FLASHREPORT

Orange County's Coastal State Senate 35th District is in the midst of a Special Election. There are two candidates vying for the open seat, vacated when the incumbent, John Campbell, was elected in a special election to Congress. Since the beginning of the year, the momentum in the race has all been for Dana Point Councilwoman Diane Harkey (you can click her ad on this site to find out more about her). Her opponent, Assemblyman Tom Harmon has been relatively quiet, though presumably his name identification from having represented a good chunk of this district would be pretty high. Harkey, who is quite affluent herself, has been raising money and putting out mail pieces the old fashioned way - where the campaign produces and mails them out. Harmon, who has less cash-on-hand is resorting to what is probably legal but a shady practice -- pumping out taxpayer-paid-for mail right in the midst of a special election (see the attachment). I think that this will backfire on Harmon, who can't campaign as a conservative Republican in a closely-watched primary while using confiscated tax dollars to fund his campaign. California doesn't and shouldn't have publicly financed campaigns. That includes this special election!