Duking it out on Twitter: Denham, Harder trade barbs about who's really local

Candidates hoping to represent this Valley region in Congress have taken to casting each other as the Bay Area guy.

The "no I'm not; you are" spat between incumbent Rep. Jeff Denham and challenger Josh Harder recently spilled into Twitter, a popular debate venue for some politicians.

Republican Denham has been linking Harder to San Francisco and the Bay Area in newspaper and television interviews for at least a couple of weeks. In a tweet Thursday, Denham called out Harder for "show(ing) allegiance to bay area progressives over our home: Central Valley."

Harder, a Democrat, retweeted the message with a series of his own comments, noting that Denham went to high school in Monterey and owns a Salinas-based business building plastic farm containers.

Denham coasted to a first-place finish in the June Primary with 37.5 percent of the vote, far ahead of Harder's 17.1 percent. But Democratic leaders think Denham remains vulnerable; Hillary Clinton won more votes than Donald Trump in the 10th Congressional District two years ago, and Denham's share of Primary votes dropped 10 percentage points from 2014 to 2016, and 10 more from 2016 to this year.

However, more votes this year were cast for Republicans Denham and Ted Howze (52 percent, combined) than for all six Democratic candidates (48 percent).

The 10th Congressional District covers Stanislaus County and the south part of San Joaquin County. Republican and Democratic voters are nearly evenly split.

Denham's political career began in the Bay Area. He ran for Salinas City Council in 1998, and in 2000 ran to represent Monterey County in the California Assembly, losing both times.

Denham, 50, was elected to the state Senate in 2002 representing a since-reconfigured district that then included parts of Monterey and San Benito counties and stretched to include fingers of Stanislaus, Merced and Madera counties. Eventually he moved from Monterey County to the valley.

Elected to the House in 2010, Denham years ago moved his family to the East Coast, but continues to own a Turlock home and has a small almond orchard here.

"The assertion that Jeff's not from the Valley is crazy," said Denham's chief of staff, Bret Manley.

"He's endorsed by almost every elected leader in the Valley," he added. "Jeff knows them all personally. Jeff has represented the Valley for a long time. We know all the issues, the people, the players. His kids grew up there."

If Harder cares so much about the Valley, maybe he should vote here, Manley said; Harder did not vote in the 2008 or 2012 presidential elections.

He wasn't living here then, his camp said. Although Harder grew up in Turlock and attended Modesto High School because of its baccalaureate program, he then left to study at Stanford and Harvard.

Harder, 31, bristled at Denham's referral in a TV interview to Harder's ties with San Francisco; he lived there seven months while working for a venture capital firm, moving back to Turlock in April 2017.

"The Twitter thing is frankly a little ridiculous," Harder said. "I've lived in this district far longer than Jeff Denham. The fact that I spent seven months in the Bay Area doesn't change that this (Turlock) is my home."

Harder's fliers and emails repeatedly remind readers that his family has been in the Valley for five generations. He teaches a business class at Modesto Junior College.

"We're not disputing that his grandfather might have been born in the Valley," Manley said. "He's just never done anything for the valley. He never invested a dime from his businesses in the Valley and he only moved back to run for Congress."

Harder relies on Bay Area volunteers, and campaign donations from Silicon Valley and San Francisco deep pockets, Manley said.

Harder said, "The way you show your love to a place is making sure you put constituents first, and Denham has shown time and time again that he doesn't. I'd love to move the debate from Twitter to real life. If Jeff Denham wants to show up, I'll be there."

Garth Stapley: 209-578-2390 @garthstapley1

This story was originally published June 15, 2018 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Duking it out on Twitter: Denham, Harder trade barbs about who's really local."