Up close and personal: Fact checking Josh Harder and Tom Patti

Ben Irwin, The Record

October 21, 2022 at 5:37 PM·4 min read

Democratic Congressman Josh Harder and Republican San Joaquin County Supervisor Tom Patti engaged in a forum Thursday, Oct. 13, at The Stockton Record. The two are vying to represent most of San Joaquin County in Washington via the 9th Congressional District.

Sparks flew, and accusations were made; within hours, both candidates' campaigns had sent in fact-checks. Here's ours:

Money talks

During the conversation on political alignment, the two congressional candidates exchanged jabs about who the other has accepted money from.

Patti, 58, who said he does not support a national abortion ban — he said he’s a “non-participant in the anti-abortion narrative,” and that “it’ll be remaining legal in California, and I’m not here to get in the way of very difficult decisions that a woman and a doctor may have to make,” but fell short of clarifying his stance on abortion — denied taking any money from anti-abortion groups.

Fact check: Federal Election Commission records show Patti’s campaign accepted $1,000 from Raptor PAC — affiliated with US Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), who openly supports a 15-week national abortion ban. There is no FEC record of Patti accepting money from anti-abortion group Californians for Life, as Harder said during the debate.

SJ County Supervisor Tom Patti participates in a forum with U.S. Rep. Josh Harder, both are candidates to represent District 9 in Congress. The forum was held at The Stockton Record. CLIFFORD OTO/THE STOCKTON RECORD

Harder, 36, who said he’s pro-Roe v. Wade, said, “it’s terrifying my seven-month-old daughter is going to grow up with fewer rights than her mother and grandmother.” The Democratic congressman said he wants to see more cops on the street and denied accepting money from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York). Patti, who supports “adequate funding” for police officers, referred to AOC’s PAC as the “defund the police PAC,” and said a requirement for Harder to receive the $5,000 was to pledge to “defund the police”.

Fact check: FEC records show Harder’s campaign has accepted $5,000 from the AOC-affiliated Courage to Change PAC. A questionnaire on the PAC’s website to apply for contributions asks prospective candidates if they will pledge to vote for “public safety strategy to reduce the annual budget for law enforcement and defense spending,” and legislation that will prohibit military-grade weapons for local law enforcement agencies.

Working with both sides of the aisle

Both candidates will likely need to win swing votes in San Joaquin County to earn a seat in Washington.

(10/13/22)U.S. Representative Josh Harder participates in a debate with San Joaquin County Supervisor Tom Patti for the 9th Congressional District held at the Stockton Record offices in downtown Stockton. CLIFFORD OTO/THE STOCKTON RECORD

Harder described himself as an “independent voice for the valley,” working with Republicans to make progress on water and veterans' issues. He said he’s gotten “a lot of Republican endorsements,” and his push to end the California gas tax and opposition to the Delta Tunnel has made him unpopular in Sacramento and with some folks in Washington.

Fact check: Harder could not name any Republican politicians who've endorsed him when pressed by the moderator. On over 90 votes in Congress since Jan. 2021, FiveThirtyEight politics shows Harder has voted with President Joe Biden 100% of the time.

Patti, who’s also against the Delta Tunnel, said he has endorsements from local democrats County Supervisor Miguel Villapudua and Stockton City Councilmember Christina Fugazi.

Fact check: While Patti does have endorsements from Villapudua and Fugazi, their offices are considered non-partisan. County supervisors and city council members do not run or operate as Republicans or Democrats.

Old dirt

Halloween is nigh, and Harder and Patti went for the — sometimes manufactured — skeletons in each other's closet.

Patti claimed that Harder’s wife, Pam Harder, is an employee of the State of Virginia and is “taking jobs, economic development, and opportunity out of California to Virginia” by recruiting businesses out of California. Patti claimed she successfully moved Nestle’s headquarters out of Los Angeles to Virginia.

Fact check: Pam is the director of strategy and operations for the Virginia Office of Education Economics and has been with the state agency since May 2019, according to her LinkedIn account. However, Nestle’s $39.8 million move was announced in 2017, several years before she began her work with the state of Virginia.

When addressing inflation, Harder said Patti supported a 40% increase in the gas tax and voted to raise prescription drug prices at San Joaquin General Hospital. Harder has introduced legislation to suspend the federal gas tax and called for the same in California.

Fact check: Harder has repeatedly said and placed ads that Patti voted to raise California’s gas tax — his campaign has it on a billboard in Stockton, which Patti’s campaign has demanded Harder take down. Patti signed a letter of support for a bill to hike California gas prices by 12 cents a gallon, a 40% increase, in 2017 that was passed by voters in 2018. But he has not voted to raise the gas tax.
As for prescription drug prices, Patti voted for annual rate increases — including pharmacy costs — at the county-run San Joaquin General Hospital, a measure generally taken to adjust for inflation.

Record reporter Ben Irwin covers Stockton and San Joaquin County government. He can be reached at birwin@recordnet.com or on Twitter @B1rwin. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Election 2022 candidates forum: Fact-checking Josh Harder, Tom Patti