Fior d’Italia may not be the darling of the foodies in San Francisco, but it is one of city’s oldest restaurants and serves a mean plate of pasta. It made headlines on Wednesday for offering dinners at… Read More

MARK WYLAND – A GREAT LEGISLATOR Yesterday’s news that Assemblyman Mark Wyland, the well-respected legislator from northern San Diego County will not run in the GOP primary for Congress (the seat currently occupied by the sullied fighter ace, Duke Cunningham) will certainly impact that Congressional race. But it should not be lost that Wyland, who will likely face little or no competition for the State Senate seat for which he has opted to run, will make a great addition to the State Senate GOP caucus. State Senator Bill Morrow is term-limited out of his office, and is a leading candidate for the Cunningham seat.

In his time as a State Assemblyman, Wyland has garnered a reputation for being a smart, political savvy, and policy-wise legislator. He has been a leader within his caucus for philosophical conservatism, and he also has put together a great group of staffers who are dedicated to the same limited-government cause which Wyland… Read More

Popular north San Diego Assemblyman Mark Wyland has opted NOT to run for the seat of retiring GOP Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham. Wyland, instead, will seek the open seat of termed-out State Senator Bill Morrow.

This is ‘hot off of the press’ from regular FlashReport San Diego Correspondent Duane Dichiara, who is Wyland’s Chief of Staff. Dichiara, who is having a busy day I am sure, called me long enough to say that Wyland has decided to run for State Senate. I’m sure we’ll hear more from Dichiara later on the FR blog.

As for instant analysis from me, here is something basic, leaving the rest Dichiara, and presumably FR blogger Joe Justin (who is running Morrow’s campaign)…

The field of candidates for the safe Republican Congressional seat is still a crowded one, including State Senator Bill Morrow and former Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian, who are generally considered the conservative candidates — and former Congressman Brian Bilbray and businessman Alan… Read More

A mail piece featuring Diane Harkey, candidate for the 35th Senate District has hit district mailboxes today. She apparently used personal money because the piece was for the CA Border Patrol Initiative, but it is clearly the beginning of her campaign.

First mail piece in the race for the 35th. Her only opponent, Assemblyman Tom Harman has been somewhat absent from the GOP political scene since Harkey announced. This is not necessarily a bad thing for his chances since his first race for Assembly was won with Democrat votes in that year’s ‘open primary’. He may be courting them now since the Special Election (which will feature an ‘open style’) for the seat (to replace soon to be Congressman John Campbell) will be coming up very quickly.

Tom, send us your first piece…

NOTE: The OC Power Brokers Series III – Lawyers Edition I promised will be… Read More

On December 6, unless something extraordinary happens, Senator John Campbell will be elected the new congressman for California’s 48th District. But once he’s elected, half-way through the 109th Congress, what’s next?

First, he will immediately come to Washington to be sworn in by the Speaker as the 435th most powerful member of Congress and join the freshman class of the 109th Congress. He will assume Chris Cox’s spacious suite in 2402 Rayburn until the end of 2006 when he will select an office commensurate with his seniority which will likely bump him over to Longworth or Cannon (the usual first stop for freshman).

The House Republican Steering Committee (the committee on committees) will either be convened for a special meeting to determine Campbell’s committee assignments or it will be done more informally via email or phone to the 28 members of the Steering Committee who have a total of 33 votes (Speaker gets 5, Majority Leader has 2, one for each other).… Read More

District 3 San Diego Councilmember Toni Atkins on Fridayfiled a Form 501 Candidate Intention to raise money to run for the 4th District County Board of Supervisors, setting up what would be a significant showdown against incumbent Sup Ron Roberts next year.

Roberts no longer being in the hunt for an executive position at Centre City Development Corporation (see Duane Dichiara’s prior post) has scuttled Atkins’ hope for a vacancy on the Board of Sups. Yet, it is clear that her recent tenure as acting mayor in the wake of Dick Murphy’s resignation has bolstered her confidence in taking on Roberts.In recent days, Atkins indicated no interest in being city council presidentin favor of Scott Peters, thus ensuring the time needed for a campaign.

Add to this … the clear bet that… Read More

ITS ALL ABOUT THE LAWYERS… Well, the new candidate on the block for State Attorney General on the GOP side, Pierre Prosper, is finding out that making his case to the GOP faithful will be a tough one. The front-runner for the Republican nomination, Chuck Poochigian, starts with a seemingly insurmountable advantage, whether you look at endorsements (Poochigian enjoys unanimous endorsements from all of the GOP legislators, and a host of others), he had a tremendous amount of grassroots support acquired from years of toiling in the vineyards for causes dear to the GOP faithful, he has raised over $3 million with around $2.5 million cash-on-hand, and has ace political guru Ken Khachigan to make sure those funds are spend wisely. All of that said, it is certainly the case that Poochigian’s substantial support was garnered in the vacuum of an unopposed… Read More

Alternative ending to Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: It’s the climactic laser-sword fight between fledgling Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker and the sinister Sith Lord, Darth Vader. Young Luke is down to one arm, no weapon, and cowering precariously at the end of acatwalk when Vader lays the bad news on him: "I am your father."

Now at this point, instead of bugging out and throwing himself into the abyss, what if Luke had thought it through?

Alternative Scene One, Take One:

Vader: "I am your father."

Skywalker: "Get out. Dad wasn’t black."

Vader: "This is a mask, stupid. Join me."

Skywalker: "Well, o.k., but you’ll need to give me a hand, since you chopped off my other one."

The point is, maybe they could have worked together, as Vader suggested, whacked the Emperor, and Luke could have helped dad with some of his totalitarian and planet-destroying… Read More