In the race for vice chairman south of the California Republican Party, this evening Jon Fleischman got the endorsement of his own Central Committee.

Both candidates for the post were given a chance to speak to the November meeting of the OCGOP. Fleischman took more than the two thirds of the vote necessary.

Congratulations Jon.… Read More

The Governor has promised to work to remove health care mandates as a means of reducing health care costs to consumers. A good idea–can he really accomplish it?

The Dems are committed to those mandates, passing them while Gray Davis was governor. During the early part of his time, Gray Davis signed approximately 20 of those mandates, including a mandate that allmental health services be covered and a mandate that insurance companies pay for a two day stay for a mother after the birth of a child (even if the stay was not necessary). These mandates increased the cost of health insurance by around forty percent between 1998 and 2002. At least one study has said that, for each one percent increase in premiums, 400,000 people nationally lose their health insurance. Since California has ten percent of the national employment, that number is approximately 40,000, that is, an estimated 1.6 million people lost their health insurance since 1998 as a result of insurance mandates imposed by the legislature. Since we know that the number of uninsured Californians has increased by about 2 millionsince 1998, we can safely say that the legislature has had more to… Read More

As slow a political news week as it may be, a few things are happening. Thanks to John Dadian for sending along some tidbits….

Assemblywoman Mimi Walters has filed papers to succeed Senator Dick Ackerman in SD 33 in ’08. This may be common knowledge with the OC bloggers…I’ll let them pontificate on the ramifications. In the meantime, I have a call into Mimi and her folks for a quote.

Also, Senator-Elect Mark Wyland, succeeding Senator Bill Morrow, has tapped Senator Dave Cox’s communications director as his chief of staff. Peter DeMarco, longtime aide to Cox, will start with Wyland November 30. Great pick, Mark! Cox is searching for a replacement.

Peter just sent me a "real time" comment, as he’s literally as-I-writewaiting for his bag at San Diego’s Lindbergh Field (sounds like he’s already started). Peter also mentions a ‘btw" need to update the airport…I’ll pass that along to the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority for him.

From Peter:

"I’m looking forward to… Read More

There is virtually no quieter week in political news coverage, barring a major incident, than the week of Thanksgiving right after a general election. While some political reporters take some deserved time off right after the election, virtually every one of them takes this week completely off. There are some exceptions, and there will be some special interest stories that show up that were penned last week — but expect to see a lot of very short news summaries from us this week. Of course, the FlashReport will be published throughout the holiday week, including Thanksgiving Day. One advantage to slow news days is that it takes less time to pull together them main page. Actually, we are using this quiet holiday week to work with a group of new contributors who will be joining our FR Blog — spicing up things for the upcoming year! This is a great opportunity for us to ask for FR reader feedback. It was a great election season for the website — our first election year as a website. By all accounts, we seemed to have a notable impact on California politics. Is there anything that you would see changed on the… Read More

I am very pleased to introduce FlashReport readers to our new Political Law Correspondent James Lacy. For many of you, Jim may not need any introduction, as he has been engaged in the ‘contact sport’ of politics for quite a long time now.

If I had to make a list of the top ten political law experts that I know, Jim Lacy would definately be on that list. So I am very excited that he has accepted our invitation to write for our website. Jim will be able to offer all of us some great insight and perspective on legal issues facing California elections (and all of our various political subdivisions). This will include legal issues on a national level that will have a significant impact on us here in the Golden State.

Jim’s experience is extensive, and you can read more about his background right here.

Of course, Jim’s political insights and expertise will allow him to provide insights on many aspects of… Read More

I’m in San Francisco for the weekend. I ran into FR friend Jim Dimartini from Stanislaus County (he’s on the Board of Supervisors there) in front of the Ghiraradelli Chocolate Ice Cream Parlor in Fishermens Wharf.

He shared with me that everyone “back home” is waiting on remaining ballots to be counted to see who will win a seat on the Board of Supervisors there – two Republicans battled it out and less than 30 votes separate the candidates…

With the growing numbers of absentee voters, unless Registrars of Voters around the state significantly beef up operations, this kind of waiting in close races will be the norm…… Read More

According to the Sec of State website, the SD 34 was updated Saturday at 5:15 to show that Lou Correa added a few more votes to his lead over Lynn Daucher. Up from 783 to, now, 821.

Lou 55234 Lynn 54413 lead821

Otto Bade 899… Read More

Where the heck is McGonigle Canyon?… Not many in SD had heard of this spot a couple of weeks ago, until reports that hundreds of illegals had turned it into a shanty-town, complete with no running water, basic toilet facilities (read: the ground), and even visiting prostitutes. Apparently, local officials have been ignoring it for some time, and the owners of the property have been turning a blind eye as well. A local official was even heard to say, "It’s private property, there’s nothing we can do about it."

Excuse me? Local government can’t do anything about health and safety violations, probable vermin, illegal encampments, sub-standard "housing," prostitution…need I say more? Since when did local bureaucrats become Libertarians?

Apparently, in a politically correct world, anything goes.

Well,… Read More