Sheriff Watch… Two weeks ago in Sunday San Diego it was noted that a challenge was filed against Sheriff candidate Jim Duffy’s use of the ballot designation, "Sheriff Lieutenant." Duffy was pinning his hopes for using the title on the County of San Diego’s personnel department indicating he was on leave of absence from the position and legally able to return.
Last week the Registrar of Voters weighed in on the matter, in essence saying that leave of absence or not, since Duffy hadn’t acted in the role of a lieutenant in more than a year, he could not use the title. He will however be able to use "Chief of Staff," a position he held with County Supervisor Ron Roberts more recently.
Short of the possibility of Duffy taking the matter to court and reversing the Registrar’s interpretation, the decision has some significance, especially with the other candidates, Bill Gore and Jay La Suer, using the designations "San Diego County Sheriff, Appointed" and "Retired Undersheriff, San Diego," respectively.
In the meantime, numbers were posted in the contributitons race for the period Jan.1 thru Mar. 17…
Jim Duffy
Contributions: $8,167
Expenditures: $30,009
Cash on Hand: $25,579
Debt: 0
Bill Gore
Contributions: $34,550
Expenditures: $33,703
Cash on Hand: $112,829
Debt: $46,070 (all accrued expenses/no personal loans)
Jay La Suer
Contributions: $4,349
Expenditures: $16,962
Cash on Hand: ($2,276)
Debt: 0
The financial reportings serve to even further hi-lite my late February missive…
"…Gore’s backing by outgoing Sheriff Bill Kolender, DA Bonnie Dumanis, three of the County Supervisors, and other segments of the "establishment" means he will likely continue to raise funds. On the other hand, Duffy, whether he raises the bucks himself or not, is bound to have significant independent expenditure support from the Deputy Sheriffs Association and other labor interests.
"The wild card here is La Suer. Whether he will be viewed as the conservative choice…is largely dependent on the ability to get his message to the voters. As always, it comes down to money. To keep Duffy and Gore from both making it through the June primary, La Suer will definitely need to kick up the fundraising, as he won’t be able to rely on any significant independent expenditure support."
The wild card scenario increases in its…uhhh, well, wild cardness.
Let’s add to that now the likelihood of the Duffy camp, really meaning the Deputy Sheriffs Association, monitoring closely any impact from the ballot designation decision to determine if a refined strategy is required to bolster his law enforcement credentials heading into the primary
Senate District 36 Watch… In the campaign to replace termed-out Senator Dennis Hollingsworth in SD 36, Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone has been campaigning for several months and rolling up a number of endorsements in the process. With Assemblyman Joel Anderson’s official determination that he will run for the seat coming a few days before the recent filing deadline, his campaign appears to now be getting off the proverbial dime. Excerpts from a press release of last week…
California Republican Assembly Unanimously Endorses Joel Anderson for State Senate
Just two days after Assemblyman Joel Anderson officially announced his candidacy, the California Republican Assembly – California’s oldest and largest grassroots conservative organization – quickly threw its endorsement behind Anderson’s bid for State Senate.
“There is no question that Assemblyman Anderson is the real conservative in this race,” said Greater Santee CRA President Frank Hilliker. “He has the most conservative voting record in the Assembly – and has still managed to move major bills through the legislature. That’s the type of effective leadership our party needs in Sacramento.”
“We need Assemblyman Anderson in the State Senate,” said CRA Immediate Past President Ken Mettler. “Joel Anderson is a rock-solid conservative that has been fighting in the trenches alongside the CRA for decades. He is the only candidate we trust in this race to take the necessary actions required to return fiscal sanity to the state.”
Of course, Supervisor Stone is clearly no wallflower in this match-up. It also appears that Murrieta School Board Member Ken Dickson also won’t be going softly into the night. This will be a fun race to watch.
Oh yes, there are a couple of other Republican hopefuls in this thing. But, since I’m not a reporter, maybe I’ll get to them if I have nothing better to do. For now, I’m sticking with the contenders.
Have a great week!