The nucleus of Governor Schwarzenegger’s re-election team is coming together. Here are some of the folks that are already (or are about to be) onboard to run the day-to-day operations of the re-elect, as confirmed by a source on the Governor’s re-election campaign:

As we have reported before, the Campaign Manager is Steve Schmidt. Schmidt comes back to California (where he worked on the Matt Fong campaign, among other efforts) straight from Washington, D.C., where he has been working closely with Vice President Dick Cheney. Most recently, Schmidt was the WH "jockey" in getting Justice Sam Alito through the Senate confirmation process. Also in major role with the campaign is strategist Matthew Dowd. Dowd has been a senior advisor to President Bush, and … Read More

Back by popular demand, we continue with the OC Power Brokers Series.

This time, Media.

What makes an OC Power Broker? Well it is a little different for a member of the media than for the previous groups (lawyers, and parts one and two). For a journalist it means: 1) they have wide spread relationships with people in government, politics, business and community, 2) they can be trusted implicitly, if you have a tip that can’t look like it came from you or if they call for background, you can be sure “off the record” has meaning with them, 3) they have the juice to get something published, they can stand up to… Read More

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was "rebuffed" in his attempt toinstall former Assemblyman Richard Katz as head honcho of the powerful MWD. See the article hereand see my previous post with other links here..Look for him to use his MWD appointments and power to influence state water policy anyways.… Read More

Some think Orange County is undergoing a Pringle-ization. SeeFR’s Matt Cunningham’s post here.It must apply to everywhere except the jury that said the Anaheim Angels can now be called the Los Angels Angeles or the LA A of Alegally. See article here.… Read More

Congressman McKeonfrom Santa Clarita in Los Angeles County has been selected Chair of the Education and Workforce Committee. He replaces Boehner who was elected Majority Leader.

Press release below.

United States House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20515

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: 202-225-2800

February 8, 2006 Ron Bonjean or Lisa C. Miller

Speaker Hastert Applauds Selection for Education and the Workforce Committee Chair

-Rep. McKeon (R-CA) named Chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee-

(Washington, D.C.) Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) today issued the following statement regarding the Steering Committee’s choice of Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) as the Chairman for the Education and the Workforce Committee:

“The Steering Committee has made a terrific choice in Buck McKeon to take up the gavel for the Education and Workforce Committee. I look forward to having the full House GOP Conference… Read More

The numbers in San Diego’s 5th Supervisorial District are in and thusfar it is brutal. Supervisor Bill Horn is showing around 195k cash on hand, and as reported last week former Assemblyman Bruce Thompson has around 14k cash on hand. Furthermore, it does not appear that Thompson has hired a professional firm to run his campaign but is rather paying a relative for campaign services. There are no payments from Thompson to a fundraiser – and from my calls I’m guessing there is not one on board. These are not the signs of a campaign which is serious about upsetting an entrenched Supervisor. Given the short time period between now and the June primary I don’t see Thompson having the capability of raising the money to be competitive. Instead, at this point, if he really wants to play he is going to have to rely on his own pocketbook, if he has the means, or independent expenditures, which is always a risky strategy.… Read More

In a runoff election for the mayor’s office in San Bernardino County’s seat of government and largest city, voters yesterday overwhelmingly chose Superior Court Judge Pat Morris, a Democrat, to replace Democrat Mayor Judith Valles, who opted not to stand for a third term,tolead the troubled City of San Bernardino for the next four years. Morris (pictured left) beat his opponent, elected City Attorney Jim Penman, an Independent, by a 63- to 37-percent margin in an election that saw only 21 percent of voters casting ballots.

Mayor-elect Morris will inherit the mayor’s office as the City of San Bernardino continues to grapple with a crime rate that far exceeds those of surrounding communities. During the weekend of February 4-5, violence claimed three lives in a six-hour period. Morris topped the five-candidate field November 8 in the first round of balloting with 43.7 percent of the vote in the non-partisan contest. Runner-up City Attorney Penman claimed 27 percent. Councilman Chas Kelley, though… Read More

There has been speculation on various websites, and in huddled water-cooler conversation about whether Assembly Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy will be running for Congress this year, and if he does run, who would replace him, presuming that it wouldn’t be practical to campaign for Congress and toil statewide for Assembly Republicans. I haven’t spoken with Kevin about this yet (he’s hosting a retreat for his colleagues, so I’ll call him on this when that is over). But I think he has made it clear that he has an interest in running for Congress. So this debate is less centered around what will Kevin do, and is more about what will Bill Thomas do? Thomas, who has been representing the Kern County area in Congress for decades, is now 65 and was rumored to be strongly considering retirement this year. Thomas is the Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee (a position he used last year to earmark a massive amount of money for his district last year,… Read More