Democratic Rep. Josh Harder defeats GOP challenger in Central Valley district
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Democratic U.S. Rep. Josh Harder defeated Republican incumbent Michael Bonaite in a California Republican runoff election Sunday, with the outcome likely to put more Democratic seats in the U.S. House and Senate in play in 2016.
Harder (Watsonville) beat Bonaite (Auburn), who raised the most money for the campaign, but trailed in the polls in recent weeks as he and President Barack Obama clashed over the federal budget and immigration policy.
He was endorsed by Obama and former Vice PresidentAl Gore, an outspoken critics of Harder who urged his supporters to back the Democrat.
“As a party and country, we have an obligation to get the president’s agenda done, but we also have an obligation to stand-up for a values-based immigration system that is secure and respectful of all people who come to our country,” Gore said in a statement Monday night.
Bonaite, who represented the eastern San Joaquin Valley in Congress for 10 years, struggled to raise money in his campaign, and did not campaign at all in the final day of the race.
“This is the one race in the country that I never thought was really in danger, and I’m grateful. I’m elated,” Harder said after the vote.
Harder ran in the Central Valley’s 8th congressional district after a competitive race in 2012, when he defeated Republican incumbent Dan Lungren in the Republican primary. Harder’s support of abortion rights and gun rights made him an unlikely candidate for office, but he still cruised to victory in the six-candidate primary against conservative challengers, including a pastor who made it part of his campaign platform that homosexuality isn’t natural.
However, he was stunned by the strength of his opponent during the general election.
Harder has worked as a lawyer in Southern California and has run for public office before. He was a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010 before losing to Democrat Barbara Boxer.
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