In the world outside of California, the GOP: Six new U.S. Senators, Sixty new U.S. House Members – and control of the House of Representatives, at least ten new Governors, and picked up 10 new state legislative chambers. Wow, what a GREAT night for the GOP – everywhere else. Here in California, the GOP: Lost the Governorship (if you feel we had it), lost every statewide election (except maybe one), may have picked up two (or maybe zero, they’re that close) House seats, appear to have stayed even in the State Senate, lost a seat in the Assembly. California voters spoke loud and clear about tax increases, rejecting Prop. 21, Prop. 24 and Measure D in San Diego. Be careful what you ask for: With the passage of Prop. 25 and Prop. 26, it appears that Democrats will be able to draw up their own spending plans for California, but will need GOP votes for any tax OR fee increases. Have fun! Especially with the state budget implications of the passage of Prop. 22… While Governor races and state legislative chamber holds and switches are being talked about by pundits this morning … Read More

Election day is finally here – the end of what has been one of the most tumultuous and unpredictable election seasons that I can recall. My election day column issues a cautionary note to Republican voters – actually, more than that – a warning. While there are not nearly as many so-called “slate cards” dropping in year’s general election as we saw in the primary, there are still a good number – and this year we have seen a rise in Mercenary Slates that are pretending to have some sort of Republican pedigree, when the reality is apparently far from the truth. I use the term “Mercenary Slates” to describe slate cards that have defining ideology or commitment to actual Republican positions on the issues. The vendors of these faux-GOP slates are mercenaries, looking to make money while advancing causes that are counter to that of the Republican Party, and voters should not be fooled. Especially while these folks hide behind the false rhetoric of saying, “But we featured the GOP ticket…” That is a false argument since voters looking to support statewide GOP candidates… Read More

Later on tonight, after the polls close in California, we’ll be doing some blogging here on the results. In the meantime, polls are closing back east and I find that I am looking at both the Politico and National Journal websites.

I am already tweeting so you can see that here.… Read More

The only poll that counts is the one counted tonight.

Given the states registration numbers and hyper-gerrymandered districts, we won’t like see the same wave as what we are hoping for from across the country. However, the first job of keeping the seats we have to ‘hold’ as Republicans looks very good, with up to 2 pickups on the Assembly side and par on the State Senate, though one or par is more likely in the Assembly too, given late developments if polls can be believed.

In SD 12, the Jeff Denham seat, I was very impressed as to how our nominee Anthony Cannella and his operation was doing having spent the last 2 days there, walking and knocking in Modesto. He’s a great candidate, will be a great Senator and I think a new favorite, as I got to know him better during the walks. Kudos to Asm. and [incoming Senator], Tom Berryhill for all the hard workby his team in helping this neighboring district. It was great to join with he and Anthony for part of our precinct walks. And much praise for all the staff volunteers who have traveled to Modesto, Merced, Salinas, etc. The hard… Read More

Take a quick tour of the main ballroom here at the Irvine Hyatt Hotel, site of the California Republican Party’s Victory Night Celebration. This short video will show you the view from the podium at which, later tonight, Carly Fiorina will address supporters and the public — and we also harass some television reporters! Check it out… (Image may be grainy for a little while until You Tube processes the download.) … Read More

One of the cardinal principles of sportsmanship is to be a gracious winner. Every kid in little league is told to be kind and considerate to the fellow players they just bested in a competition. Apparently that principle is something that Arnold Schwarzenegger either 1) was not taught or 2) doesn’t care to follow.

This morning the governor issued the obligatory congratulatory press release praising the San Francisco Giants’ World Series win. But he didn’t stop at simply congratulating his state’s winning baseball team: he went on to attack the home state of the defeated Texas Rangers. Schwarzenegger used his press release to not only do some inappropriate campaigning against Proposition 23, he attacked Texas for having “dirty oil companies”.

The results are starting to come in — but it is way too early to try and figure out much of anything. So enjoy Fox News or your favorite TV channel, and peek over at the Secretary of State’s website.… Read More

The Secretary of State’s website is giving error codes instead of election results. Try the LA Times for results.… Read More