Three Republican Congressional candidates who were certified winners of their June 7 Primary election by the Secretary of State have been unendorsed by the California Republican Party.
“The California Republican Party’s bylaws provide that Republican candidates for certain offices are deemed endorsed following the certification of the Primary election results by the Secretary of State,” said Ellie Hockenbury, deputy executive director, and communications director with the California Republican Party. “In some circumstances, the Party will then unendorse a candidate who may not want it or if it is otherwise necessary.”
According to endorsements listed on the California Republican Party website, Mike Cargile, Omar Navarro, and Alison Hayden are omitted. All three are campaigning in deeply blue districts.
“Being unendorsed means no support,” said Cargile who is charged with defeating Democrat incumbent Norma Torres in District 35 located east of Los Angeles. “Not only no money but also no access to voter data or software canvassing software. All of that is pulled. The problem is I'm 45 days away from the mail-in ballots hitting and so I really don't have much time or energy to devote to this right now.”
Cargile believes the party eliminated him because of social media posts.
"What I'm being removed for is having my own opinion, my own thoughts, not towing the party line, and not accepting the direction they want to bring the party," he said. "They want to swing the party to the left and I staunchly oppose that."
When asked why the trio was unendorsed by a Board vote that took place in a remote meeting, Hockenbury told the Southern California Record that one Congressional candidate did not want a CAGOP endorsement.
“The California Republican Party is a place where all are respected, and we expect our candidates to extend this same courtesy to others,” Hockenbury said in an email statement. “Unfortunately, a few candidates who were deemed endorsed following the Primary fell drastically short of meeting that standard and acted in stark contrast to our Party’s core values. The CAGOP Board voted to remove their endorsements.”
The board consists of 21 directors including attorney Harmeet Dhillon, Jim Brulte, former Assemblymember representing the 63rd District, and current Assemblymember James Gallagher representing District 3.
Navarro, who is Hispanic, believes the California Republican Party may have judged him by his arrest and plea deal over a domestic issue with an ex-girlfriend.
"I'm not perfect," Navarro told the Southern California Record. "I don't have a perfect record. I have a background but I can relate to a lot of kids in the inner city who have been through the justice process. I can talk to them, and that's something they can't do. They need someone like me."
Navarro is campaigning to unseat Congresswoman Maxine Waters in the 43rd Congressional District.
"The justice system is screwed up and that's the problem with government is that it creates more problems," he said. "Limited government is the only reason I'm a Republican because I believe that the government just creates more problems."
Hayden, who is campaigning against Democrat incumbent Eric Swalwell to represent the 14th Congressional District, did not want a local endorsement.
"I wasn't really distinguishing local from state and I wasn't making a big deal about it either," she said. "I wasn't saying anything bad about the party. I just didn't want to use their endorsement. In the primary, they put up two people against me. The candidate who got the party endorsement received the least amount of votes."
Hayden received 10.3% of the votes on June 7 compared to Tom Wong who received 9.4% of the vote and Steve Iyer who received 8.9% of the vote, according to Ballotpedia.
"I've been told that I'm considered too conservative, and I don't know what that means," Hayden added. "I'm pro-life but it's not a central part of my campaign. It's a uniparty in California. It's all about controlling who goes to Congress."