Ward Connerly and his team have won the hotly contested campaign to end racial preferences in Michigan. With the help of our own FR alum, Joe Justin, Proposal 2 passed by a huge margin, 58%-42% Despite the pile-on opposition by politicians, labor unions, businesses and the education establishment, the voters saw clearly that the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative was a straightforward, fair measure that simply called on government to treat people equally, without regard to their race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin. Ten years after California voters passed the California Civil Rights Initiative, Prop. 209, Michigan voters got it right and passed their own ban on racial and gender preferences. Congratulations, Ward,… Read More

Contesting an election that you have apparently lost by a handful of votes is one thing, but apparently former Assemblyman Steve Clute, who just lost his attempt to take out incumbent Republican Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia by a couple of percentage points, is apparently making the motions to start contesting the results of the election.

The outcome of this pouting-session is preordained — or is it? I have no clue about what the ‘politics’ are down at the Imperial County Registrar of Voters. Hopefully Secretary of State McPherson will dispatch some of his folks out to AD 80 to make sure that everything is handled on the up and up.… Read More

In a virtually improbable turn of events, Republican Cal Minor appears to have lost the Fresno County Sheriff’s race to Democrat Margaret Mims. Despite having the endorsements of Congressman Radanovich and Nunes, Assemblyman Villines, the Lincoln Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the Deputy Sheriffs and Fresno Police Officers Association, Mims finished the evening with a slim 155 vote lead over Minor.

North Fresno precincts were a ghost town yesterday, with brutally low turnout fueled by: disgust with the Republican led Congress, last week’s Field Poll showing Chuck Poochigian losing by 21 points, and no real contested races for the Legislative seats. This low turnout is what evidently cost Cal Minor an election he should have won handily.

There will likely be a recount, but this one shouldn’t have been close. It appears Cal Minor has become yet another Republican election night casualty.… Read More

Ten years after California passed Prop. 209, the California Civil Rights Initaitive, it appears that Michigan is following in California’s footsteps (10 years later) and passing the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI) tonight. Only 17 of Michigan’s 83 counties are reporting so far, so the numbers could change, but the early returns certainly make it seem that Ward Connerly, Jennifer Gratz and the proponents of MCRI are going to be victorious tonight.… Read More

Real low turnout in San Diego County… Read More

California politics makes the election-day issue of the Wall Street Journal’s Political Diary (it’s tied into a piece on both California and New York):

A Tale of Two Megastates

As two of the nation’s largest states, California and New York share reputations as bastions of liberalism and a congenial home to moderate Republicans such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and George Pataki.

But the two mega-states are likely to diverge dramatically when it comes to tonight’s election results. In California, private polls show Governor Schwarzenegger with a 15-point lead over his hapless Democratic challenger Phil Angelides. More importantly, Republicans are mounting strong… Read More

The Pacific Research Institute doesn’t advocate for particular candidates, but the FlashReport does — and after reading this column below penned by Vince Vasquez, you’ll probably want to make sure that Debra Bowen does NOT become your next Secretary of State:

By Vince Vasquez. Pacific Research Institute Today, Californians from all walks of life will be able to vote with a phenomenal technology. Californians can also be confident with “e-voting,” despite the cries of fear-mongers and conspiracy theorists.

E-voting systems, also known as direct recording electronic (DRE) machines, employ easy-to-use touch screens and other high-tech devices to make voting simpler, safer, and more accessible for… Read More

You should be hearing the sounds of the poll workers throwing open the doorways andcalling thatthe polls are open about now.Today, as all our candidates and our dedicated volunteers sprint to the finish for this years round of elections, I’d like to tellour Republican V6 volunteersthank youfor making it happen, for all the hours, the walking, the thousands of phone calls…the nuts and bolts of a campaign that are going to make the difference and bring our side our success today. Think about it, in 2006, we havein our grasp5 statewide offices. When I got down to Sacramento in ’02, we had just lost ’em all. We have a shot at picking up legislative seats in these goofy-apportionmentdistricts…and we’ll keep the ones we have.

This in the face of a media blitz that is trying very hard to paint the picture for Republicans as bleak. Thiswhile evensome Republicans try to "eat their own" in theheat of the election. These things happen and we still pound ahead…to a positive result.

As a candidate, it’s appreciated. As Americans that believe in something, it matters.… Read More