I want to take a moment to touch on a few of the contested Legislative races from Riverside County last Tuesday. The three seats are considered safe Republican so the Republican victors are highly certain to be elected in November’s general election.
First, growing up in a political family with a father who served in the State Assembly many years ago (sorry for the age thing, dad!), I am very proud of my brother Brian, who will replace John Benoit in the State Assembly’s 64th District. Brian has a deep understanding of politics with a good mix of business acumen. He is a good man that will serve his district and the legislature well.
Second, congratulations to John Benoit who will replace Jim Battin in the 37th Senate District. It was a hard fought primary battle, and it was great to have Assemblyman Benoit emerge victorious. We ran a very disciplined, organized campaign and executed our game plan. John is a model of the citizen legislator, having served a 31 year former career in law enforcement, and now, will continue to bring that experience to the legislature.
Third, congratulations to Jeff Miller who prevailed in the 71st Assembly District. The district is 1/3 Riverside County, and 2/3 Orange County, so to have a Riverside guy pull it off is great for Riverside County. Jeff worked hard, raised money, and was everywhere in that campaign. As past Chairman of the county GOP, Jeff knows the political ropes.
The significance of these three races is that the candidates like and respect, and have a working history with one another. They are team players who will fit well into the Riverside County delegation and lend a sense of cohesiveness and selflessness to the region.
Knowing, and working with the three of them, I know there is no “bad blood”, unmendable hurt feelings, or other hang ups coming out of their races. They have all vowed to lend efforts to electing Republicans and holding targeted seats around the state, beginning with Mary Bono Mack and Ken Calvert for Congress and Gary Jeandron in the 80th AD.
Rapidly growing Riverside County needs a united front in Sacramento and Washington DC to bring attention and results to the region. Our delegation is sizeable enough that, working together, they can achieve results to facilitate our growth and make some lasting impacts for the county.
Again, congratulations to all!
Disclaimer (so I don’t get chewed out): I was involved in the first two races, and have known Jeff Miller for many years.
June 13th, 2008 at 12:00 am
If California budget shortfalls have the advantage of keeping our college students from dangerous liberal indoctrinators, then it is nice to see a single benefit to California’s irresponsible democratic big spenders.
Rebecca Simon