I got an email the other day that my good friend, and very effective leader, Jeff Miller was stepping down as Chairman of the Riverside County Republican Party – so he can fully campaign for his Assembly race (District 71).

Jeff has done a great job heading up the RivCo GOP. Just like his predecessor did, now-Assemblyman Kevin Jefferies, Jeff has run a professionial organization dedicated to Republicans winning elections – both on a state and local level. And just like Kevin –Jeff will be astrong member of the California Assembly.

Here’s some of his highlights:

— He ran the Party as a conservative, kept the Party united and raised over a million dollars for the first time.

— As a result of the dollars raised, the Party was able to put out over 200,000 pieces of mail, including two countywide slates, that helped re-elect… Read More

HANRETTY MAKES GLAMOUR MAG Former FR State Capitol Correspondent Karen Hanretty took off for the D.C. Beltway to try her hands at political communications on the national level. The capable former spokesman for the State GOP, already a regular on Hannity and Colmes, is now a senior member of the communications team for the Fred Thompson for President campaign. Glamour magazine has found Karen, and has done a little Q&A with her for their latest issue. Check it out here. Way to go, Karen! POOR JIM BRULTE… Yesterday it was reported that former legislative Republican Leader Jim Brulte had endorsed the Fabian Nunez Career Politican Term Limits Weakening Measure. We feel so bad for Brulte on this matter, that we though we would… Read More

HANRETTY MAKES GLAMOUR MAG Former FR State Capitol Correspondent Karen Hanretty took off for the D.C. Beltway to try her hands at political communications on the national level. The capable former spokesman for the State GOP, already a regular on Hannity and Colmes, is now a senior member of the communications team for the Fred Thompson for President campaign. Glamour magazine has found Karen, and has done a little Q&A with her for their latest issue. Check it out here. Way to go, Karen!

POOR JIM BRULTE… Yesterday it was reported that former legislative Republican Leader Jim Brulte had endorsed the Fabian Nunez Career Politican Term Limits Weakening Measure. We feel so bad for Brulte on this matter, that we though we would connect some dots for FR readers, because, as you will… Read More

When Assemblyman Mark Leno announced that he was challenging Senator Carole Migden for her Senate seat I could not have been happier. In fact, I think most everyone in Sacramento that has ever been in one of her committee rooms was thrilled. It was going to be great political theater.

We were finally going to have a real knock down drag out battle by the Bay. It was going to be political WWE.

When Migden got slammed for risking the lives of other drivers on the freeway I really thought it was over. Then she comes back with the big L word. And the word is not "Lesbian". It is "Leukemia". Timing is everything.

In a one on one race with Migden and Leno — I like Leno’s chances. He is every bit as liberal only he is much nicer. That is not saying much. Leno had done a great job of gathering up all of the anti-Migden forces until others started having the same idea.

"Another clinging on to glory days" Alioto jumped into the race. He divides the anti-Migden forces once. Now Joe Nation has opened an account. He is a former Assemblyman from Marin County that might make a play for the Marin… Read More

A recently released Survey USA poll shows that the California Counts initiative (otherwise known as the initiative to tinker with how Electoral College votes are assigned) is up by 12 points.

I know a lot of pollsters are dubious of the results of these types of automated surveys, but that fact that it is up substantially at first glance shows that the hook of “fairness” has some serious legs.

Among all Californians, it polled 47% support, 35% oppose, and 19% undecided.

Other bits I found interesting: It was supported by an even wider margin among women (47/28). Among whites it polled 51/32. Among Republicans, it was 54/29 and 59/30 among Democrats.

Very good news… now it just has to qualify.… Read More

Last week America lost a true hero when retired Congressman Henry Hyde (R-IL) passed away. Hyde was an unquestioned icon in the conservative movement. We reached out to Congressman John Doolittle, who served with Hyde, to ask him to share his thoughts on Hyde’s passing…

Henry Hyde: A Giant Who Will Long Be Remembered By Congressman John T. Doolittle To know Henry Hyde was to know that you were in the presence of a special human being. He was a man with presence. He had confidence and the intellect to make a difference with his public service. In 1998, he was Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee when the House of… Read More

I don’t know Richard Edelman, but he has been quite successful in business, growing his public relations firm to be one of the largest and most influential on the globe. The reason why Edelman ended up tracking on my radar screen, as a publisher of a website on California politics, is that his company has just hired FR State Capitol Correspondent Dan Schnur to lead its California Public Affairs Practice.

What an outstanding pick by Edelman.

I have known Dan (pictured) for the better part of two decades now, and I know he is going to do a great job for Edelman, and its clients. But wait, before anyone assumes that my heaping of praise means that Dan is (like me) somewhere to the right of Attila the Hun, he is not. Dan’s somewhat more moderate in ideology than me, and definitely more moderate in his temperament. Nevertheless, it is a testament to Dan’s… Read More

I don’t know Richard Edelman, but he has been quite successful in business, growing his public relations firm to be one of the largest and most influential on the globe. The reason why Edelman ended up tracking on my radar screen, as a publisher of a website on California politics, is that his company has just hired FR State Capitol Correspondent Dan Schnur to lead its California Public Affairs Practice.

What an outstanding pick by Edelman.

I have known Dan (pictured) for the better part of two decades now, and I know he is going to do a great job for Edelman, and its clients. But wait, before anyone assumes that my heaping of praise means that Dan is (like me) somewhere to the right of Attila the Hun, he is not. Dan’s somewhat more moderate in ideology than me, and definitely more moderate in his temperament. Nevertheless, it is a testament to Dan’s… Read More