Today the campaign of conservative State Senator Sam Aanestad will announce their 
endorsement by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association PAC — a major and significant endorsement in any race for public office in California, but an especially powerful one in a Republican primary.
This imminent endorsement should not come to a surprise to anyone who even remotely follows California politics because there are only two candidates running for the GOP nomination — conservative Republican Sam Aanestad and liberal Republican Abel Maldonado.
There is no need for us to lay out the case for why HJTA is backing Aanestad in this race, because HJTA’s President, as always, is quite articulate himself.
“Abel Maldonado received a generous “D” on our 2009 scorecard for his consistent anti-taxpayer votes and back room political deal he cut to increase taxes in the last budget,” said HJTA President Jon Coupal. “Maldonado represents the prototype tax and spending politician that voters across California are rallying to dump out of office and we will make sure that they know his anti-taxpayer record. Sen. Sam Aanestad on the other hand, represents a true taxpayer advocate clearly exemplified by his record. He is clearly the taxpayers’ best choice for Lieutenant Governor.”
This endorsement is the opening salvo in a Republican primary that will represent a clear and distinct choice for voters — Aanestad believes in the Republican Party and it’s principles of liberty, individual responsibility and opportunity. Aanestad believes many of the problems in state government today come from the fact that liberal Democrats have dominated the process for far too long. Contrast this message with that of Abel Maldonado who has made it clear that it is not the Democrats, but both the Democrats and Republicans that are to blame for the sorry state of affairs in state government today.
It is also important to note that Maldonado is the legislative author of Proposition 14 which will appear on the June ballot, the main purpose of which is to limit voter choice in general elections (in many legislative districts in California, voters will only be able to choose candidates of one political party on general election ballots) and to eliminate from the legislature conservatives who will hold the line against tax increases.
No too long ago we reported here on the FlashReport that in a recent survey that shows Senator Aanestad is the clear front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination in the race for Lt. Governor.
Conducted by Smith Johnson Research, the poll of 500 likely Republican primary voters gives Senator Aanestad more than 20% of the vote, compared to just 16% for his opponent on a first ballot test. However, when the same voters are informed of key issues such as voting for the largest tax increase in California State history, the Aanestad lead grows to nearly 65%.
Abel Maldonado may be Arnold Schwarzenegger’s choice for Lt. Governor, but it is not going to be the choice of informed primary voters.
Congratulations to Senator Aanestad for this well-deserved endorsement from the state’s preeminent taxpayer advocacy group!
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:00 am
The California Taxpayer Protection Committee has also joined the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association in endorsing Senator Aanestad for Lieutenant Governor. We know that we can count on him to look out for the interests of taxpayers.