OK, we need your help here.
The House race in the CA-44 between Bill Hedrick, the Democratic challenger, and Ken Calvert, the Republican incumbent, is not over. It had been called by one of the local newspapers, but they have since rescinded their pronouncement and there are LOTS more ballots to be counted.
For those of you unfamiliar with this district, it is a gerrymandered piece of real estate that stretches from Riverside down to San Clemente, over both Riverside and Orange Counties.
More over the fold:
The district has been represented for the last 16 years by the odious Ken Calvert, a third rate back-bencher who voted with Bush and Cheney over 90% of the time, and who has been rated by CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) as one of the 20 most corrupt members of Congress. He was given a “F” by middleclass.org. I won’t even go into his arrest for soliciting a prostitute here, or his shady land deal that was voted down by the citizens of Jurupa.
This year, Bill Hedrick, a teacher and President of the Corona-Norco school board who has three children who have served in Iraq, has mounted a spirited challenge against this heavily entrenched incumbent. Bill has held over 110 coffees in supporters’ homes (including the diarist’s), and has built an incredible organization. The campaign has received some love from Democracy for America, but has pretty much been operating under the radar of the blogosphere.
Well, now Bill is within striking distance of taking this thing. He is winning in Riverside (but not Orange) County, and there are still more ballots to be counted.
The numbers as of this afternoon are:
Bill Hedrick (Dem) 85,039 48.6%
Ken Calvert (Rep) 89,679 51.4%
(I will post a breakdown of numbers by county later, but need to get back to work just now.)
Predictably, Ken Calvert’s lawyers are trying to stop the count. Here is the e-mail Bill sent to his supporters this morning:
Dear Friends and Supporters,
The only thing we know right now is that we don't know anything for sure. This race is still too close to call.
There are up to 100,000 ballots (provisional and late vote-by-mail) that have yet to be counted. That process will begin on Thursday.
The OC Register had earlier called this race for Calvert, but has since rescinded that claim and drawn the same conclusion we have - until every last vote has been counted, we will not know who has won.
As it stands now, with what has been counted, the results are:
Bill Hedrick 49%
Ken Calvert 51%
Calvert is about 4000 votes ahead of us at this point in time, but with tens of thousands of votes to count, the final result is still uncertain.
We will make an official statement on the outcome when every last vote has been counted.
If you voted on a provisional ballot (and apparently this happened a lot in Corona, Norco, and the east side of Riverside), or if you voted-by-mail, call the registrar's office and ask that every ballot be counted. We do not need a Florida-style controversy in Riverside County! We are consulting with attorneys to ensure the integrity of the voting (and counting!) process, and we will keep you posted. We have had--and will continue to have--observers in Riverside and Santa Ana as the ballot verification continues.
Thank you all for your unwavering support throughout this election. Win or lose, this race is incredibly tight--the most competitive challenge in Southern California. We hope we can count on your support for Hedrick for Congress 2010!
We will keep you posted as events unfold Thursday!
Bill Hedrick
ACTION!!
Here’s what you can do:
- If you live in Riverside County, please call the Riverside County Registrar of Voters (951-486-7200) and ask that all ballots be counted.
- If you live in Riverside County and voted using a mail-in ballot, please go to this website to find out whether it has been counted. If not, call the Registrar (951-486-7200) and ask why not.
- If you don’t live in Riverside County, please consider making a donation to Bill so he can pay the lawyers. I know we’ve all been digging deep, but we are within striking distance. Any amount, no matter how small, will help.
To our great joy, Riverside County went for Obama this year. The tide is turning in the Inland Empire and we need your help to send Bill to Congress, so we have someone who will truly represent our interests. The Inland Empire was one of the fastest-growing regions of the country until the housing bubble burst. Now, we lead the country in foreclosures. The citizens of Riverside County desperately need a representative who will look out for them, and not their own selfish (not to mention illegal) interests.