• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Valley Citizen

Nature, Environment, History & Politics

The Valley Citizen

  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About
  • RSS Icon

Registrar’s Office Gags Harder (and everyone else)

March 15, 2018 By Eric Caine 7 Comments

Josh Harder

Political speech, “should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open.” Justice William Brennan

Last Friday, a clerk in the Stanislaus County Registrar’s Office rejected Josh Harder’s official campaign statement on the grounds it used President Donald Trump’s name. The clerk claimed Harder would need written permission from Trump himself if he were to use the president’s name.

Harder and some of his staff members were stunned. While it makes sense to obtain permission from private citizens if using their names in campaign material, making campaign statements without reference to state or national personages and their policies would drain much of the vitality out of elections themselves, and our current election codes seem to recognize that reality.

In protesting the Registrar’s decision, Harder cited Elections Code 13307 and 13307.5, writing that, “While it prohibits a candidate from referring to their opponent, courts have recognized that a candidates ‘qualifications’ can include ‘[o]pposition to various general institutional figures and interests.’”

It would be pretty hard to make the case that President Trump is not a, “general institutional figure.” In fact, Harder and his staff were able to find, in short order, two references to Trump in current campaign statements, one of which was written by David Min, a Professor of Law at UC Irvine. Min is running for congress in California Congressional District 45.

Min’s campaign statement included the words, “I’ll stand against President Trump’s reckless policies.” A graduate of Harvard Law School, it’s unlikely that Professor Min would leave himself open to charges he violated campaign law.

In fact, it’s almost certain that Stanislaus County would lose in court if challenged on its interpretation of the election code. Harder, like most any candidate, chose not to spend time and energy on a legal protest, but the Registrar’s Office is clearly vulnerable here.

In the famous Supreme Court case, Sullivan vs the New York Times, Justice William Brennan wrote, political speech “should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open.” Under Stanislaus County’s interpretation of Elections Code, political speech in campaign statements is repressed, feeble, and hermetically sealed.

Moreover, as it’s now interpreted, Stanislaus County’s campaign statement policy isn’t just illegal, it favors incumbents. As late as February 27, the campaign for California’s Congressional District 10 was widely viewed as a toss-up. Prohibiting campaign statements that mention Donald Trump, an unpopular Republican President, favors incumbent Republicans. If the situation were reversed, an incumbent Democrat would be favored.

Incumbents already command huge advantages in most any election. They shouldn’t be assisted by a misreading of election codes, and candidates shouldn’t be forced to abide by clearly illegal restrictions on their campaign statements.

Though late in the game, the Stanislaus County Registrar’s Office should review and change its policy on campaign statements so that it follows Elections Code guidelines. As the policy stands now, it’s vulnerable to a potentially embarrassing lawsuit, and an even more serious charge of favoritism for the status quo.

 

Filed Under: Featured, Politics Tagged With: CA-10 congressional race, Congressman Jeff Denham, Josh Harder for congress

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mike Barkley says

    March 15, 2018 at 4:56 pm

    So will he have a candidate statement or not? –mike

    Reply
    • Eric Caine says

      March 15, 2018 at 6:08 pm

      Harder revised and submitted the candidate statement.

      Reply
      • Cynthia Byrd says

        March 15, 2018 at 7:09 pm

        Excellent! Thanks for the heads up on the Registrar’s office practices. We need people looking out for the best interest of WE THE PEOPLE!!

        Reply
  2. J. N. Sbranti says

    March 17, 2018 at 9:05 pm

    Democrats need to focus on telling voters exactly what they stand for rather than fixating on who they oppose.

    Reply
    • Eric Caine says

      March 17, 2018 at 9:19 pm

      Democrats’ opposition to Donald Trump contain plenty of information about what they stand for, beginning with honesty in government, defending the nation against hostile foreign powers, and setting high moral standards. Harder used Trump’s name in connection with attempts to repeal Obamacare.

      Reply
      • Eric Caine says

        March 17, 2018 at 11:24 pm

        Whew! You kind of lost me there Sam. Not sure who you are talking about at the “head of this page.”

        Reply
  3. Odus Hall says

    March 18, 2018 at 4:00 pm

    I do Think it is important for candidates to firmly state their positions on the reckless direction of the Trump Administration and the current state of corruption that we are living thru. However it should not be the center piece of the Democratic Campaign in California 10.
    This district in its Political demographics among registered voters is much different than adjoining districts in Stockton and the East Bay and as such a campaign centered on resistance is not enough.
    Given the recent history of how voters have chosen candidates in California 10. The Democratic candidate needs to concentrate on traditional Democratic economic issues, Jobs, Health Care and particularly the lack of central planning on Transportation and Water. That’s the outreach that can bring the necessary 5 percent of California 10’s voters who have abandoned the Democrats over the last 10-15 years.

    Don’t forget the resestance! But success will come from bring back the center and maximizing the left!!

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Eric Caine Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Some comments may be held for moderation.

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

Californians: Here's why your housing costs are so high
Californians: Here’s why your housing costs are so high
Half the state’s households struggle to afford the roof over their heads. Here’s what you need to know about one of California’s most vexing issues.
calmatters.org
Las Vegas Pushes to Become First City to Ban Ornamental Grass
Las Vegas Pushes to Become First City to Ban Ornamental Grass
A desert city built on a reputation for excess and indulgence wants to become a model for restraint and conservation with a first-in-the-nation policy banning grass that nobody walks on. Las Vegas-area water officials have spent two decades trying to get people to replace thirsty greenery with desert plants, and now they’re asking the Nevada Legislature to outlaw roughly 40% of the turf that’s left. The Southern Nevada Water Authority estimates there are almost 8 square miles (21 square kilometers) of “nonfunctional turf” in the metro area, grass that no one ever walks on or otherwise uses in
www.voanews.com
Half of Republicans believe false accounts of deadly U.S. Capitol riot-Reuters/Ipsos poll
Half of Republicans believe false accounts of deadly U.S. Capitol riot-Reuters/Ipsos poll
Since the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies have pushed false and misleading accounts to downplay the event that left five dead and scores of others wounded. His supporters appear to have listened.
www.reuters.com
Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century
Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century
On a leaked conference call, leaders of dark-money groups and an aide to Mitch McConnell expressed frustration with the popularity of the legislation, even among Republican voters.
www.newyorker.com
New Zealand raises minimum wage to $20 an hour
New Zealand raises minimum wage to $20 an hour
Taxes on the richest New Zealanders are being raised
www.independent.co.uk
The Invisible Asylum | City Journal
The Invisible Asylum | City Journal
Olympia, Washington, is a microcosm of the problems created by the emptying of mental hospitals.
www.city-journal.org
California needs affordable housing. Could these bills help? | CalMatters
California needs affordable housing. Could these bills help? | CalMatters
Key legislators push duplexes, looser regulations and more money to boost housing supply.
calmatters.org
The rich-poor gap in America is obscene. So let's fix it – here's how | Bernie Sanders
The rich-poor gap in America is obscene. So let’s fix it – here’s how | Bernie Sanders
While working people toil, the richest have never have it so good. It’s time to fight back – our democracy depends on it
www.theguardian.com
Sen. Bernie Sanders' Next Progressive Frontier: Reshaping A 'Rigged' Tax System
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Next Progressive Frontier: Reshaping A ‘Rigged’ Tax System
Sanders will introduce legislation Thursday to restore the corporate tax rate to 35% and add a new progressive tax on the estates of the wealthiest Americans.
www.npr.org
Perspective | Five myths about poverty
Perspective | Five myths about poverty
No, it’s not just an inner city problem. And it’s not the result of individual failure.
www.washingtonpost.com
Los Angeles police clash with protesters in fight to evict major homeless encampment
Los Angeles police clash with protesters in fight to evict major homeless encampment
Echo Park Lake site has become a battleground in the city’s worsening housing and homelessness crisis during the pandemic
www.theguardian.com
The High Stakes in the Amazon Union Fight in Alabama - The Bulwark
The High Stakes in the Amazon Union Fight in Alabama – The Bulwark
It’s about workplace democracy, and could affect not just the tech giant’s employees but those of other firms.
thebulwark.com

Find us on Facebook

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Footer

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Subscribe for Free

* indicates required

Search

• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 The Valley Citizen

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Editor and publisher: Eric Caine

Website customization and maintenance by Susan Henley Design