GOP Candidates Sue Over Lost Primaries

Three unsuccessful Republican candidates for the state Assembly, including two from Orange County, will argue in Sacramento next week that the March primary was tainted by votes of Democrats and independents--and that they should be declared winners of their contests.

Jim Righeimer, a Republican real estate manager from Fountain Valley; Bruce Matthias, a former race track executive from Anaheim Hills; and Bob DeMallie of San Bernardino separately filed lawsuits this week in Sacramento County Superior Court, challenging the outcome of their primaries.

The three decided to challenge the March 7 election results after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that California’s blanket primary was unconstitutional.

The high court said only party members should participate in the selection of a party nominee. Under current California law, any voter can cast a ballot in a party’s primary, not just members of the party.

While the three men failed to win the most votes in their races, they collected more Republican votes than their opponents. For instance, Righeimer received 2,837 more Republican votes than Tom Harman, a Huntington Beach City Council member who won the most votes, according to an unofficial recount by the Orange County registrar of voters.

Matthias collected 1,330 more Republican votes than Lynn Daucher, a Brea City Council member who won the primary.

The lawsuits, partially funded by the state and county Republican Party, name state and county elections officials, Bill Jones, California’s secretary of state, and Rosalyn Lever, Orange County’s registrar of voters, as defendants.

The two sides will argue their cases Tuesday before Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Ronald B. Robie.

“We think our chances are very good,” Matthias said. “I would not have filed this action without the broad and strong support that I have received from the state party as well as the county party.”

While Harman and Daucher benefited from the rules that were legal at the time of the election, that matters little, Righeimer argued.

“The Supreme Court said that slavery was unconstitutional, and so you can’t go in and argue, ‘But I paid for my slave fair and square.’ Or that ‘I paid cash for my slave,’ ” Righeimer said.

Harman, the apparent winner of the 67th Assembly District Republican primary, said he is not worried that his victory will be reversed.

“There is absolutely no legal precedent for this type of action,” Harman said. “Righeimer has filed numerous frivolous lawsuits before, and I kind of put this one in that same pile.”

Harman pointed to a statement during oral arguments in April that indicated that the plaintiff in the case was not seeking to have the ruling applied retroactively. The Supreme Court opinion did not address whether the ruling should nullify any election results.

Righeimer’s lawsuit counters that the results of the March 7 election will not be officially certified until Aug. 31. That means the secretary of state would not actually be overturning an election, Righeimer said.

“All that we are asking is that they count only the Republican votes,” Righeimer said.

Matthias said he was encouraged by Justice Antonin Scalia’s words in the majority opinion:

“A single election in which the party nominee is selected by nonparty members could be enough to destroy the party,” Scalia wrote.

Said Matthias: “His words were so moving it cried out for us to go ahead and go forward with this action.”