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Commentary: I am the dependable conservative in Assembly race

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What does a campaign pledge mean to a candidate who has already broken a previous campaign pledge?

Early in the primary campaign, Newport Beach Councilman Keith Curry vowed that he would not take contributions from public employee unions.

Then late in the campaign, Curry confirmed that he took thousands of dollars in public employee union contributions. On May 8, the Lincoln Club of Orange County promptly rescinded its endorsement of Curry (Daily Pilot, “Lincoln Club rescinds endorsement of Curry,” May 14).

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Curry had already raised more funds than all of the other candidates combined in the race for state Assembly in the 74th District, so why did he break his pledge? Only Curry knows the answer to that question.

Spending over $330,000 on his campaign got Curry only 27.5% of the vote in the primary election, about 2.5 more points than I got. Under the new top-two rules, both of us ended up with the same result — advancement to the runoff election Nov. 4. Now that Curry has spent almost his entire campaign treasury, we are both at about an even start for the general election campaign.

According to his official campaign statement, Curry says, “I signed the no new taxes pledge.”

As President Reagan used to say, “Well, there you go again.”

Curry “reluctantly” voted to increase the infamous dock tax in Newport Beach (“Newport adjusts marina rent hikes,” Daily Pilot, Nov. 14). To his credit, Curry considers the dock tax a fee, but that doesn’t impress those who must pay the increase.

“Curry’s style of big government is bad enough here in Newport — we can’t afford it in Sacramento,” said Newport Beach Residents for Reform Chairman Bob McCaffrey (“Local PAC snubs Curry,” Daily Pilot, May 23).

How often has Curry said “no” to a proposed tax, fee or toll while on the Newport Beach City Council?

I took a pledge to oppose new taxes too. The difference is that I have a reputation as a dependable conservative (“New mayor known for strong stands,” Huntington Beach Independent, Dec. 11). I have voted against new taxes or tax increases as a trustee for the Huntington Beach Union High School District (1998 to 2010), as a Huntington Beach city councilman and now as mayor of Huntington Beach.

I have written and signed official ballot arguments against multiple proposed property tax increases and have not been able to find any record of Curry putting up any similar fight.

Does he intend to break his tax pledge too?

After signing a pledge against new taxes, Curry said he’d vote for a new mileage tax if the state were to revoke its existing gasoline taxes. During a recent candidate forum hosted by the Orange County Taxpayers Assn., Curry acknowledged that he supports a mileage tax to pay for transportation needs in California. I disagreed, countering that transportation needs should be met by making tough decisions within the constraints of existing revenue.

This fall, a lot of campaign funds will be spent trying to break the two-thirds majority of Democrats in the state Legislature. The interests that seek to increase taxes in California will be looking for Republicans like Curry.

Like so many other voters, I am tired of candidates who say one thing to get elected and then do the opposite after they take office. That motivated me to run for school board in 1998, and today it motivates me to run to represent the residents of the 74th Assembly District.

I have a record that Orange County voters can count on.

Huntington Beach Mayor MATTHEW HARPER is running for state Assembly in the 74th District, which includes sections of Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.

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