There are times when it is convenient that there is ‘breaking news’ to cover – and today would be one of them. I’m going to take a few minutes to talk about last night’s Special Elections in San Diego’s 50th Congressional District and in Orange County’s 35th State Senate District.
When I say it is ‘convenient’ — that is because in the absence of covering these races, I would be left with nothing to talk about except the poor public policy and political choiceof Governor Schwarzenegger championing a solo-war against greenhouse gas emissions that will really only serve to make it that much more expensive to work and live in the Golden State.
A California-only solution is not going to solve anything. When one looks at issues like what the proper role in government should be in protecting and preserving the environment should be, and also take into account that any time the government comes in and messes with the marketplace, there is an economic cost involved (as well as a freedom-cost depending on the specific actions of government)… Sigh. We’ll be looking at this environmental regulation issue, but for now I would simply say that if the Governor is trying hard to suppress his base GOP vote this fall, holding major media events in San Francisco and embracing an extreme left-wing ideological agenda of additional regulation is a good start. I want to see Arnold Schwarzenegger elected to another term, so it pains me to see this kind of "Democrat-lite" policy pronouncement. None of the "Sierra Club" set are every going to vote for the Governor, but this kind of policy emphasis can have a serious and unfortunate impact on motivating conservative voters to the polls.
There is talk of a "contrast campaign" for the fall, with Arnold Schwarzenegger representing a clear and distinct choice from either of his Democrat opponents. The public policy and political announcements yesterday make that tactic more difficult… I could go on and on, but — oh, look — there are elections results to cover…
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 50
First and foremost — the FlashReport congratulates Republican Brian Bilbray for winning the run-off spot against Francine Busby in the race to full out the remainder of Duke Cunningham’s term in this session of Congress. It was one of the more bizarre and crowded special elections that I can remember, and while Bilbray held onto a lead in the polls throughout, last night makes it official. There are some late absentee ballots remaining to be counted, but not enough to make a difference. The FlashReport encourages all of the Republican candidates to endorse Bilbray in his battle against Busby. If Republicans unite behind the former Congressman, then Busby may as well prepare her syllabus for her next semester of teaching.
That said, there is some potential drama to be had. You see, on the same June ballot as the run-off to fill out the unexpired House term, is the regular June primary for who will represent the Republican Party as its nominee for the regular two-year term. Pretty much all of the candidates that ran in the special election "open" primary are on the closed GOP ballot in June. The question really is whether the man who came a close second to Bilbray yesterday, businessman Eric Roach, will continue to campaign with his eyes set on a regular election where only the GOP voters have a say (in yesterday’s election, all voters could cast ballots for candidates of any party).
There will be a lot of pressure coming down on Roach to stand down from this idea, with the idea being that it would clearly have a negative effect on Bilbray’s ability to win that special election run-off against Busby if he is, at the same time, running in a primary against Roach.
It will be interesting to see how this develops. It could very quickly be a non-story if Roach comes out soon and endorses Bilbray in both races. If not, watch out because in a regular instead of a special election, Roach could have a lot of play.
The 50th Congressional District deserves to have a conservative in it over the long haul. Bilbray is going to have to convince Republican voters in the district, most of whom did not vote for him yesterday, that he is that conservative. Clearly, there is one voter he needs to convince the most — Eric Roach of Rancho Santa Fe!
STATE SENATE DISTRICT 35
As for the Special Election in Orange County — as we all went to bed late last night, that race was still too close to call. With all of the early absentee and election day results counted, Harmon holds a .6 percent lead over Harkey (roughly 500 votes or so). But there are still upwards of 10,000 remaining absentee ballots to be counted in the race. Statistically it doesn’t seem likely that Harkey will be able to pick up that many votes on Harmoan — but stranger things have happened. You can be sure that the Orange County Registrar of Voters today will be filled with a lot of folks anxious to see how this all turns out. Harkey, the strong conservative in the race, was pummeled by public employee union independent expenditures in the final weeks. Clearly they see Harman as their friend in Sacramento. We’ll see how it all plays out today. Of course, keep an eye on this website to see how it all ends up!
Have a great day!
Jon
PS: Tomorrow, FR Friend Brian Bennett will be bringing us an in-depth look at the runoff that will take place to see who will be the next Mayor of Long Beach.
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