Race for East Bay seat marred by misinformation

A rematch is underway in California’s 8th Congressional District, pitting eight-term incumbent Democrat John Garamendi against Republican Rudy Resile, a former U.S. Army major and former Department of Agriculture official.

The candidates are vying to represent residents of Contra Costa and Solano counties, including the cities of Vallejo, Fairfield, Richmond and parts of Martinez.

Garamendi, 79, has had a political career spanning nearly five decades, beginning with his election to the California State Legislature in 1974. He then served four terms in the State Senate, two consecutive terms as California Insurance Commissioner, and was appointed Under Secretary of the Interior by President Bill Clinton in 1995.

Two years after being elected lieutenant governor in 2007, Garamendi won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he currently represents voters in Contra Costa and Solano counties. He co-sponsored 66 bills that became laws and was a strong advocate for stronger environmental protections, affordable health care, and American manufacturing.

Perhaps the biggest electoral hurdle for 79-year-old Garamendi came in July, after he was diagnosed with rare blood cancer and began chemoimmunotherapy in Sacramento. He did not respond to requests for an interview from this publication, but told the Times Herald that “experience matters.”

“My 15 years in Congress have given me the knowledge, experience and opportunity to bring to my district the benefits of existing legislation and additional legislation that I can advance,” Garamendi said.

Recile, 56, a Vallejo resident, faces an uphill battle in the historically blue district he unsuccessfully ran for in 2022 after 76% of voters backed Garamendi. Its success may be further jeopardized by its history of spreading misinformation. rhetoric repeated by former President Donald Trumpwho Resil says he is voting for in this election.

“I believe in (Trump’s) policies and the results he gave us while he was in office,” Resil said, although he acknowledged that he was initially “going to give (the news organization) a different answer.”

After reading the reasons why Trump was charged with 88 felonies and twice impeached, he said that “a man should be able to make his own decision and determine whether it was a sham or not.”

Resil dismissed concerns about Trump’s connection to Project 2025, saying that “if there is something wrong with the policies there, then the three branches of government should determine what should be accepted and what should not be accepted.”

So why should voters support Resil in the upcoming elections?

“(Politicians) must represent the soul and intentions of the community,” Resil said. “No matter what party you belong to, I believe that 80% of us can find common ground on almost everything.”

But Resil could not find a stable point of view on the reality of numerous current events.

He said he was concerned that federal officials were suppressing Americans’ constitutional freedoms, arguing that John Kerry, a former U.S. senator and secretary of state, wants to amend or “get rid of the First Amendment.” However, Kerry’s comments specifically mentioned the First Amendment. as a “major obstacle” to combating disinformation and achieving consensus on democracy, especially as tech companies and social media have “to a certain extent gutted” the “arbiters we used to determine what is fact and what is is not a fact.”

Resil also repeated false claims that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg closed airspace in areas devastated by Hurricane Helen because, he said, “they think the federal government should have more control when there are people trying to fly drones to help find people.” help local authorities.”

However, the federal agency quickly clarified that temporary flight restrictionswhich were requested by local authorities and law enforcement were canceled shortly after the hurricane made landfall, and The FAA does not block legal rescue and recovery flights. Buttigieg responded directly to Elon Musk’s false statements to X: “If you have any problems, call me.”

If elected, Resil said he wants to amend existing federal law to help state and local officials crack down on criminal activity, citing in particular the California Project 47which reclassified some nonviolent crimes as misdemeanors in 2014 and has since been linked to ‘modest rise’ in property crimesuch as theft, car theft and other offenses.

Resil also argues that crime rates across all categories have risen sharply, arguing that FBI statistics reporting otherwise are skewed because businesses and law enforcement agencies do not report all crimes to avoid potentially costly insurance fines.

One of his proposed solutions is to create special protection districts that would contract and license private security companies to work with local police. Just as gated community guards have patrol and detention powers, Resil proposed tax incentives for businesses that create a pilot “opt-in” program for residential neighborhoods that would be funded by individual voting precincts.

In addition, the Republican candidate said he would work on legislation aimed at supporting economic growth, such as a 20 percent tax break for property owners who redevelop vacant properties into new businesses, as well as expanding services for military personnel. who took early retirement due to disability or injury.

Explaining his focus on resources for veterans, Resil said he is concerned that migrants are displacing veterans from government-funded housing. He was unable to provide specific details or evidence for this claim, which was debunked May 2023 after reporters confirmed that a veterans advocacy group had recruited a group of homeless people to pose as expelled veterans.

However, Resil remains confident that he is the best candidate for Congress to represent the 8th District.

“Without (faith, family and freedom), how can someone make a decision that will ethically affect all of their constituents in their district?” – said Resil. “If we don’t protect our constitutional and God-given rights, we will lose our country.”

Originally published: October 30, 2024 6:04 PDT