I’m probably too close to this thing for my own good. So be it.
I was on the ground with Steve Baldwin in 1988 in a spirited attempt against Steve Peace (old 80th AD), then when Willie Brown clean-clocked Baldwin in ’92, electing Democrat and future felon Tom Connolly in a four point GOP seat. In 1994, against the best sentiments of Rob Hurtt and others, Baldwin ran again and knocked off Connolly, with a bit of help via Tom’s penchant for 14-year-old prostitutes. We felt vindicated. We were vindicated. Heck, Steve even got to chair Assembly Education for about … what was it, six months?
Six years later Steve and I (and many from the Baldwin team) worked hard for Jay La Suer, a conservative stalwart that I am proud to have served alongside for 10 years as a La Mesa councilman. Although others ran in that 2000 GOP primary, no one could match J
ay’s law enforcement and military background. With Joe Justin consulting, and Steve and Duncan Hunter raising money for Jay, the general election ended up a cakewalk against a Democrat that not even the Dem leadership wanted to waste their money backing.
Jay hired me as district chief of staff. The 2001-02 reapportionment followed, and after the boss got in leadership’s face during late night shenanigans over the shape of Wyland/Zettel/La Suer districts, the 77th went from a three point and dwindling GOP advantage to 14 points with a bullet. It’s now more than 16 points, a silver platter to this year’s primary winner.
From my personal perspective, that’s where many of the political alliances that were developed among several hard-working folks for the better part of 15 years simply ended. In this year’s five-way 77th AD GOP primary, Jay La Suer is supporting Debbie Beyer as his successor. Steve Baldwin is supporting Joel Anderson.
Whatever led the last two 77th assemblymen to reach their respective, personal decisions about two clearly conservative candidates in this year’s race, I respect.
When people tell me they have a dilemma in the 77th AD, I laugh. Joel Anderson was my college roommate, as well as the best man in my wedding. Steve Baldwin was in my wedding. Both were instrumental in my first campaigns for office. These guys are my friends and allies, comrades in arms, and have been for many years.
Ironically, I actually ran against Jay La Suer for city council in 1990 (we both were elected), perhaps because we didn’t know each other. It only took about two weeks for us to realize we were philosophically in tune. I not only served with him for a decade, allied in many causes, I ended up working for him 3-1/2 years. He too is my friend.
Some have asked me how I can decide between two friends. The answer is simple: Jay La Suer is not running against Joel Anderson. I owe much to both of them, but only one is a candidate for State Assembly.
It is exactly because of our long relationship that I know Joel Anderson will stand up and do the right thing in the belly of the beast. I not only trust him to represent the citizens of the district and my values in Sacramento, but I have also seen him under fire…many times. I believe we need his leadership, his energy, his passion, and his political skills in Sacramento. He has a great vision for creating a true political vehicle in East County and the rest of San Diego, much like Mark Wyland has done over the years in North County. He works harder than any candidate I’ve seen…and that won’t stop as a legislator.
Fellow FR correspondent Joe Justin rightfully takes a poke at what he might refer to as the “insert inane FlashReport disclosure statement here,” for those instances on this blog where we feel the need to be fully open about our clients, our friends, or those we have endorsed. Inane or not, consider the ten paragraphs above mine.
As I post about the 77th AD race in the weeks ahead, I will do no such disclosure again. I needed to get it off my chest, and now I’m done. Call it a personal “emptying of my bucket.”
With that said, there are five GOP candidates in the 77th. Following is a cursory low-down. Where information such as endorsements could not be determined because the candidate’s website wasn’t located via Google/Yahoo, or the consultant didn’t respond to a request (neither one my fault, folks!), I’ll add the information later:
Joel Anderson
Background: Businessman, President of the Padre Dam Municipal Water District
Consultant: Jim Nygren
Cash on Hand – 12/31/05: $117,576
Contributions Last Period: $46,068
Cash on Hand – 3/17/06: $141,748
Loans to Campaign: $20,000
Endorsements: Steve Baldwin, Tom McClintock, National Tax Limitation Committee, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, CRA
Cursory Opinion: Number of smaller donors likely equates to grassroots.
Only Candidate…to qualify with 100% in-lieus, including 1,500 signatures.
Legitimate Question: Does a water board member have as much credibility as a councilmember?
Nancy Beecham
Background: Businesswoman, Registered Nurse, 2002 State Controller Candidate
Consultant: Coronado Communications
Cash on Hand – 12/31/05: $132,611
Contributions Last Period: $35,450
Cash on Hand – 3/17/06: $147,373
Loans to Campaign: $100,000
Endorsements: Shirley Horton, California Congress of Republicans, San Diego Health Care Association
Cursory Opinion: Running as a conservative, but Horton and CCRs indicate otherwise.
Only Candidate…to win Long-term Care Nurse of the Year three times.
Legitimate Question: Will she actually spend the 100K in personal loans?
Debbie Beyer
Background: Founder/Principal of Literacy First Charter School
Consultant: Joe Justin
Cash on Hand – 12/31/05: $80,859
Contributions Last Period: $14,483
Cash on Hand – 3/17/06: $85,253
Loans to Campaign: $6,300
Endorsements: Jay La Suer, Duncan Hunter, Wendell Cutting, Tim Leslie, Dick Mountjoy
Cursory Opinion: La Suer will need to help raise the money.
Only Candidate…that can run under the mantle of education.
Legitimate Question: Why was no candidate statement filed?
Jack Dale
Background: Businessman, Councilmember – City of Santee
Consultant: John Wainio
Cash on Hand – 12/31/05: $90,864
Contributions Last Period: $29,372
Cash on Hand – 3/17/06: $81,879
Loans to Campaign: $0
Endorsements: Retired County Supervisor George Bailey, Charlene Zettel, Carol Bentley, SD County Deputy Sheriffs Association
Cursory Comment: Declared conservatism will no doubt be compared to voting record.
Only Candidate…with a long history of elected involvement as mayor and councilmember.
Legitimate Question: This is 2006…what, no website? (4/5/05 Update: My bad…he does have a nice website…click on his name…it just doesn’t show up in a search. New Legitimate Question: With Prop 34, can he raise much money past his established Santee base of support?)
Bill Jenkin
Background: Businessman, Chairman – Ramona Community Planning Group
Consultant: Michelle Smira, MMS Strategies
Cash on Hand – 12/31/05: $30,618
Contributions Last Period: $50,949
Cash on Hand – 3/17/06: $66,323
Loans to Campaign: $75,000
Endorsements: East County Property Owners Association, Farmers Insurance, Vintners Association
Cursory Comment: Ramona may be considered too “far away” by the bulk of 77th voters.
Only Candidate…that is a businessman, elected official and a vintner, all at the same time.
Legitimate Question: Is there more where that $75K came from?
As a reminder of what I wrote before:
"I WILL be posting on the race in the 77th, even if some of the other candidates purposely leave me off their distribution lists. With that said, and this goes for anyone in SD … you have to let me know what’s goin’ on and what you’re doin’ for me to know about it and consider it worthy of a mention."
Once again, keep those cards and letters coming. Send them here.
April 3rd, 2006 at 12:00 am
Barry,
Your “emptying of the bucket” constituted perhaps the best 10 paras I’ve read on FR all year – but only because I’m also more than a little biased for Joel. No one could have said it better.
April 4th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Barry’s ‘Legitimate Questions’ are good ones. I would respectfully suggest that a candidate for AD-77 who is elected President of the Board of Directors of a local water district that is accountable to constituents spread out over AD-77 (and who has repeatedly refused to raise rates on his constituents) has far more credibility than a councilmember for one city located in the district. Particularly when the councilmember has raised taxes on his own constituency.
April 4th, 2006 at 12:00 am
It is no suprise that Joel has a strong base of support. He was President Bush’s San Diego conservative chair.
April 5th, 2006 at 12:00 am
FYI, I heard some good Dale radio ads on KOGO & KPRZ. One was by the Deputy Sheriffs Association and another one was from former Assemblymember Carol Bentley.
Just thought I would help try fill in some missing information.
April 5th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Examine the candidates and from my perspective, Joel is the most qualified (Forget the fact that he is a great guy too)and has shown his belief by practice that government can run just fine without tax increases (BTW, I was in Barry’s wedding too-Full disclosure on my part). I just wished the 77th AD included my section of Poway so I could vote for Joel.
April 5th, 2006 at 12:00 am
It is funny to see liberal candidates Nancy Beecham & Jack Dale racing to the right in this very conservative district. They aren’t sprinting, it’s a marathon when you start so far on the left.
April 5th, 2006 at 12:00 am
When Bill Jenkins first started running, Bob Hailey and I asked him how he differs from Joel on the issues. He stated that he thought Joel was a little too conservative for the district and floated his idea for amnesty for the illegals living here. He has since drifted to the right.
dr. gary
April 5th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I really like the idea of party faithfuls supporting their own, and rewarding the activists who have worked so diligently to elect Republicans over the years. Joel Anderson deserves our support and I am pleased to see all the activist types are supporting him like Young Republicans Federated, the California Republican Assembly, Howard Jarvis Prop 13, and party stalwarts Tom Mc Clintock, Mark Wyland, and Barry Jantz.
April 7th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Only a complete political novice or someone with a half million bucks would actually think they could win without a ballot statement. Which one is she?
April 10th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I’ve been out of San Diego politics for almost a year now and have spent most of my waking hours going through Nav school for the Air Force (I earn my wings on Sept 8th). I still can’t help but read and talk to as many people as I can on what’s going on at home.
With that in mind I was completely floored when I learned that Debbie Beyer did not submit a ballot statement in her run for the 77th Assembly. She was the only Republican candidate to not submit a statement. Now I know that campaigns can be really expensive and trying to get your message out can be very hard but here’s a cheap and easy way to reach every Republican voter. She either forgot to do it or somehow decided that it was a waste of time. No matter what the reason is, this tells me she either didn’t do her homework or she doesn’t really want to win. Yes, she’s got the endorsement of both Congressman Hunter and Assemblyman La Suer, but I feel it’s a little ostentatious to take their endorsements and then act like you’ve got the seat locked up by not doing the things necessary to win. A good ballot statement can make or break your campaign, especially in a campaign like this. She’s running in a Republican district with four other candidates running against her. A lot of undecided voters choose who they will vote for based on a candidate’s ballot statement. I don’t know about you, but I use ballot statements to sometimes decide on who I’ll vote for in judge races.
Even a novice at politics should understand the importance of submitting a ballot statement. In my mind, it’s a foregone conclusion. She’s a nice lady but she’s not the kind of person I’d want representing the good people of the 77th Assembly District. We need to continue to have great representation by electing someone who is smart enough to submit a ballot statement.
Sincerely,
Nathan A. Colestock