Bay Area GOP candidate denies Holocaust, campaigns on anti-Semitism

Richard Seaver walks to his polling place to cast his vote in the California special election Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2005, in Los Angeles. California voters go went to the polls Tuesday to decide the fate of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ballot proposals. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) less Richard Seaver walks to his polling place to cast his vote in the California special election Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2005, in Los Angeles. California voters go went to the polls Tuesday to decide the fate of Gov. ... more Photo: NICK UT / AP Photo: NICK UT / AP Image 1 of / 22 Caption Close Bay Area GOP candidate denies Holocaust, campaigns on anti-Semitism 1 / 22 Back to Gallery

The Republican candidate running to unseat the congressman who represents much of Contra Costa County is a Holocaust denier whose campaign website contains anti-Semitic and racist writings.

The California Republican Party says it wants nothing to do with its standard bearer in the 11th Congressional District, small-business owner John Fitzgerald. He received 23 percent of the vote in the June primary to qualify for the November general election, where his opponent will be Democratic Rep. Mark DeSaulnier of Concord.

“We reject John Fitzgerald’s campaign and encourage all voters to do the same,” said state party chairman Jim Brulte. His “views have no home in the Republican Party. California Republicans reject anti-Semitism, and all forms of religious bigotry, in the harshest terms possible.’’

Fitzgerald, on his campaign website, espouses a series of anti-Semitic lies, including that Jews exploited the 9/11 attacks, that they control the U.S. media and banks, that they seek to dilute races and that the extermination of 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany was made up. The material was first reported by the website Media Matters.

Fitzgerald finished ahead of two other candidates in the primary to advance past the top-two primary. He was 45 points behind DeSaulnier, who is seeking his second full term in the district that ranges from Richmond down to Danville and out to Antioch. Fitzgerald ended up with 36,279 votes.

State Republican Party spokesman Matt Fleming said that’s probably because Fitzgerald had an “R” next to his name — he was the only Republican on the ballot.

“Anyone who submits the paperwork can run as a Republican,” Fleming said.

DeSaulnier, like the Republican Party, is doing his best to ignore Fitzgerald. His website makes no mention of Fitzgerald. He has agreed to no debates.

“He’s an angry guy,” DeSaulnier said. “I have no plans to meet. The level of ugliness of his platform — you consider the source.”

DeSaulnier agreed that Fitzgerald made it past the primary “because people vote ‘R’ (Republican) or ‘D’ (Democrat).”

“Nobody’s vetting this guy,” the congressman said. “That’s how a guy like Fitzgerald wins the primary.”

Fitzgerald has appealed to supporters on his Facebook page to pressure DeSaulnier to debate.

“Sadly, there is no law forcing him to!” Fitzgerald wrote. “Please help me try to change this scenario by at least shaming him into having to debate me.”

Since the primary, Fitzgerald has appeared on neo-Nazi websites and radio programs, repeating slurs including that Israel was behind the Sept. 11 attacks and that the Holocaust was an “absolute fabricated lie.” He did not return a phone call Friday seeking comment.

Fitzgerald, from Concord, ran for Congress in 2010 and 2012 as a Democrat, but did not advance beyond the primary. He received 7,067 votes in 2010 and 9,092 votes in 2012, losing both times to Democratic incumbent George Miller.

He is among a handful of neo-Nazis and racists running for office in states including Illinois, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Iowa, Virginia and New Jersey.

DeSaulnier said Fitzgerald is part of a bigger problem.

“It’s not surprising to have a candidate like this when we have a president who speaks the way he does,” DeSaulnier said. “Being bigoted and espousing things unethical and immoral. We have a president who espouses things unethical and immoral.”

Republican spokesman Fleming denied a “correlation between Trump and Fitzgerald,” but said it was “good politics on (DeSaulnier’s) part to invoke the president.”

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com