Former intern plans to challenge Denham

Josh Harder, a 30-yearold venture capital investor who recently moved home to Turlock, announced last week that he’s running against Central Valley Congressman

Jeff Denham, R-Madera. The district voted for presidential candidate Hillary

Clinton by three percentage points in the November election, and Denham is a major target of national Democrats.

Harder’s campaign got its first big campaign issue when Denham — like California’s 13 other Republican congressional representatives — voted on Thursday for the American Health Care Act, the Republican bill to repeal and replace “Obamacare.”

“I think this bill is ludicrous; it’s cruel,” Harder said. “The fact Jeff Denham voted for it shows how out of touch he is with the district.”

About 40 percent of the people in the district — California’s 10th — are on Medi-Cal, according to a UC Berkeley study, and they could face cuts under the Republican bill. “I think it’s going to fire people up pretty significantly,” Harder said.

In addition to health care, Harder said he’s also planning to focus on economic development and water rights.

Angry Democrats next door in the Bay Area could be a powerful organizing force. But “what excites me most is the energy I see locally,” Harder said, noting that about 1,000 people from the district showed up at a fiery town hall meeting that Denham hosted last month.

Harder has degrees from Stanford, Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He’s a vice president at the venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners; he’s in the process of leaving the company to campaign full time. And his connections to Silicon Valley could be a fundraising boon.

There’s likely to be Democratic competition in the 2018 primary. Michael

Eggman, a farmer and beekeeper who lost to Denham last year by about 5 percent, has not yet announced whether he’s running again.

While he hasn’t run for office in the past, Harder interned for Denham while he was in high school and Denham was in the state Senate.

“He’s a good guy,” Harder said of the incumbent, “I just think he’s been pushed more and more to the right over the last 20 years.”

A Denham spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.