Democratic Party Candidate Crushes gop Opponent In CA Special Election
Garamendi beats field for Tauscher’s seat
WALNUT CREEK, CALIF.—Democratic Lt. Gov. John Garamendi ran away from four other candidates in a special election to fill the Bay Area’s 10th Congressional District seat vacated by Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Walnut Creek.
In early returns, Garamendi led Republican David Harmer by 57 percent to 38 percent. Green Party candidate Jeremy Cloward, American Independent Jerome Denham and Peace and Freedom candidate Mary McIlroy were far behind.
Like a contested congressional race in New York and gubernatorial showdowns in Virginia and New Jersey, conservatives sought to portray the election results in the Bay Area congressional contest as a referendum on President Obama’s administration and a harbinger of voter attitudes for the 2010 midterm elections.
Conservatives criticized Garamendi’s support for a government-run insurance plan in health care reform legislation in Congress and sent out mailers linking him with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco. In the campaign’s closing days, the Republican National Committee spent $85,000 on mailers that claimed Garamendi supported higher property taxes.
...Turnout was estimated to be about 39 percent - “an exceptionally high figure” for a special congressional election in California, said Steve Weir, clerk-recorder for Contra Costa County, where nearly 70 percent of the district’s voters live. The district includes parts of Alameda, Solano and Sacramento counties.
