Incumbent Members of Congress don’t lose, right? Certainly not their own party’s nomination, right? Well Rep. Wayne Gilchrist of Maryland, who was registered to vote as a Republican, liked to vote with House Democrats so much that he garnered a primary opponent in Andy Harris, a strong conservative. This primary challenge to Erlich was backed by, among others, former Maryland Governor Bob Erlich. The conservative Club for Growth weighed in heavily as well (to the tune of over $500,000!) — check out the ad below. Well to make a long story short, last night Maryland Republicans in Gilchrist’s district spoke loud and clear — tossing the liberal Republican out on his ear, and handing the GOP nomination to Harris.

This is a very positive thing because it shows that at the local level, Republicans want to send Representatives back to Washington who will stop the liberal agenda of Nancy Pelosi and her cohorts, not ones who will seek to work with her towards her goals.

For the most part, we have lived in a "weak party" system here in America. After all, take a country… Read More

Last April I put a list together of potential candidates that would run to replace Congressman John Doolittle. You can see the post here. A couple days later I received a phone message from Congressman Ose saying that he was honored to be on the list, but he wasn’t interested in running at the time. I posted it here.

Two weeks ago, Ose announced his candidacy and now he is the first candidate out of the gate with television and radio. I’m not sure how big of a buy Ose is putting down — with 4 months until election day, my hunch is that it isn’t huge. Ose is trying to build name identification in a district that he hasn’t represented in order to compete with former State Senator Rico Oller in May.

On the surface, Ose’s announcement and these spots surround him with community… Read More

I love drama. This was sent in from GOP Uber-Consultant Tim Clark. Assemblyman candidate Neil Blais is his client:

Miller Smokescreen Continues Submitted by Tim Clark of JohnsonClark Consulting I read the recent post by Senator Battin – a respected GOP legislator and a tough partisan when he’s supporting a candidate or cause. That’s why I’m not surprised to see the Jeff Miller campaign use the Senator to repeat smokescreen arguments about Miller’s recent and surprising financial weakness. … Read More

Charitable foundations and nonprofits across the nation are aligning themselves against AB 624 (Coto). The Orwellian measure would require all private, corporate or public operating foundations and nonprofits, with assets over $250 million, to collect gender, ethnic and sexual orientation data on their board, members, staff and grant recipients. Yes, you read correctly: sexual orientation.

So if you’re looking to receive a grant from a California-based nonprofit, be prepared for that awkward questionnaire: Do you perceive yourself as male or female? Which ethnic prefix best describes you as an American (i.e., African-, Asian-, etc.)? And what is the perceived gender of the person with whom you are now sleeping?

You can see why philanthropic organization may decide to relocate out of our politically-correct, regulatory-friendly state.

As Pacific Research Institute’s Lloyd Billingsley points out, AB 624 is an attempt to undermine Proposition 209, the historic measure that ended discriminatory affirmative action programs for state contracts, employment… Read More

Politicians sometimes say dumb things – for lots of reasons – awkward moments, caught off guard, bad day, etc. Sometimes, though, it is because they are just plain ignorant of politics.

Kelly McCarty, who is running for the Republican nomination in the 64th Assembly District, demonstrated her lack of political acumen when she opened her mouth to a reporter from the Riverside Press Enterprise after voters defeated Prop. 93.

According to the article, ‘McCarty said she had considered staying in the race even if Prop. 93 passed and the district’s current representative, John J. Benoit, decided to seek re-election.’ McCarty didn’t help herself any when she went on to say, “That was going to be a tough decision I was going to have to make and I’m glad I don’t have to make it,” she said.

As Benoit’s chief of staff, I can tell you she has no idea how glad she is that she didn’t have to make that decision. The popular Assemblyman would have blown her and her misguided political ambitions off of the map.

Her naïve statement shows a lack of simple understanding of Republican politics – this year, Republicans are united… Read More

From today’s headlines on and around the Hill:

House Republicans have earmark reform on the front burner as presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) prepares to address GOP members Wednesday. The debate also impacts selection of a candidate to fill a vacant post on the House Appropriations Committee in a race with seven candidates including prominent anti-earmark Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.). Roll Call reports on both, here and here. The Hill covers it here. Club for Growth and other conservative groups will use the federal courts to test "limits" on contributions and filing / establishment … Read More

Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries has introduced legislation (ACR 93) that has the goal of developing a uniform sign law governing campaign sign placement throughout California.

The League of Cities is a club for dues paying members–the legislation (actually a resolution) would request that the League along with the CA Association of Counties the FPPC to come up with the policy.

I find the premise to be an example of the arrogance in government. It can be frustrating for candidates and sign posting companies to have to learn and adhere to a myriad of of local sign ordinances. However, the heavy hand of state government should not interfere with this most fundamental demonstration of political speech.

I’ve suggested to Assemblyman Jeffries that representatives from both the Republican and Democratic parties (perhaps representatives from other parties as well) should at the very least be included in the decision making process. In my experience, elected officials who are actively engaged in leadership within the League and CA Assoc. of Counties are bureaucratic- and favor big… Read More

UPDATE: 7am – I just got off of the phone with State Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman, who wanted to make sure that it was clear that his priorities in terms of State Senate races are (1) Defend Jeff Denham in the recall, (2) Re-elect Abel Maldonado, (3) Elect Tony Strickland, (4) Elect Greg Aghazarian. I agree with #1 above although my commentary below is about priorities for the Fall (after the recall is resolved). Obviously I am advocating that Ackerman and his successor change their order of priority – Flash.

State Senator Abel Maldonado is a pleasant man. I don’t speak with him to frequently — as he is from the Central Coast and I am from Orange County, and he works in the State Capitol, a place that I admit I do not frequent as often as I should — but when I do talk to him there, I walk away saying to myself, "He’s a nice guy."

Well, last Summer, in the budget stand-off… Read More