Republican Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia will be returning for a third term in the California State Legislature. Hers was the final legislative race in the state where the outcome was not considered official. Yesterday, enough of the remaining absentee ballots were counted in Riverside County to give Garcia an unbeatable lead — and her opponent, former Assemblyman Steve Clute, conceded the race. Congratulations Bonnie! You can be sure that Clute’s near-victory will mean he will try another crack at the apple in 2008 when Garcia will be precluded from a re-election run due to term limits.
Not one seat in the legislature changed partisan hands in the 2008 election cycle. It is a win for Democrats who control the status quo, and a win of sorts for legislative Republicans who staved off the ‘blue tide’ that crossed the country.
When you win a narrow race, you can look to just about every facet of your campaign and say that each part ‘made the difference’ in winning — but there is no doubt that one of the groups that played a major role in Garcia’s victory was the California College Republicans. Their Chairman, Mason Harrison, has penned a column for us today (it’s on the main page) where he talks about some of the activism of CR chapters in this last election — with an emphasis on the efforts of CCRs in the reelection efforts of GOP Assemblywomen Bonnie Garcia and Shirley Horton.
Also, we feature a column today from California Republican Party Vice Chairman Ron Nehring, who e-mailed in his column from the "Green Zone" in Baghdad, Iraq. Nehring is there helping to teach some of the fundementals of democracy to the new leaders of the Iraqi people.
The news is slim — as I said, this is a quiet week in political reporting. But there are some nuggets on the main page. And keep and eye on the FR Blog, where we will continue to be announcing line-up changes for the new political season!
Care to read comments, or make your own about today’s Daily Commentary?
Just click here to go to the FR Weblog, where this Commentary has its own blog post, and where you can read and make comments.