August 10, 2012 | 1:46 pm

Berman or Sherman? No thanks, says Valley Republican group

Posted by Jonah Lowenfeld

Follow JewishJournal.com on

The San Fernando Valley Republican Club (SFVRC) has decided not to endorse either Rep. Brad Sherman or Rep. Howard Berman, the two Democratic incumbents who will face off in November in the hotly contested and closely watched race to represent the newly redrawn 30th Congressional district.

At a meeting on August 7, the members of the organization voted “overwhelmingly” in favor of a resolution not to endorse either candidate. According to a release, the resolution’s text cited a lack of support on the part of both candidates for “conservative principles” like limited government and lower taxes.

“The San Fernando Valley Republican Club commends both Cong. Berman and Cong. Sherman on their strong support for Israel, but the SFVRC will take no position in the congressional race,” said President Gary Aminoff in a release. “It would not be possible for Republicans who believe in conservative principles to be able to support either candidate in good conscience.”

The SFVRC vote shouldn’t come as a big surprise, particularly to readers of this blog. Aminoff, who is also vice chair of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County, told The Journal in June that the county party would not be making any recommendations in the race, preferring to allow individual republicans to decide for themselves which candidate to support.

One quarter of the district’s registered voters are Republicans, and both the Berman and Sherman campaigns are making efforts to win endorsements from individual Republicans, even though, according to Aminoff, members of the party’s central committee can be removed from their positions for endorsing or recommending a candidate who is not a member of the Republican party.

Will Republicans just take a pass on this race between two liberal Democrats? Unclear, but even if the party’s official clubs decline to take a side, there are murmurings among some highly placed Jewish republicans – all off the record at this point—about wanting to organize a debate where the candidates might address their issues.