Now that it’s clear Republican dreams for holding the fort in California have been drowned in a Blue Wave that penetrated as far as Orange County, Stanislaus County Supervisor Kristen Olsen has already begun seeking higher ground. Like other California Republicans, Olsen is facing the prospect of a permanently stained brand, at least within her home state. And like recently defeated Congressman Jeff Denham, Olsen is blaming the Republican Party […]
Jeff Denham
Harder for the Win
Only days before the November 6 General Election, Jeff Denham was telling journalists he didn’t think his contest against challenger Josh Harder would be close. “They’ve brought in people before…,” said Denham, before trailing off. The implication was that Harder was just another outsider brought in by the Democratic Party to offer a token challenge for an incumbent most political insiders thought invincible—and for good reason. In 2016, when Hillary […]
Jeff Denham’s Bay Area Connections
A while back, Modesto Doctor C.V. Allen wrote that election time is, “a season in which truths die by the thousand, hyperbole reaches its apex and most Americans plug their ears and wait for it all to pass.” Dr. Allen was writing in response to a, “Jeff Denham hit-piece mailer suggesting Josh Harder’s health plan would ‘make you sick.’” Dr. Allen felt compelled to write because he’s among that shrinking […]
Jeff Denham’s Supporters: Analysis by Bruce Frohman
No matter what Congressman Jeff Denham says or does, the politician has a dedicated cadre of supporters who cannot and will not be swayed to vote for anyone else. They are proud of their loyalty and may defend their opinion to the point of incivility. Mr. Denham’s supporters are not deplorable. They are not evil people. They are not stupid. They have a viewpoint that they strongly believe in. They […]
Lies About Harder Nothing New for Denham*
Republican Laura Perry will never forget how Jeff Denham campaigned in the 2000 California Assembly Primary. Denham’s campaign achieved new lows even then: “They told out-and-out lies,” said Perry, who later became a Gavilan College Trustee. “It was a very dirty primary. He had no experience. He didn’t even know that a bond wasn’t a tax.” Denham’s dirty tactics surfaced again in his 2002 campaign for the 12th District’s California […]
Why Jeff Denham Wants the Twin Tunnels
Jeff Denham’s California Congressional District 10 is purple—it’s almost equally divided between red (for Republican) and blue (for Democrat) voters. But despite the almost equal balance between Republicans and Democrats in his district, Jeff Denham votes with his Republican Party 97.8% of the time. Just for comparison’s sake, consider Representative Tom McClintock, Denham’s Republican colleague in nearby District 4. Even though his district leans far more heavily Republican than Denham’s […]
Trump was, “the elephant in the room,” for Denham Event
“When he was asked about hate, the elephant in the room was the president,” said Modesto resident Ken Schroeder after Congressman Jeff Denham’s appearance at the Red Event Center in downtown Modesto on Tuesday. The event was sponsored by the Latino Community Roundtable. And even though the president’s name rarely came up during Denham’s question-and- answer session, Donald Trump’s policies hovered like a dark shadow over the entire program. In […]
Denham and Zinke: Crimes against Nature
There was a time when Ryan Zinke’s claim to be a Teddy Roosevelt Republican would have elicited laughter heard from Don Pedro Dam to Mount Rushmore. Teddy Roosevelt was one of the first and strongest ever defenders of public lands and wildlife; Donald Trump’s Secretary of the Interior might go down in history as the worst-ever enemy of those same public lands and wildlife. Consider this: Ryan Zinke has already […]
The Denham Dossier, Part I: the Immigration Shell Game
Every two years, Congressman Jeff Denham leaves his Virginia home and shows up in California to run his immigration shell and pea game. In the shell and pea game, the object is to follow the pea while it’s supposedly concealed under a shell. The scam is that the operator of the game hides the pea in his hand and only places it under a shell after a player has pointed […]
“The Future has to be bipartisan,” says UC Davis President
Michael Gofman and Matthew Wigler might seem an unlikely pair in today’s world of tribal politics, but the Republican Student Body President from UC Davis and Democrat student government senator at Stanford are working together to study seven of California’s so-called “purple” districts—congressional districts that voted for Hillary Clinton for president but also voted for a Republican congressional representative. Though they might differ on issues and answers, both Gofman and […]