Mary C. McIlroy (P&F) 0 0.00%

David Harmer, the Republican candidate for Congress in California's special election in their 10th congressional election, does have a chance of winning this election today. While running in a district which has not elected a Republican in decades, their last Congresswoman easily claimed victory with near 70% of the vote, and it is rated D+11, does not seem possible. Then again, 2009 has not been a normal election year...

While press and pundits focus almost ad nauseum on what will happen Tuesday in New York's 23rd Congressional District, as well as the gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia, everyone has forgotten the battle being waged for the California congressional seat vacated by Ellen Tauscher when she resigned to become a member of President Obama's State Department. To be sure, the 10th Congressional District of the Golden State is a Democratic stronghold, especially after some recent gerrymandering. The latest poll shows Democratic candidate and current Lt. Gov. John Garamendi with a commanding 10-point lead over Republican challenger David Harmer,...

Lt. Gov. John Garamendi has been everything from assemblyman to insurance commissioner to former President Bill Clinton's deputy interior secretary during his 35 years in public service. If the prevailing political wisdom is correct, the 64-year-old Democratic veteran could add U.S. congressman to his résumé by Tuesday night. Garamendi is considered the clear front-runner in the race to fill the 10th Congressional District seat left vacant in June by Ellen Tauscher, who became the State Department's undersecretary for arms control and international security affairs. Democrats make up 47 percent of the district's registered voters compared with the 29 percent of...

Mark Endorses David Harmer for Congress Monday, October 26th, 2009 HarmerForCongress.com (CA. 10th Congressional) http://www.harmerforcongress.com/default.htm

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, a fixture in state and national politics for 35 years, is expected to maintain the Democratic Party's hold Tuesday on a congressional seat that stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay area through the California delta. <snip> Garamendi's Republican opponent, David Harmer, has been campaigning against excessive government spending. It's unclear how widely that theme will resonate in a congressional district that supported Barack Obama with nearly 65 percent of the vote in last year's presidential race.

East Bay voters on Tuesday will select a new member of Congress, and determine the fate of upscale downtown development in Walnut Creek and a host of school and other measures. Slightly more than half of Contra Costa and Alameda county voters live in cities or other political districts with an election, including those in the vacant 10th congressional district, San Ramon and Walnut Creek. <snip> The highest-profile race is undeniably the runoff to replace Ellen Tauscher in the 10th congressional district. Two-thirds of the heavily Democratic district is in Contra Costa, with smaller segments in Alameda, Solano and Sacramento...

A new CBS 5 poll released Thursday showed Democrat John Garamendi remained the favorite in the special election for California's 10th Congressional District seat. The poll's results also found that half of the expected votes in the race have already been cast. With five days until votes are counted, the poll conducted for CBS 5 by SurveryUSA showed Garamendi defeating Republican David Harmer by 10 percentage points.

LATEST RALLY DRAWS OVER 1,000+ IN LIBERAL SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA (ON THE ROAD IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA) - Crowds continue to build as the Tea Party Express II: Countdown to Judgment Day (www.TeaPartyExpress.org) gains momentum! Yesterday in the very liberal San Francisco Bay Area, more than 1,000 people turned out to show their support for smaller government, less deficit-spending, and opposition to government-run healthcare. The rally held particular importance as a Special Election for Congress takes place on November 3rd in California's 10th Congressional District. Conservative candidate for Congress, David Harmer, spoke at the event. The Tea Party Express II...

A special general election next Tuesday for a vacant U.S. Congress seat in the East Bay pits California's Democratic lieutenant governor against a Republican son of a former lieutenant governor. Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, a Democrat, is facing David Harmer, the son of former state senator and Lt. Gov. John Harmer, in the election for the state's 10th Congressional District

So much for Newt Gingrich's prediction that Hoffman can't win and only Scozzafava has a chance. According to a new poll out by the Daily Kooks blog Bill Owens is at 33% Hoffman at 32% and Scozzafava at a mere 21%. Now I never understood how such a far left partisan organization has suddenly become a legitimate polling outfit. However, this poll does indicate two things. 1, If Hoffman is only down 1% by a liberal biased poll (they always show the Dems over performing) then in reality he is either ahead or very much in the game. The extremists...

A source close to Republican congressional candidate David Harmer tells me he will be on Mark Levin's show on Friday, scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Eastern, noting that Levin endorsed Harmer and put a link on his website. There's also word that Mitt Romney wants to make a call for Harmer to his Bay Area supporters this weekend.

<snip> Harmer then recognized the GOP's big image problem - that talk is cheap. "We can't talk our way out of the problems we behaved our way into." He has found a way to reflect conservative values and pragmatism. This summer Harmer told The Chronicle that he had "no interest" in motivating the GOP base and "alienating everyone else." He meant it. At the debate, Harmer actually asked his more vocal supporters in the audience, who turned out in high numbers, to refrain from making noise during the questions and answers. <snip> Instead they showcased their very different views on...

All political races are not created equal. While every office is special is its own right, certain elections matter more than others. The David Harmer (R) v. John Garamendi (D) 10th Congressional District special election on November 3, 2009 is one of those races. The Harmer Race matters because of (1) what it means to the Country, (2) what it means to California, and (3) what it means to California Republicans.

John Garamendi hates insurance companies, insurance agents, Steve Poizner, policy holders and Northern California. Witness how his insurance regulations were aimed at making Northern Califonria subsidize Southern California - witness his idioc handling of executive life's collapse where thousands of policyholders lost their life's savings. Now Garamendi is carving out a new niche of stupidity and is stooping to new political depths. He sent out an attack ad against David Harmer - which also happens to be the name of his opponent in the CD-10 runoff. Problem: Which David Harmer was that anyway?

The five candidates seeking to represent the 10th Congressional District break down into a group of three on the left and two on the right as revealed in a forum at Saint Mary's College on Monday night. Ranging from political left to right are: self-described socialist Mary McIlroy from El Cerrito of the Peace and Freedom Party; Jeremy Cloward from Pleasant Hill of the Green Party; liberal Democrat John Garamendi from Walnut Grove; conservative Republican David Harmer, a San Ramon resident; and libertarian Jerry Denham from Walnut Creek, representing the American Independent Party. <snip> Garamendi joined with McIlroy and Cloward...

Political junkies everywhere are glued to what's going on in New York's 23rd congressional district, that upstate special election for a seat that hasn't gone Democratic since there has been a Republican Party. But the GOP candidate there is in real jeopardy, and in fact some speculate that she could finish third in a field of three. (See yesterday's post.) Less attention -- far less attention -- is being placed on the other special congressional election that will be decided on Tuesday. That's in California's 10th District, necessitated when Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D) resigned to take a post in the...

David Harmer is trying to do in California what Doug Hoffman is trying to do in New York: win a seat in the House of Representatives which otherwise would be won by a liberal in a special election. Ellen Tauscher, who represented the 10th Congressional District of California since 1996, has resigned her seat in Congress to be an undersecretary in the Obama Administration. The special election on November 3, 2009 will determine who replaces her. <snip> What makes this all the more galling is that David Harmer has at least as good a chance of winning in California as...

I’ve written about David Harmer before. He is in a very close election out in CA-10, running in a special election to replace former Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher. As Jim Geraghty noted yesterday, Harmer is running full steam ahead into the public option in his district, which leans blue, but in which Harmer is polling very, very well against a state wide elected Democrat — California’s Lieutenant Governor. Harmer could use some last minute help. Things are looking good for him, but money and volunteers remain in short supply. To donate folks can go to the website: http://www.harmerforcongress.com/ To volunteer, people...

Over the last week and a half, four packed events have taken place with economic free market conservatives in the Bay Area. One can only guess if this is a "new beginning" for those who care about affordable health care, economy and jobs - or a blip on the screen. <snip> In Moraga last night, CD-10 candidates held their final debate. Though CD-10 has been in Democrat hands since 1996, Harmer had the largest most vocal supporters of the 300 who attended. Health care was the most contentious with Garamendi defending the public option as "a way to control private...

ALAMO, Calif. (KCBS) - Next week, voters in the East Bay will choose a new member of Congress. And, the race to replace Democrat Ellen Tauscher may be closer than first thought. Cover Story on the candidates: KCBS' Doug Sovern reports Republican David Harmer has been hammering Lt. Governor John Garamendi in online ads, warning that the veteran Democrat will vote to raise taxes if he gets to Washington...This isn't some sort of prelude to something else. We are absolutely serious about taking this seat and I think we will." Harmer's internal polling shows him within upset distance in a...

Despite election countdown fervor from pro-GOP David Harmer forces, the National Republican Congressional Committee does not yet view him as a “contender” in his bid against Democratic Lt. Gov. John Garamendi in the 10th congressional district special election on Tuesday. A Roll Call story today reports that the committee elevated nine candidates in its Young Guns program — its targeted candidate initiative — from “On the Radar” to “Contender.”Harmer was not among the nine selected for the second tier. No candidate has yet achieved the highest ranking of “Young Gun.” NRCC spokeswoman Joanna Burgos insists Harmer’s status does not reflect...

MORAGA -- The five candidates for the 10th Congressional District seat entered the final week of campaigning Monday night participating in a cordial debate with few surprises. The candidates -- vying Nov. 3 for the seat left open when Rep. Ellen Tauscher resigned in June to take a U.S. State Department post as undersecretary for arms control and international security -- spoke before almost 300 people in a Saint Mary's College auditorium. Although the seat has been in Democratic hands since 1996, Republican candidate David Harmer brought the largest and most vocal supporters Monday night. <snip> With a house bill...

In the other special House election this year, in California’s 10th district, Republican David Harmer and Democrat John Garamendi squared off in a debate last night. One of my readers who was there noted, “Garamendi was stiff and pasty, he was not happy that Harmer supporters were there 5-1. Harmer was smooth and in his element. Will be posted on YouTube later tonight. Good moderator.� I can’t quite come out and say Harmer’s going to pull out an upset, but it feels like the ingredients for one are starting to come together. First, it’s a special election, and so most...

The Iraq war and President Bush have faded from voters' thoughts in the year since President Obama won the White House, leaving this year's Democratic candidates to justify $787 billion in stimulus spending despite lingering high unemployment and pushing a health care overhaul amid widespread voter skepticism. <snip> From California to New York, dominant themes are health care, Social Security, the weak housing market and misgivings about Wall Street bailouts. But for the first time in years, several polls show voters trust Republicans more than Democrats to better address the problems of the day. California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, a...

Forum with David Harmer and John Garamendi Monday, October 26 7:00pm (Please arrive by 6:15pm) Soda Center, St. Mary's College, Moraga (map) We are asking all of our friends and supporters to join us tonight, October 26th at St. Mary's College for the only forum between David Harmer and John Garamendi for the election. We need to pack the house with supporters as we contrast our values of fiscal discipline and personal responsibility against the tax-and-spend agenda of John Garamendi. A strong showing at the forum will further energize the campaign as we count down to victory on November 3rd....