There’s only one unsettled race left in Orange County after Tuesday’s primary election: the 5th Supervisor District, which goes to a November run-off between Pat Bates and Cassie DeYoung. Pat took 44.3% on Tuesday to DeYoung’s 36.7%.

Both campaigns say transportation will be a central issue of the campaign, meaning much Cassie DeYoung Chicken Little-ism over the Terrible Tunnel. During the primary campaign, DeYoung attempt to make an issue out of Cong. Ken Calvert’s support for studying a possible tunnel underneath the Santa Ana Mountains connecting Orange and Riverside counties. Pat Bates supports studying whether a tunnel is even technically feasible before making a decision whether or not to build it.

I’ve blogged elsewhere of my free-floating anxiety about the collateral impact DeYoung’s demonization of the tunnel project might have on the resolve of other politicians who favor building, or at least studying, a mutli-use tunnel through the Santa Ana Mountains.

Take, for example, this Los Angeles Times… Read More

[Today’s Daily Commentary has been penned by Barry Jantz, one of the FlashReport’s San Diego County Correspondents, and is his take on last Tuesday’s Special Election in the 50th Congressional District.]

When it was all said and done, the only thing that may have really mattered was the only thing that had at the start. No amount of pontification, money, mudslinging, Duke Cunningham fallout, or national attention was going to change the fact that California’s 50th Congressional District is home to significantly more registered Republicans than Democrats. To be exact, 44 to 30 percent, with a slew of independents.

The 50th is a Republican district, pure and simple. The political term is a safe seat. The district was drawn that way, whether one detests the reapportionment process or not. The common wisdom is that Democrats don’t… Read More

When it was all said and done, the only thing that may have really mattered was the only thing that had at the start. No amount of pontification, money, mudslinging, Duke Cunningham fallout, or national attention was going to change the fact that California’s 50th Congressional District is home to significantly more registered Republicans than Democrats. To be exact, 44 to 30 percent, with a slew of independents.

The 50th is a Republican district, pure and simple. The political term is a safe seat. The district was drawn that way, whether one detests the reapportionment process or not. The common wisdom is that Democrats don’t win seats like this, as in “it will never happen.” No more of a chance than a Republican ever taking a seat like Bob Filner’s nearby 51st district, a long-term haven for any Democrat winning the Party primary.

That is the cold, perhaps ugly reality of politically-motivated gerrymandering. As we know, the Constitution mandates the occasional redrawing of political lines… Read More

I written a few pieces on Jim Leford, the Mayor of palmdale that challenged Sharon Runner. He hid his donors. See here. He supports Deomcrats for office. See here .He supported tripling the car tax. See here. He attacked Sharon , the co-author of Jessica’s Law of being soft on sex offenders See here. The Good news he he lost and even lost Palmdale. See article here.Just wait until 2008.… Read More

Fellow FR contributor Adam Probolsky and I will be looking to see if there is extra protection on our Southwest Airlines flight home from Sacramento to “The OC” – some ‘people of interest’ who obviously rushed to the airport to be on our flight include Assemblymembers Lynn Daucher,Todd Spitzer, Van Tran, and Tom Umberg. Also State Senator Dave Cox and his wife. The “retired legislator caucus” is represented by former Senators Marian Berguson and Ross Johnson, as well as former Assemblyman Tom Mays.

Johnson, Berguson and Mays went to the back of the plane with Umberg. Probably letting him know the membership fees for the retired legislators club, which he will join later this year.… Read More

The results of all three contested GOP state races – 66 Jeffries (JohnsonClark), 74 Garrick (Coronado Communications), 77 Anderson (Nygren) – bodes well for the increasing ‘organization’ of San Diego Republicans. Each of the three winners was the most active candidate within their local Republican Party. None of the winners will go to Sacramento with the common ‘deer in the headlights’ look that doom half of incoming Republican legislators, particularly local government types, to years of confusion as to the role of the minority. The new San Diego delegation (Wyland, Hollingsworth, Jeffries, Walters, Garrick, Plescia, Anderson, and Horton) is probably the strongest delegation we’ve had in decades: sophisticated without the chronic divisive personal issues or deadwood that have weakened past delegations.

Interestingly, the winning Assembly campaigns also had the best ground campaigns. Winning managers, each of whom look to already be slated for their next opportunity, were:

Steve Puetz (Garrick). Puetz is the former Chairman of the College Republicans. He ran the San Diego Republican Party membership… Read More

[UPDATED – SEE THE E-MAIL FROM LANCASTER’S CAMPAIGN MANGER SENT TO ADAMS ON THE FRIDAY BEFORE THE ELECTION – IT’S AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST.]

Apparently, years ago, Anthony Adams delivered pizza for a living. Whom among us hasn’t worked in a similar job when young? I actually remember my stint at Straw Hat Pizza, my memories of which are mostly washing dishes, and making free pizza to take home after work.

Adams just won the GOP nomination for the State Assembly where Dennis Mountjoy is retiring, a victim of California’s three term limit. In the spirited primary, another significant candidate in the race was Chris Lancaster, the son of former moderate GOP legislator Bill Lancaster.

Part of this story has to do with the fact that allegedly, many years ago, some senior citizen wrote a very strongly worded letter to a newspaper taking then-City Councilman Chris Lancaster to task for voting for a local tax increase. Apparently Lancaster sued the woman for her public criticism, and he served her with court documents by wrapping them in Christmas paper and delivering… Read More

In one of the most breathtakingly stupid political moves of all time, the Fresno Police Officers Association has endorsed Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown for Attorney General over our own State Senator Chuck Poochigian. The Board vote, as reported in the Fresno Bee, was 12-2.

This is idiocy for a number of reasons, to wit:

Senator Poochigian, throughout his entire service in government, has been a reliable law and order vote in the State Assembly and Senate;

Poochigian is from Fresno and has represented Fresno in the legislature for 12 years;

Pooch will outpoll Brown at least 60-40 in Fresno County if not by more;

85 percent of the Fresno Cops will vote for Poochigian.

What is the real issue here? Real simple. The cops hate, I mean HATE the Workers’ Comp reform bill written by Senator Poochigian and signed into law by the Governor in 2004. Workers’ Comp is no longer easy street, and unions are madder than a hornets nest about it.

No doubt, the FPOA vote was stupid, and I look forward to saying that to Union President Jackie Parks next time I see him. He can’t defend their actions with any logic… Read More