Thread: CA. Birther takes bigger lead in judge race

ELECTION: Birther takes bigger lead in judge race

4 minutes ago • By TERI FIGUEROA tfigueroa@nctimes.com

With 4,000 votes left to count, a controversial Ramona attorney known for taking up conservative causes had a 1,088-vote lead over his opponent, a veteran prosecutor, according to numbers elections officials released Friday afternoon.

Ramona attorney Gary Kreep, a birther, had garnered 201,238 votes counted as of Friday. His opponent, Garland Peed, had tallied 200,150 of the votes counted.

The percentage breakdown: Kreep with 50.14 percent, Peed with 49.86 percent.

Judicial races are rarely high-profile, but Kreep's potential win has grabbed some national media attention, including from MSNBC's Rachal Maddow, who blogged about the race.

Kreep is the founder of the United States Justice Foundation, which takes on conservative causes, including a case challenging President Obama's birth in the U.S. He also represented a Marine booted from the service after he made anti-Obama statements on a quasi-military social media site, and has represented members of the Minutemen.

Peed has been a prosecutor with the district attorney's office for 27 years, and was once the head of the gang prosecutions unit in North County.

ELECTION: Birther takes bigger lead in judge race

Gary Kreep Says His ‘Birther’ Positions Do Not Relate To Being A Judge

Wednesday, June 20, 2012
By Maureen Cavanaugh, Joanne Faryon, Patty Lane, Claire Trageser

Above: Gary Kreep,who appears to have won the race for a San Diego County Superior Court Judge seat, talks to KPBS.

A discussion on how much voters know about candidates before they cast their votes.

Aired 6/20/12

Guests:
Former San Diego County District Attorney Paul Pfingst ,Carl Luna, Professor of political science, Mesa College

Transcript

Gary Kreep, who appears to have won the race for a San Diego County Superior Court Judge seat, caught national attention recently for his belief that President Barack Obama's birth certificate is fake.

After Obama's inauguration, Kreep took on a so-called "birther" lawsuit demanding proof of Obama's birth certificate. He is also currently suing the California Secretary of State, demanding she verify citizenship of all candidates before they appear on the November ballot.

But Kreep did not include this information in his description on the sample ballot. He told KPBS' "Evening Edition" the information wasn't relevant.

"What's that got to do with being a judge?" he asked.

He called the San Diego County Bar Association "bigoted" and said his stance on other issues led the association to state he is "lacking qualifications" to be a judge.

"They did it on the basis that you can't be pro-life and you can't oppose same-sex marriage and be a judge, that's what they told me," Kreep said. "That's a religiously bigoted statement, which will be further investigated by me, and I'm going to move forward on that because that is discrimination."

Kreep said he was going to take action against the bar association.

He added that he did not think including his stance on Obama's citizenship in the sample ballot would have affected the election because supporters of his opponent, Garland Peed, sent out emails detailing Kreep's positions.

"So obviously it must not have had too much of an impact," he said.

Most media organizations, with the exception of the alternative weekly San Diego CityBeat, did not cover Kreep or his positions before the election.

Although there was snickering about the two names in the race, Kreep and Peed, Kreep said he did not think names had any impact. He said voters do not randomly choose candidates based on their names.

"That type of thought is exemplified by people like Rachel Maddow and that OB Rag or whatever it is that said today my election is the reason why people shouldn't be allowed to vote for judges," he said. "The liberal elitist establishment believes that the common people are too stupid to make the decisions, that's why they want to have people like Mr. Obama in the White House who rules by executive decree and executive order rather than dealing with the legislative process."

Kreep said he is merely asking President Obama to do what every other president has been required to do: prove he's a citizen.

Kreep said earlier this year, the governor of Hawaii announced he was going to produce Obama's birth certificate.

"To prove to everybody, to get rid of all those crazy birthers," Kreep said. "Then he announced that he didn't have it. All of a sudden, three months later, the state of Hawaii has it!"

Kreep said he was told his judge seat would handle family law cases, but "I've also been told by people inside that I'm going to be punished for daring to take on the favorite golden boy of certain leaders in the judicial branch of the government."

The "golden boy" Kreep referred to was his opponent, Garland Peed.

Kreep said he was told he will be punished, which means handling small claims and traffic court.

"If that's what I'm assigned, I'll do the very best job I can," he said.
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Gary Kreep Says His 'Birther' Positions Do Not Relate To Being A Judge | KPBS.org