Here’s the money story for 3/18-5/20in the five-way GOP scramble to assume the mantle from Assemblyman Jay La Suer:

Joel Anderson Contributions: $39,353 Expenditures: $111,097 Cash on Hand: $70,003

Nancy Beecham No report filed on-line (yet?)

Debbie Beyer Contributions: $27,210 Expenditures: $86,958 Cash on Hand: $25,505

Jack Dale Contributions: $45,663 Expenditures: $51,955 Cash on Hand: $75,587

Bill Jenkin Contributions: $6,875 Expenditures: $33,499 Cash on Hand: $39,700

Short of a "June Surprise" from Nancy Beecham (I’ll get to that in a sec), is this race coming down to a Dale and Anderson sprint to the finish? It appears so. Anderson’s big $111k of expenditures in the last few weeks is going to direct voter contact, no question. Beyer’sfairly significant $87kin expenditures seems… Read More

Independent expenditures have started in races throughout San Diego County. In AD77 the California Republican Assembly spent $15,000 in mail for Anderson, and the local Deputy Sheriff’s Association spent $1,000 to purchase a slate for Dale. In AD78 the local Deputy Sheriff’s Association spent $1,000 to purchase a slate for Horton. In AD74 CAP-MPT spent $17,000 in mail for Garrick.

Side Note: Thank you to fellow blogger Barry Jantz for bringing the AD77 Beecham filing issue to our attention. It is in the process of being corrected right now – but in the interests of full disclosure Barry was correct in that the treasurer reported some of Beecham’s expenditures as independent expenditures so they are listed electronically for the moment in that column.… Read More

In what seems like another lifetime I was a lawyer. I can hear the jokes now “lawyer, political consultant, what’s next – used car salesman?” My first solo political campaign was electing conservative Republican Tim Casserly to the bench. Since then, I’ve elected a new Republican judge every cycle.

I write all this to preface the point that I watch San Diego judicial races fairly closely. This time around we have one important judicial race that will be determined in the June primary – Democrat David Rubin v. Republican Paul Phingst. This has all the makings of a grudge match. See, Phingst is the former San Diego County District Attorney. He lost a bitter campaign a few years ago to Republican Judge Bonnie Dumanis. As such, it’s no great surprise that Dumanis and her allies in the law enforcement community are supporting Rubin, who is a local prosecutor. So are a number of Republican Judges, including Bostwick, Ervin, Smyth, Whitney, and Fraser (most of whom were elected with the Republican Party endorsement).

But this gets more interesting. By any account David Rubin is a liberal Democrat. He is a sustaining member of… Read More

Why don’t I trust the Bush Administration on illegal immigration? Well, besides the Administration’s history of saying one thing and doing another on illegal immigration, and besides every administration person I’ve met to date rolling their eyes at me when the topic comes up, we have today’s press conference wherein new Press Secretary Tony Snow compares being caught for breaking and entering into our nation to getting a speeding ticket.

“If you had a traffic ticket and you paid it, you’re not forever a speeder, are you” said Mr. Snow. To quote the Examiner: “The ‘traffic ticket’ analogy raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill, where many House Republicans regard illegal immigration as a grave crime.”

Uh, yeah. And one would note to Bill Sammon, reporter, that it isn’t just House Republicans who regard illegal immigration as a ‘grave crime’ – its many if not most Americans. And hopefully more than a few of our elected Democrats in the House and Senate and Republicans in the Senate.

To continue from the Examiner:

“I don’t know if Tony (Snow) meant to… Read More

Prop 81 is a library bond. I’ve done three TV interviews on the no side. It will cost 600 million dollarsin principal and another 600 million in interest. That is unless you have the nifty Spanish voter pamphlet that details it as 600 billion dollars plus the interest. See article here

Maybe they translated Dollars into Pesos.

Click here for more info against Prop. 81.… Read More

Q: Which GOP candidate for a down-ticket office has well over three million dollars in the bank, more than any other Republican candidate? A: … Read More

Yesterday, Mexican President Vicente Fox continued to demonstrate his willingness to actively represent his constituents in America. That’s right – President Fox has millions of his country’s citizens in the United States, and he is intent on representing them while they are here. I am sure that Fox spoke about many things in his address to the state legislature, and in his private meeting with the Governor. But I have to admit, and this is speaking for myself, that after Fox came out in support of the President’s amnesty program (you know, where we let those who illegally cross into the country pay a couple thousand bucks and call it a day), I really didn’t care what he had to say about anything else. As far as I am concerned, we should cut off any foreign aide to Mexico(whether direct from the U.S. or via the U.N. or World Bank) and start to make up a penalty list of how to make Mexico realize that we are not pleased with their Chief Executive’s aggressive pro-illegal immigration posture. I was particularly proud of the dozen-or-so California legislators who chose to boycott Fox’s speech out of principle. I also… Read More

Yesterday, Mexican President Vicente Fox continued to demonstrate his willingness to actively represent his constituents in America. That’s right – President Fox has millions of his country’s citizens in the United States, and he is intent on representing them while they are here. I am sure that Fox spoke about many things in his address to the state legislature, and in his private meeting with the Governor. But I have to admit, and this is speaking for myself, that after Fox came out in support of the President’s amnesty program (you know, where we let those who illegally cross into the country pay a couple thousand bucks and call it a day), I really didn’t care what he had to say about anything else. As far as I am concerned, we should cut off any foreign aide to Mexico(whether direct from the U.S. or via the U.N. or World Bank) and start to make up a penalty list of how to make Mexico realize that we are not pleased with their Chief Executive’s aggressive pro-illegal immigration posture. I was particularly proud of the dozen-or-so California legislators who chose to boycott Fox’s speech out of principle. I also… Read More