Free Republic

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.

To undecided voters deciding whether to re-elect Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, I have one question: What do you know about Republican candidate David Harmer? Are you aware that he favors privatizing Social Security, even after the Wall Street meltdown (no surprise, given his discredited deregulate-everything philosophy)? Or that he has spoken at a local Tea Party event? Or that he wrote in favor of abolishing public schools and returning education to “the way things worked through the first century of American nationhood” in an op-ed piece in the San Francisco Chronicle in 2000, a position he has not backed away...

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....

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%.

Police searched the Lodi business of Republican congressional candidate Robert Beadles this morning in connection with allegations of theft from a competitor and former employer. Beadles, who has declared his candidacy in District 11, owns and operates Robert Beadles, Inc., which provides portable signage at construction sites.A spokesman for the San Joaquin Sheriff’s Department confirmed that it had executed a search warrant at the business on W. Kettleman Lane in Lodi. He declined to provide further details, citing the ongoing investigation.No one has been arrested