(Cross posted from Red County/OC Blog)
The race for the 60th Assembly District GOP primary is quickly heating up, as the incumbent, Bob Huff, has declared his candidacy for the State Senate, where Dick Margett is retiring due to term limits.
With the largest portion, by far, of this tri-county district (Orange, LA, and San Bernardino Counties) being here behind the Orange Curtain, the fact that Larry Dick is the only announced candidate from "The OC" makes him a very strong candidate to replace Huff. Mike Radlovic over in Los Angeles County was a candidate for only a brief period of time before deciding not to run (so I am told). The only other candidate is Chino Hills Councilman Curt Hagman. Hagman’s first challenge will be that only a small part of the district is in San Bernardino County.
Larry Dick’s candidacy has started to shift into gear, with his announcement of a key endorsement, as well as his campaign team.
Yesterday State Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman endorsed Larry, saying, "Larry Dick is a proven conservative leader. Larry has earned my unequivocal and enthusiastic support in his bid to capture the Republican nomination for the 60th Assembly District."
Ackerman’s endorsement is perhaps most significant because it may go a long way towards clearing the Orange County field for Dick, which would really advantage him in the race.
Perhaps more impressive than the Ackerman endorsement (sorry Dick!) is the extremely competent political team that Larry Dick has assembled to assist him in his race.
General Consultant: Joe Justin
Joe is an extremely well respected political strategist here in California. In fact, he has been the political point-person for now two Assembly Republican Leaders, including currently for Assembly GOP Leader Mike Villines. While his duties with the Leader are largely a general election commitment, Joe is able to take on a few select clients in primaries. Joe’s been involved in a lot of key campaigns around the country, ranging from his work in Washington State in ‘retiring from office’ the former Democrat Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and just last year he helped Ward Connerly pass a version of our Proposition 209 out in Michigan. He’s worked on too many California campaigns to list here.
Fundraising Consultant: Desiree Mouzoon, Des & Associates
Des & Associates is quickly becoming one of Orange County’s most reliable political fundraising firms. Desiree has a strong list of Orange County clients including Assemblyman Mike DuVall, Supervisor Pat Bates and others. She is also involved in non-profit fundraising as well. I have known Des for many years and am very impressed with her capabilities. Larry Dick’s daughter, Jane, is also helping with the fundraising. Desiree and Jane both cut their teeth working for some time over at Capitol Campaigns (Anne Dunsmore at CC is consider the best in the biz).
Pollster: Adam Probolsky, Probolsky Research
We all know Adam, who is a contributor to this website. Adam’s research firm has provided services to countless political, government, and business clients. With a pollster, what is most important is their ability to ask the right questions, and even more importantly, their ability to interpret the data available after a survey to give prescient advice to the candidate and the consultant. Adam is all aces in his ability to do just that.
Right now it’s a two-man race, and with Hagman’s announcement that he has retained Jim Nygren, a very accomplished consultant, to run his race, you can be sure it will be a race to watch. Of course, filing is a long, long ways from now, so look for the field to fill out a bit more as well, especially with their currently being no candidate in the Los Angeles part of this district! My good friend Adam Aleman blogs over at Red County/San Bernardino that Hagman is "the obvious front runner at this point." I don’t see it that way, my friend. Not at all.