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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 a new member of Congress, I’m participating with a unique blend of apprehension and hope,” Harmer said in an email to supporters.
Just how “undecided” is this race?
Secretary of State Debra Bower reported yesterday that the latest vote count in the 11th Congressional District race continues to show Congressman Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton) with less than a 1 percent over his Republican challenger David Harmer and with thousands of ballots yet to be counted.
At 6:40 p.m. Monday, Secretary of State Debra Bowen continued to call it a “close race.”
The vote at that time, she reported, shows McNerney and Harmer both with slight numerical gains but with no change in the percent of total votes received. According to Bowen, McNerney as of late Monday has received 111,129 votes, or still at 47.9%, Harmer has 109,351 votes, or 47.0%, and American Independent party candidate David Christensen as of late yesterday had received 11,871 votes, or 5.1%.
Harmer’s wife, Elayne, the mother of four, said the contest is much like a mother-to-be reaching her due date and the doctor walks in and says she has to wait another three or four weeks for the baby to be born.
“And then the doc throws in this caveat: ‘And you might not keep the baby,'” Elayne Harmer added.
Even so, McNerney left for Washington convinced that he has won re-election to a third term in Congress.
“The trend is very clear,” McNerney said. “The lead is insurmountable.”
Harmer, however, disagreed, saying it would be premature to concede while the votes are still being counted.
“Last night, at a dinner for the Republican freshmen in the Capitol’s magnificent Statuary Hall, I sat just a few feet from the site of John Quincy Adams’s old desk as Republican leader and soon-to-be Speaker of the House John Boehner spoke of our charge from the American people,” Harmer said.
Harmer continued:
“His watchword was humility; his counsel, servant leadership,” Harmer added. “He is determined to restore representation as the founders intended, a House that does the people’s business through the cumbersome, unpredictable, messy, but democratic means of legislation. He envisions a House where Representatives are actual legislators, not merely voters on proposals negotiated behind closed doors, but daily participants in the process of investigation, persuasion, negotiation, and debate.
“For California to fail to contribute to this historic change in leadership, mission, and tone would be tragic, but it’s a very real risk. The wave that swept the rest of the nation, resulting in well over 60 net new Republican seats, seems to have washed up against the eastern flank of the Sierras without crossing their crest. So far Republicans haven’t picked up a single one of California’s 53 seats in the U.S. House. But the 11th District is still in play.
“To ensure an accurate count of the remaining ballots, to prepare for a possible recount, and to do our best to complete the campaign successfully, we need to raise much more money. If you haven’t already done so, please consider contributing to our recount fund. Contributions of any amount are welcome, appreciated, and needed.”
Based on the vote count lead that Congressman Jerry McNerney has and the number of provisional votes that are not yet counted the winner is Jerry McNerney. We are all lucky that we will have Jerry going back to work for us all in Washington D.C.It would not be possible to select a better Congressman.
Chet,
You have got to be a certifiable left wing nut. McNerney is nothing more than Pelosi’s lap dog. And Pelosi is the biggest disaster to hit this country since Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter.
It ain’t over, ’til it’s over. JFK beat Nixon in ’60 with less than 1/10th of 1%. His Dad had bought more votes than that in Cook County, Ill. alone.
If you want to see a photo of ugly, old man “Chet’, go to CoCoTimes comments. Looks like a long ago retired fireman or caltrans guy. Definitely a public laborer, you can tell that by his posts…not a rocket scientist.
Mcnerney is a LAP DOG FOR PELOSI. Anyone who voted for him voted for more Health care bills and a BIGGER DEFICIT. Mcnerney will not represent his district, he will vote with democrates and spend more money LIKE 250.00 FOR EVERY SENIOR CITIZENS. CRAZY MCNERNEY.
McNerney sure is confident when there are thousands of ballots left to count? He is a man who could not decide on the Obama down your throat health plan until the last minute…..and chances are McNerney never even read the health care package in the first place! That is just one area where he fails the people he represents.
No….Mcnerney says one thing…does another and just like the Omama administration…tells you he has it under control when slowly you can plainly see Chaos is the law of the land. I hope McNerney loses….it would be more than Humble pie for him…it would simply mean ADIOS to another Obama/Pelosi puppet!
Joan, our two largest national expenditures BY FAR are subsidies to senior citizens (Social Security) and nationalized/socialized/public healthcare for seniors (Medicare). I find it hard to understand how you can complain about this $250 cost to seniors, whatever that is, while also complaining about national healthcare and deficits. Do you really not get the connection? Nearly half the federal budget goes to senior citizens, and you want MORE? Sounds like you’re getting a little greedy in the face of this national emergency!
Good news for all of us in CD 11. Jerry McNerney is a great congressman and we are so fortunate to have him. He cares about our district and works very hard for us. Which is why he has such great support from Republicans as well as Democrats in our district. He has worked passionately for our Veterans and has great support from them also. (He also lives IN our district.)
McNerney ran one of the dirtiest sleazy big lie campaigns ever. He deserves to be fired for that reason alone. He got elected in the first place with the same tactics. In the previous election I told him to his face that the fact that he was willing to tolerate the kind of crap his committee was putting out told me something about his character. We don’t need still more liars in congress. His phony “virtual” town meetings were disgusting. They were rigged to exclude all but his cheer leaders. He didn’t have the guts to have a REAL town meeting.
I voted for McNerney and am happy about the results so far, but I think it is premature to call it a victory as we still have thousands of ballots to be counted.
Hope McNerney wins!!!
And for those seniors complaining about national healthcare: what exactly do you think your medicare is? It is NATIONAL healthcare for seniors. And your social security? It is a GOVERNMENT run program as well. I do not understand the republican talk against government run programs and yet they rally their seniors with fears of losing two GOVERNMENT run programs: NATIONAL helathcare for seniors, aka Medicare and Social security (Welfare? Yes because those of us whose taxes pay for it will not be able to collect social security in the future, so in a way I am paying for welfare for the seniors, and I would rather invest that in the young: the education of all of them from kindergarten to College because they are the FUTURE)
Resident,
Most Republicans are Hypocrites. They whine and complain about Big Government, but when it comes down to it, that is really what they want: but for themselves only, not for the good of the population, because they are so selfish. Their dream is to destroy the middle class, in hopes they end up rich, so they can have the little people serving them. Their policies are the sure way to make our great country into the next 3rd world nation.
I really wish Democrats Filibuster every little piece of legislation the Republicans try and put through in the House, just like they did to the Democrats. Don’t let one single one pass!
HHR,
you don’t really mean all of that, why so much hate kitten? Is it because you team lost and will continue to lose. Show us so love.
More good news!! They counted more votes today and Harmer is falling more and more behind. This is from the Calif Sec of State office at 3:42PM on Nov 15
Jerry McNerney (Dem) 111,129
47.9%
David Harmer (Rep) 109,351
47.0%
“More good news!! They counted more votes today and Harmer is falling more and more behind. This is from the Calif Sec of State office at 3:42PM on Nov 15”
Seems like McNerney is in agreement with the facts.
Whether McNerny or Harmer wins, the winner needs to go to Washington and realize that there has been no mandate from this district. After a nasty campaign season on both sides, and a down-to-the-wire vote, neither man should vote a party line – he needs to be neutral and vote what is better for his constituents, the people of California, and the American population.
Of course this will result in no re-election funding from his party. And getting re-elected is a Congressman’s perceived first job from the git-go. So we can count on more partisan voting from whomever finally gets the nod.
Gosh, I’m getting tired of having to repeat the following bit of information :
The “militantly non-partisan”* National Journal ranked Jerry McNerney the “most moderate” member of the California delegation to the House.
Here’s the link to the National Journal’s rankings :
http://www.nationaljournal.com/2008voteratings
It’s actually a pretty interesting interactive tool, and if you bother to look, you will see that Jerry is very firmly in the middle.
Now, you really can’t occupy the middle ground here and be “Pelosi’s lap dog,” can you?
It is my distinct impression that Jerry understands our district very well and votes in a way that reflects the character of our district. We have almost exactly the same number of registered Democrats as Republicans, with about a 20% Decline to State/Other constituency. No amount of shouting or writing things in ALL CAPS will change that.
I’m quite sure I’m not the only one here who would like to see much calmer, more thoughtful discussion of the issues that divide us, and would be most grateful to posters from the entire political spectrum for supplying a few verifiable facts to support the claims they make.
The name-calling and insult hurling do none of us any good.
Ok. Done with soapbox for now.
* Lodi News 12/29/09
According to the Sec of State today 11-16 Harmer is still the loser.
With the number of votes still not counted he will not be able to make up the difference.
*Jerry McNerney (Dem) 111,338
47.9%
David Harmer (Rep) 109,581
47.0%
Cheez, what a bunch of….
“Reg” says: McNerney is nothing more than Pelosi’s lap dog.” You obviously are not well read. It has been clearly documented by reputable LOCAL Republican sources that Representative McNerney is not “Pelosi’s lap dog.”
“Fractional” is stuck in 1960, 50 years ago. Kenedy’s… what does that have to do with 2010? Gee, why not blame everything on FDR while you’re at it?
“member, a resident of the Pleasanton Valley” states McNerney ran one of the dirtiest sleazy big lie campaigns ever” are you from outer space? That has to be one of most recent bazaar comments in PW Forum. Really? Ever hear of Sharron Angle?
“joan and john, a resident of Dublin”, not going to respond.