WILL BILL THOMAS RUN FOR CONGRESS?
All eyes are on the Registrar of Voters in Kern County these days as much speculation swirls about
whether long-time moderate GOP Congressman Bill Thomas (pictured to the right) will decide to retire at the end of this term or not. For a while, it was really being talked about as a likely scenario, as Thomas’ seat as Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee must be surrendered at the end of this session due to the House "3-term limit" on Committee Chairmanships (part of the Gingrich-era reforms). Most are of the opinion that Thomas’ retirement couldn’t come soon enough. The mercurial Congressman has long championed the election of liberal Republicans and has a decades-long track record of divisive politics. He also has quite a temper, which has been exhibited in public many-a-time. He also has used his position as head of the House’s chief spending panel to push a disproportionate amount of pork to his district, making him a poor-poster child for needed House reforms in the light of the Abramoff scandal.
That said, in the recent close battle for House Majority Leader, Thomas weighed in at the last minute for the ultimate victor, Representative John Boehner of Ohio, and because of his key speech for Boehner in the cloistered GOP caucus, speculation on Thomas’ retirement turned to a presumptive additional term – as it looked like Thomas may be positioned to slide to another key chairmanship (Budget Committee was rumored).
In recent weeks, though, the pendulum has swung as it has looked more like Thomas’ dreams of still holding a gavel likely won’t become reality (let’s just say popularity is not Thomas’ strong suit). Add to this that it is no secret that Thomas would very much like his safe GOP House seat to be occupied by his protégé, Kevin McCarthy, when he leaves Congress. That being the case, McCarthy’s opponent for such a House race would likely be popular Kern County State Senator Roy Ashburn. Ashburn, however, is up for re-election this year for his State Senate seat, and that makes this year an attractive one for ‘passing the baton’ – Ashburn wouldn’t have a free ride.
KEVIN MCCARTHY
I should take a moment to say that the FR has been pretty impressed with Kevin McCarthy’s (pictured) 
leadership of Assembly Republicans — especially with his work to unify GOP Assembly members against a massive infrastructure general obligation bond. Ironically here, the biggest challenge to the FlashReport’s ability to get super-enthusiastic about McCarthy is a trait that we are forced to admire – loyalty. But in this case, we hope that Kevin takes a lesson from Darth Vader, who for years was the sycophant of the evil Emperor Palpatine (insert Bill Thomas into this role for our analogy). Vader, of course, saw that he was serving evil only in his final hours, turning to good for one important kind act before the end of his life. McCarthy, of course, has the opportunity to "feel the force" now, and cut the umbilical chord from Thomas, or as we call him, the "King of Pork" (did you know he has an AIRPORT TERMINAL being named after him in Bakersfield? Good grief.).
What happens if Thomas (pictured this time as the evil Emperor from the Star Wars movies) decides to retire and McCarthy, as expected, runs for Congress? That is a good question, and apparently one that McCarthy himself doesn’t have the answer for. So our sources tell us that the Assembly Republican Leader started asking his colleagues that question – calling around and acknowledging that it is possible that he may be a candidate for Congress, and if so, how long should he stay on as leader? McCarthy, sources say, would like to stay on long enough to lead the caucus through the machinations of the bond-debate, and maybe even the budget. How that all turns out we don’t know, but there are certainly "domino" implications.
THE AGGRESSIVE MIMI WALTERS
"I think Kevin has been a great leader and I completely support him," said Assemblywoman Mimi 
Walters(pictured) to me on the phone last night. I called her after hearing rumors that in the wake of McCarthy’s calls, she had already started circulating a letter for support in a bid to succeed him. I asked her if she was circulating a letter, and she said that it, "wasn’t quite accurate" to say that. Rather than push it (sorry, readers, Mimi is a friend), we let it lie with this statement from Walters, "If McCarthy runs for Congress and steps down as leader, I am definitely running for the position."
That said, we hear that there are a few other members of the GOP caucus with eyes on the top spot – these include Rick Keene for sure, and George Plescia. Also bandied about is the desire of Greg Aghazarian for the post. I suppose you now have to add Van Tran to the mix, with his decision last night not to run for the State Senate.
We will see how this plays out as the "King of Pork" decides whether to hang up his hat. Until then, as I said, all eyes will be on the Kern County Registrar of Voters’ office where, according to FR sources, Thomas has yet to file for Congress, and McCarthy has yet to return papers for re-election.
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