David Harmer, waiting to see if he is the new Republican congressman in California’s 11th congressional district, writes in on the phenomenon of third-party candidates costing the GOP wins:

Jim, in my race, McNerney and I are tied at 47.5% each, with a conservative (but clueless) independent taking 5% of the vote. Many absentee and provisional ballots remain to be counted, and I remain confident of ultimate victory. But without the third-party candidate, I would have won last night.
I was a fellow at Heritage, published by Cato, attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, counsel to Hatch on Senate Judiciary. The third-party guy is an electrician with no policy experience. I defy anyone to explain how a vote for him advanced the libertarian, conservative, or constitutionalist causes.

In this case, the electrician’s efforts have failed to illuminate.