Stories about Phil Angelides’ extreme micro-management leak out from time to time, and whenever they do, they really make you want to scratch your head. You want to say to yourself, "Who does that?"

I cannot miss the opportunity to share with you another vintage anecdotal story from the files of ‘Micromanager Phil’ — which was buried in a Los Angeles Times story today:

Governor Schwarzenegger stopped by the 2nd Assembly/4th Senate District with Senator Aanestad and myself on hand, as well as the City Council members of Colusa, 3 Colusa Supervisors, the Sheriff, andother local officials today to survey the progress on levee repairs. Back in April, he declared the emergency that set aside the usual red tape and years of surveys and studiesthat typically delay levee repairs and maintenance. Colusa County, along the Sacramento river about 50 miles northwest of Sacramento, contains 6 of the growing number [now at 103]of critical levee erosion sights that need immediate repair. This sight at Moon Bend [not known to be a hangout spotof your Democrat Attorney General nominee, JerryBrown] is nearing completion of its repairs, over 1/4 of a linear mile. [Here is local network television coverage… Read More

What is that sound? It is the sound of implosion.

There is no surer sign of a campaign that is in dire straights than when you start having to cancel your television media buys. With the extremely impacted general election, reserved television space is a much sought after commodity. The fact that the Cruz Bustamante for Insurance Commissioner campaign is now starting to ‘release’ rather than purchase huge chucks of time they had reserved on major stations around the state is terrible news for Bustamante and will only further depress any future ability to raise campaign funds. With just a little bit of ‘elbow grease’ research, the FlashReport can tell you that some of his media spot cancellations look like this: SACRAMENTO MARKET He’s cancelled ALL of his spots on KMAX, KOVR, KTXL, KXTV, and the week of 10/23 on KCRA.

SAN… Read More

The crack investigative team at the FlashReport has uncovered documents (attached below for your perusal) showing that political upstart and congressional candidate, Terrance J. (“T.J.”) Cox, was sued for fraud in Texas before moving to California four years ago. Cox is the latest Democrat to challenge popular Republican Congressman George Radanovich in the Central Valley. However, unlike previous challengers, Cox has already lent his campaign more than $500,000. According to court records filed by Atkins Production Services, Inc. in Tarrant County, Texas, Cox “manipulated and cooked the books of his companies to fraudulently sell the businesses and fraudulently obtain an inflated price for the businesses.”

In addition to Cox, others named in the August 1, 2002 suit were T.J. Cox, Inc. and The Framing Solution, two companies owned by Cox while living in Texas. The suit was filed shortly after Cox moved to California and charged that Cox falsified records when he told the new owner his businesses were… Read More

Thanks to a heads-up with some stats courtesy of the Office of the Governor, we can compare some judicial appointment statistics based on party registration of the appointees:

Here are numbers on appointments for the past three years — of course the Governor served only part of 2004 and 2006 is not yet over. While there is still a long way to go for our Republican Governor, his 2006 GOP % of 61 beats 2005’s dismal 52% We’ll be hoping for even more GOP judges for 2007, but even under the watchful eye of Chief of Staff Susan Kennedy (former Executive Director of the California Democratic Party, Naral, Feinstein, blah blah) we are seeing an improvement!

2004 Republican – 2 (33.3%) Democrat – 2 (33.3%) DTS – 2… Read More

For those of you who have not been following it, there has been a controversy brewing in Central Orange County where a letter had apparently been sent out to around 14,000 hispanic voters geared towards suppressing hispanic turnout.

The letter, written in Spanish, apprently say in it, "You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time…"

The letter has set off a formal investigation by the Attorney General’s office, and it is looking very much like the responsible party looks to be Tan Nguyen (to right). Nguyen is the long-shot Republican challenger to Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez in the 46th Congressional District.

I will draw the attention of FR readers to three blog posts on the Red County/OC Blog website (the definitive source for political news in "The OC") — the… Read More

by FR State Capitol Correspondent Dan Schnur

[WELCOME BRITONS!]

Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice. So if you’re a California Democrat contemplating electoral apocalypse and you’ve already reconciled yourself to the idea that Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to be re-elected next month, you’re probably just beginning to confront a downticket dilemma that’s almost as frustrating:

McClintock or Strickland.

If you’re a California Democrat and you’re still mad about the special election, but you’ve come to term with the idea that another four years of Arnold won’t be that bad as long as he continues to compromise with the legislature on everything but taxes and illegal immigration, and you were never that wild about Phil Angelides anyway so it’s time to start thinking about Villaraigosa or Newsom or O’Connell (or Obama or Gore or Hillary), you’ve still got an unpleasant decision to face in the meantime:

Strickland or McClintock.

Of course you’ll vote against both Tom McClintock for… Read More

3pm Update: I have now attached Dec Relief and P&A’s (for you lawyer types) 2pm Update: I have now attached the filing.

Today a group of attorneys has filed suit to try and have Jerry Brown disqualified as a candidate for State Attorney General. Apparently, according to Adam Abrahms, a state board member of the California Republican Lawyers Association and a plaintiff in this action along with fellow GOP attorneys Tom Del Becarro, Mark Pruner, David Prince and Carl Burton, the law requires that you may not qualify as a candidate for the office, “unless he shall have been admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the state for a period of at least five years immediately preceding his election or appointment to such office.”

FR friend Tom Del Becarro, who is Chairman of the Contra Costa County Republican Party and also was elected by California’s 58 GOP County Chairmen to serve as President of the State Association of County Chairmen, is also a plaintiff in the case and has been doing heavy lifting to get the case together and filed today.

Tom has his own… Read More