Professor declares bid for Assembly
BY JAMES BURGER, Californian staff writer jburger@bakersfield.com
Dr. Harold Pease is building his campaign for the 32nd Assembly District seat around a single theme: his belief in liberty.
"Somebody bold must stand up to say we're losing our liberty in big gulps," he said Monday while announcing his candidacy at the Liberty Bell in downtown Bakersfield.
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Alex Horvath / The Californian With family and supports Dr. Harold Pease, a Taft college professor announces his run for Jean Fuller's Assembly seat in front of the Liberty Bell.
Pease, a Republican, spoke at length about the "avalanche" of new rules descending on U.S. citizens and presented himself as an independent voice for a return to the principles of the nation's founding fathers.
If he came off a bit professorial, it's because he's been a professor for three decades -- which he said has prepared him to understand exactly what's needed to repair America.
"I'm not a socialist. I have the answers. I've been teaching freedom for 30 years," said the 62-year-old Pease, who teaches at Taft College.
Pease said he won't run, though, if incumbent Assemblywoman Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield, runs for re-election. He said he might look at state Senate, then.
Fuller hasn't revealed whether she will step down, run for a final term or try for state Senate.
If Pease does run for Assembly, he could face Kern High School District Trustee and California Republican Assembly President Ken Mettler and psychologist and Bakersfield Planning Commissioner Dean Haddock, a client of Republican power-broker Mark Abernathy.
Virginia McClellan-Rodriguez is the only declared candidate for the Democratic primary.
Pease said he has talked to Abernathy about his candidacy and has been encouraged to run by members of the Central Valley and local Tea Party organizations.
Bill Lind of the Bakersfield/Kern County Tea Party Patriots said he was not aware that anyone from the local or state Tea Party leadership had encouraged Pease's candidacy.
"I didn't encourage him to run," Lind said, adding that the organization is not opposed to Pease's candidacy.
Pease would not specify who from the Tea Party group endorsed his run, instead saying the group's support was obvious since it asked him to be a keynote speaker at two major south valley Tea Party events -- including the main event in Bakersfield.
Pease said he has not hired Abernathy -- or any other campaign consultant -- to shepherd his campaign.
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