Harman’s place in state Assembly race secured

Tariq Malik

Huntington Beach Councilman Tom Harman will be the Republican

candidate for the 67th District seat of the state Assembly this fall, a

federal court judge decided last week.

Judge David F. Levi threw out a lawsuit Sept. 14 against Harman filed

by Fountain Valley businessman Jim Righeimer, which questioned Harman’s

right to the candidacy.

In the March primary election, Harman won the Republican candidacy for

the district with 42,570 votes, compared to the 32,971 raised by

Righeimer. After analyzing the votes, Righeimer contested that he was the

rightful Republican candidate because he garnered the most Republican

votes.

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in July that the state’s blanket

election policy was unconstitutional, Righeimer filed the lawsuit in the

hopes of being declared the primary election winner.

“The party is who we really are, it’s what we’re all about,” Righeimer

said. “And I felt that the Republican voters here had made their choice

and owed it to them to see the whole thing through.”

The recount of Republican votes showed Harman trailed Righeimer by

2,837 votes, with his victory due to the support of Democrat and

Independent party voters.

In 1996, state voters approved Proposition 198, which allows voters to

cast ballots for any candidate, not just those in a their own political

party, in a primary election. Supreme Court justices overruled the

proposition, stating that it violated a political party’s constitutional

right of free association.

In a printed statement, Harman said the political infighting and

lawsuit was another example of the Republican Party “shooting itself in

the foot.” Now that the legal battle is over, he added, it’s time for the

party to work toward putting Republicans in state offices and the

presidency.

Harman will go up against Democrat Andy Hilbert for the Assembly seat

in November’s election.

Righeimer said he will will work to develop Proposition 226,

legislation governing campaign donations made by unions, which failed to

pass two years ago.