G. Schmitz, and Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce president Ted Bruinsma. Wilson was the eventual victor and went on to defeat the Democratic candidate, then-Governor Jerry Brown, in the general election According to Paul Findley, McCloskey was hounded by the Anti-Defamation League, both during his political career and when he retired to private practice as a lawyer, for his outspoken views on Israel's attitude to Palestinians and on the Israel Lobby. 2006 run for Congress On January 23, 2006, McCloskey announced at a press conference in Lodi, California, that he would return to the political arena by running against seven-term incumbent Republican Richard Pombo in the Republican Party for California's 11th congressional district. Earlier in the year, he formed a group called the "Revolt of the Elders" to recruit a viable primary candidate to run against Pombo. McCloskey's aging campaign bus sported the slogan "Restore Ethics to Congress." McCloskey said, "Congressmen are like diapers. You need to change them often, and for the same reason." McCloskey was endorsed in the Republican Party primary by the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times. In the June 6, 2006, primary, McCloskey was defeated by Pombo, receiving 32 percent of the vote. On July 24, 2006, McCloskey endorsed Jerry McNerney, a Democrat who would go on to unseat Pombo in the 2006 midterm elections. McCloskey spent most of Election Night at McNerney's victory party. The Sierra Club recognized McCloskey for helping to unseat Pombo with their 2006 Edgar Wayburn Award. IHR/Holocaust controversy During the 2006 primary campaign there was controversy over what McCloskey allegedly said about the Holocaust during his keynote address, titled “The Machinations of the Anti-Defamation League”, to the May 2000 Institute for Historical Review conference. According to the San Jose Mercury News, McCloskey said at the time, "I don't know whether you are right or wrong about the Holocaust," and he referred to the "so-called Holocaust". McCloskey replied "that he has never questioned the existence of the Holocaust, and the 2000 quote referred to a debate over the number of people killed." McCloskey said in an interview with the Contra Costa Times on January 18, 2006 that the IHR transcript of his speech had been inaccurate. Journalist Mark Hertsgaard of The Nation, in response to criticism of McCloskey following an article about the candidate's 2006 campaign, stated that a videotape he had viewed of McCloskey's speech to the IHR