I think the title of this postsays it all. Thank God we’re done.

Primaries are the toughest thing ever. Friends for years end up on opposite sides and their relationships are forever strained. People get mad. People get weird. People get angry. And on and on. . . . .

I just hate Republican primaries.

Having vented – I want to say —

* Congratulations to John Benoit, the new Senator-to-be from my district. John ran a terrific campaign and his win was impressive. This was the single most hard hitting election I’ve ever witnessed. Both sides got hit – and both sides hit HARD. Anybody that wasn’t receiving the mail, hearing the radio spots and seeing the TV commercials just can’t appreciate the intensity of this campaign.

I supported Russ Bogh, and I’m sad he lost. But the primary is over and we’ll try our best to put the pieces back together again. Again, congrats John – you’ll be a fine Senator.

* Congrats to Brian Nestande – John Benoit’s replacement in the Assembly. I’ve known Brian forever. He ran a great campaign… Read More

I just returned from the Placer County Republican Party election night victory party where a jubilant crowd was celebrating Tom McClintock’s win over Doug Ose. With 70% of precincts reporting as of this posting, it appears that McClintock has won a decisive double-digit victory over Ose. Despite being outspent by millions (this was the second most expensive congressional race in U.S. history), McClintock and the conservative message won.

It was clear from the beginning of this race that the 4th CD campaign would be a microcosm of the larger battle within the Republican Party between moderates/liberals and conservatives. As Senator McClintock declared in his address to supporters tonight, the nation was watching the voters of our district, and tonight the message is clear: the conservative movement is alive and will soon spread across the nation. In his speech, McClintock boldly stated that in years to come America will look back on this evening as the beginning of a movement that will return America to its founding principles. For the sake of our nation, I hope that is true and I know that Congressman Tom McClintock will be one of the “Founding Fathers” of this… Read More

Check out results on the Secretary of State’s website here.… Read More

A review of voters found only 8.1% ov voters turned out compared to 19.98% in February. AV votes are down. 249,283 received compared to 393,705 in the Presidential Primary.

This is despite a hotly contested County Supervisor race and several open State Senate and Assembly races.… Read More

Competition in the marketplace creates the best possible scenario for the consumer, but it isn’t perfect.

My wife and I registered to vote last month, on the final possible day, at our new home in South Orange County.

We moved into a district that is “Ground Zero” for Republican legislative primaries. We now live in Senate District 33 where Assemblywoman Mimi Walters and Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu are spending vast sums of money to communicate with Republican and DTS voters. We also now live in Assembly District 71 where Corona Councilman Jeff Miller and Rancho Santa Margarita Mayor Neil Blais are in a pitched battle for the Republican nomination.

Clearly two newly registered Republicans would be prime targets as supremely likely voters. Right? WRONG, apparently.

Since registering to vote last month, the Fleischman household has received no mail from candidates. Not from Mimi, or Harry, or Jeff, or Neil.

And these candidates have “top… Read More

My boss Karen England was at the Placer County Registrar of Voters this morning when Doug Ose showed up to cast his ballot. Here’s her account from Red County:

Ose Doesn’t Know How to Vote in the 4th CD

As Mike Spence just reported, Doug Ose failed to sign his ballot when he voted at the Placer County Registrar of Voters this morning. I was actually there with Rick Staats and we witnessed the whole episode. Here’s what happened when Ose realized he hadn’t signed his ballot. The election officials had to get a key to unlock and reopen the highly secured ballot box and retrieve his invalid ballot. In true elitist fashion he was unwilling to take responsibility for his incompetence, muttering under his breath “this is bull ****!”

Since when is ballot security bull ****?

Keep in mind that yesterday Ose had McNally Temple employee Richard Robinson call the Registrar’s office and ask to have someone there to “show Doug how to vote.” He needs to be shown how to vote? Guess he… Read More

OC Blog is holding its traditional prediction contest about today’s primary, and FR readers are invited to enter for fun and prizes.

Enter you predictions for the winner and loser(s) in the following contests:

– 33rd Senate District: Mimi Walters v. Harry Sidhu

– 29th Senate District: Bob Huff v. Dennis Mountjoy

– 71st Assembly District: Jeff Miller v. Neil Blais

– 60th Assembly District: Larry Dick v. Curt Hagman

– 1st Supervisor District: Janet Nguyen v. Dina Nguyen v. Hoa Van Tran

– 3rd Supervisor District: Bill Campbell v. Donald Ritze

Entrants need to enter the winning/losing percentages as well as the name of the winning/losing candidates.

Click here to read the rest of the post and make your predictions.… Read More

Can’t imagine what other newsworthy events are occurring in California today!

In that case, I’ll be brief:

The Abramoff "matter" continues and coverages recalls a California connection and new earmark troubles as well as a recent plea. From Politico, and the Post.

Garry South pens a column in Politico about the Dem. primary.

Newt’s California tech industry guru is profiled in the Post. Speaking of: the story uses the phrase "the Valley" an offending number of times–does anyone talk like that about Silicon Valley? Interesting work by Newt however.

And, Lou Cannon (now a California resident–Carpenteria, I recall) pens a Reagan-Hillary comparison in the Post… Read More