Mariposa, CA…Released yesterday by the Morse Campaign…”This afternoon, challenger and first-time candidate Jessica Morse and Congressman Tom McClintock faced off in their first debate for the 4th Congressional District seat. In the debate, Morse stressed her local roots as a fifth-generation Northern Californian and her commitment to fighting for the issues important to the community that raised her. As expected, career politician McClintock struggled to explain his vote to eliminate coverage for people with pre-existing conditions – a position that would negatively affect nearly 300,000 of his constituents. Further, McClintock couldn’t defend his vote against a budget bill that would’ve provided the district with funding to prevent forest fires.
A key exchange occurred during a question on McClintock’s decision to withdraw support for a visitors’ center in Mariposa County to help alleviate congestion at Yosemite National Park:
MORSE: When Congressman McClintock decided to pick winners and losers on this project, he decided Mariposa should lose.
McCLINTOCK: I will not support it.
Later in the debate, McClintock again struggled to defend his vote for the controversial tax bill that gave tax breaks to corporations and special interests at the expense of families in our community:
MORSE: That tax bill will cost us $1.8 trillion over a decade. That is a tax on your grandkids. And there was cuts to Medicare and Social Security. And what does that get us? There are millions of seniors who depend on Social Security to get by.
McCLINTOCK: She is correct, the debt continues to rise.
Numerous times, McClintock called the tax bill the “largest tax cuts of the past century,” while neglecting the fact that most of the cuts will go to corporations, special interests, and the wealthiest Americans at the expense of middle-class families in the 4th district.
Today’s debate took place at Mariposa County High School, and is currently the only confirmed debate between the two candidates.
McClintock is facing his toughest re-election test since his first race in 2008. He trailed Morse in fundraising by a more than two-to-one margin in the most recent finance quarter, taking in only $223,000 to Morse’s $543,000. Additionally, every major political prognosticator has moved the race out of the “Safe Republican” category, including Inside Elections, the Cook Political Report, UVA’s Crystal Ball, and CNN. In fact, McClintock’s 51% showing in June was the lowest total he’s ever received in a 4th district primary. Morse was also recently added to the DCCC’s Red to Blue program, which highlights the most competitive Congressional races across the country.
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About Jessica Morse
A fifth-generation Northern Californian, Jessica Morse is a daughter of the foothills. A devoted public servant, Morse spent a decade serving with the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, including over a year in Baghdad at the height of the Iraq War. She is running for office to bring public service back to politics to protect our land, healthcare, and local economy.
About the 4th District
California’s 4th District stretches from the eastern Sacramento suburbs to the Sierra foothills, including Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park. Incumbent Republican Tom McClintock won his first election by less than a point, and the GOP vote for President shrunk to 54% in 2016, more competitive than many of the areas won by Democrats in recent special elections such as those in Alabama and Pennsylvania.”
Jessica Morse was Clear Winner in CA-04 Debate According to Campaign added by admin on
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Distorted report fro a proven liar!
What are the qualifications of Jessica Morse for our seat in the U.S. House of Representatives?
The thought of a young woman who grew up here being our representative was exciting to me. Unfortunately a quick Google search reveals a disturbing portrait of a confused young person who often attempts to mislead the public, the media and even the courts.
The Sacramento Bee published a story February 20, 2018 titled “This Tom McClintock rival is stretching the truth about her resume, investigation finds.” The report revealed that Ms. Morse had made a number of outrageous claims in her written resume, fibs that were easy to investigate and disprove. She claimed to have “managed half of America’s foreign aid budget, rewrote the U.S.-India defense strategy, was an advisor to a four star admiral” while serving in the federal bureaucracy. The Bee investigation concluded that “Her claims are misleading or stretch the truth. They leave the impression that she was a senior official making sweeping U.S. foreign policy decisions. She wasn’t.”
Ms. Szumel portrays Jessica as a problem solver who will meet with people from all parties and backgrounds to solve problems. This trait was not evident in the Democrat June primary, when Jessica refused to attend meetings with fellow Democrats, and accused her main Democrat opponent of “engaging in dirty campaign tactics” when that rival pointed out the gross exaggerations in Jessica’s resume. Despite this wealth of information published by the Bee and numerous other news organizations, Jessica attempted to be listed on the legal voter ballot as a “National Security Fellow.” The ballot designation is used so voters can have an idea of a candidate’s qualifications. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steven M. Gevercer rejected Jessica’s claim, and ruled that there was no credible evidence to support her claim, saying “this title would mislead the average voter about her recent activities.” California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, a Democrat, rejected two other attempts by Jessica to list herself as a “National Security Strategist,” a “National Security Advisor,” and a “National Security Specialist.” Regina Bateson, a fellow Democratic, said “Ms. Morse’s ballot designation and alternative designations are false, misleading and violate the Elections Code.”
I was further dismayed when I read about her claims about where she was raised. She says she is “a child of the foothills,” but grew up in the Sacramento suburb of Carmichael, far from the foothills geographically and in temperament. According to the Bee, she lived in Washington, D.C. until 2015 when she moved to California and rented (not bought) a house in Pollock Pines. According to her financial disclosure report filed online with the House of Representatives, she owns a condo worth between $250,000 and $500,000 in Washington.
So how has Morse managed to live and own an expensive condo in Washington? A Democrat rival said Morse “has not worked in the area of national security since at least 2015, instead she left government employment in that year to become a self-described ‘starving artist’ and has not held compensated employment since November 2016.” Her Financial Disclosure Report shows that she holds a family trust worth tens of thousands of dollars, and holds positions in stocks worth tens of thousands of dollars more. Jessica says she won’t accept money from corporations, yet she receives thousands of dollars in dividends from General Electric, Alcoa, JP Morgan, the mining company Freeport McMoran, Citibank and the foreign banking conglomerate Banco Santander, S.A. Google Banco Santander and you will see it has been enmeshed in accusations of global financial scandal. This unearned investment and corporate dividend income amounts to about half a million dollars.
Jessica’s dishonest tendencies have carried into the general election. “Democratic challenger misleads in claim on Rep. McClintock’s record,” reads the headline on a report from Politifact. Politifact is the independent non-partisan media organization devoted to ranking claims made by politicians. Jessica’s ranking? An “F” for false on the Politifact Truth-O-Meter. In a report that ran on National Public Radio, she blamed an editor at an alternative newspaper for her statement regarding McClintock’s record.
Fellow Democrats, the media, a Judge, the Democratic California Secretary of State, and an independent political fact checking organization have all repeatedly exposed Jessica’s proclivity to mislead.
In May, the Calaveras Enterprise ran a story headlined “Answers from the candidates running for Congress.” Jessica did not respond to the questions, but Democrat primary candidate Robert Lawton did reply.
Calaveras Enterprise: Why did you decide to enter this race and what in your background has prepared you to be the best representative for this district if elected?
Lawton: I entered the race because it became clear to me that Jessica Morse, who I believe may be a pathological liar, was the frontrunner to unseat McClintock, and I believe if that’s the case, she’ll lose badly to him in the general election.
Looks like an accurate prediction!
It would be highly unusual for such a lengthy and detailed “comment” to come from any unaffiliated individual. Welcome to US politics.
Jessica Morse is the real answer to the failed policies of Tom McClintock who is just a puppet for Trump. McClintock does not even live in our District. What a joke. It’s time to retire Tom and vote in Jessica Morse who will truly represent District 4.