I'm off to Sacramento from John Wayne Airport, and today's flight it a political lalapalooza… Also flying on this Southwest flight: Senator Mimi Walters, retired State Senators Joe Dunn and Dick Ackerman, Assemblyman Jim Silva, Assemblywoman Diane Harkey, Secretary of State candidate Damon Dunn, California Medical Association President (and fellow Orange County Reserve Deputy Sheriff) Brennan Cassiday, HJTA President Jon Coupal, CRP Northwest Vice Chairman Patricia Welch, CRP Treasurer Keith Carlson, RNC Committeewoman Linda Ackerman, and… I think that's it. Whew.

Wheels up!… Read More

The surprise decision by Assemblyman Adams not to seek re-election to the 59th Assembly District has set off a scramble for the sprawling Los Angeles and San Bernardino County seat. The 59th District contains all or parts of the Eastern Los Angeles County communities of. Los Angeles County communities of Claremont, La Verne, Glendora, San Dimas, Sierra Madre, Monrovia, Bradbury, Arcadia and La Crescenta then suddenly goes north through the Angeles Forest and East into San Bernardino to take in the San Bernardino County communities of Apple Valley, Hesperia, Lake Arrowhead, Crestline, San Bernardino, Highland and Mentone. It is a district that makes the case for redistricting reform As a result the two sections really don’t have much in common. Except that many in the SB County portions grew up in the San Gabriel Valley. The first draft of this district in the 2000 reapportionment had it running along the 210 freeway into Upland to Rancho Cucamonga. The story goes that someone wanted to run for Assembly in those areas and didn’t want to challenge the incumbent Dennis Mountjoy. Next draft solved that problem and opened up a new 63rd… Read More

Word comes this morning that yesterday Meg Whitman's mother passed away. Our heart-felt prayers go out to the entire Whitman family during this time of loss.

Meg Whitman's mother, Margaret resided in Massachusetts, and was 89 years old.… Read More

In what was a not-so-great election year for Republicans in 2008, the election of Danny Gilmore to the Assembly in the Central Valley stuck out as a big win — a Republican pickup in a seat where Democrat Assemblywoman Nicole Parra had "termed out" after serving six years.

In what is perhaps the least unexpected announcement possible, as this has been "going around" the Capitol for some time now — after serving only one term, Gilmore will be retiring from office?

It goes without saying that this is not great news for Republicans, who would undoubtedly be in a stronger position "defending" this seat as opposed to what will now be a competition for an "open" seat.

Below is a release put out by Gilmore this morning, that also includes him endorsing a replacement for his seat.

Assemblyman Gilmore Announces Retirement… Read More

Scott Baugh has served as Chairman of the Orange County Republican Party for over five and a half years. Prior to that he served in the California State Legislator for nearly as long, and was elected by his peers as Assembly Republican Leader. In all of that time, Baugh has given hundreds, if not thousands of speeches.

Tonight, to use Baugh’s own words, he will deliver, "The most important speech of my life."

At 7pm this evening, hundreds of Republicans will converge on the Hyatt Hotel in Irvine for the first meeting of the year for the Orange County Central Committee. Everyone is buzzing as word has spread that Chairman Baugh has been cloistered away — writing, honing and perfecting a speech that… Read More

A Great Choice for Haiti Relief… With the tragic devastation in Haiti on just about everyone’s mind, many may still be deciding how they can help. There are of course several outstanding entities through which contributions can be sent. If anyone is looking for a homegrown organization with very low overhead and a great track record, California-based Rescue Task Force has my highest recommendation.

Started in 1988, RTF was led for many years by two Congressman Duncan L. Hunter staff members. Wendell Cutting passed away a few years ago, but many will remember him from his days as mayor of San Jacinto, president of California Republican Assembly, and — more recently — Hunter’s Congressional district director. Cutting is branded in the San Diego area as the namesake of a handful of continuing awards, given annually to those in the community exemplifying humanitarian efforts and high ethical standards.

RTF continues its relief efforts under the leadership of founder Gary Becks and his daughter Andrea Stone, in most cases with… Read More

Senator Abel Maldonado doesn’t like political parties. He makes that clear over and over again, whether stumping for his "top-two" ballot measure (that limits voter choice, keeps parties and vastly increases the cost of running for office) or now, in his official reaction to the Governor’s State Of The State Address.

As an officer with the Republican Party, I think it shouldn’t surprise anyone that I think that political parties are an important player in American politics, and would like to see my party grow in influence as much as possible, so that we can elect more people to office who support the outstanding policies outlined in our party’s platform.

Republicans believe that the problems we face in Sacramento have been largely created by decades of control of the legislature by liberal Democrats. Abel Maldonado seems to think that the problems in Sacramento are not caused by the Democrats, but by both parties. How you can possibly blame Republicans for our woes, given that we have virtually no input in California public policy (I don’t count Governor post-partisan)?

There are many who talk about the two… Read More

The departure of former Congressman Tom Campbell from the Republican primary for Governor benefits the candidacy of Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner at the expense of former eBay CEO Meg Whitman. Exactly to what degree we will have to see.

First and foremost, I think that Whitman was advantaged in a field where she could run as the only candidate coming straight out of the private sector, challenging two opponents both of whom hold public office. Now, of course, this advantage is gone.

I also believe that Whitman benefited by Campbell’s presence in the race from a gender-perspective, the one woman running against two men.

**There is more – click the link**

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