[Publisher’s Note: Knowing that FR correspondent Matt Rexroad has a longstanding professional relationship with Senate Republican Leader-Elect Dave Cogdill, I asked him if he would share something about the man with FR readers… – Flash]

Senator Dave Cogdill is someone many of you will learn about in the coming months. As the Senate Republican Leader-elect he will be making headlines for all sorts of political and public policy reasons.

The problem is that many of these stories will ignore the best part of the Senator. He is probably one of the best people to ever serve in the Legislature. He is truly a good person.

This is a guy that is not and will not be a cheerleader. He is thoughtful, calm, and respectful.

When Senator Dave Cox was the Assembly Republican Leader in 2002, Cogdill was on the Elections Committee. The guy was just rock solid. During the final weeks of the election Cox, Cogdill, and Tony Strickland were calm and collected when some other people around the state weren’t… Read More

What they are saying about the new Senate Republican Leader: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger:

Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman:

Senator Dave Cogdill of Modesto, the new Republican Leader. He is a strong leader on developing new water for California and for firm fiscal restraint, as well as unquestioned integrity, a great choice. Congratulations Dave!

[Publishers Note: We here at the FlashReport extend our congratulations to Senator Cogdill, and also would like to praise Dick Ackerman for the years of outstanding service he gave to his caucus and his party during his years in that position. – Flash]

UPDATE: FYI, there will be a transition period, with Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman passing the torch officially on 4/15.… Read More

State Senator Dave Cogdill (R-Modesto) has been elected by his colleagues as the new Senate Republican Leader. We here at the FlashReport extend our congratulations to Senator Cogdill, and also would like to praise Dick Ackerman for the years of outstanding service he gave to his caucus and his party during his years in that position.… Read More

FR Friend Craig DeLuz sent in this thoughtful commentary, which I wanted to share with you…

21st Century Republicans or 20th Century Democrats? by Craig DeLuz “The Republican Party … is a broad party. There is room in our tent for many views; indeed, the divergence of views is one of our strengths. Let no one, however, interpret this to mean compromise of basic philosophy or that we will be all things to all people for political expediency.” – Ronald Reagan’s Address to the California Republican Assembly, April 1967 … Read More

All right, it is now time to talk about the so-called yacht tax that thankfully was defeated last week. Newspapers and Democrat bloggers have spent lots of time, ink, and electrons beating up on Assembly Republicans for helping the "rich" in that vote, but they ignore basic economics. To them, a tax raises revenue, no matter what, and not raising a tax "deprives poor children of the health care" these lefties thought would come from this increased revenue.

Let’s ignore the fact that most government programs deliver money to bureaucrats, lobbyists, and those who get paid hundreds of thousands dollars from government, and that the alleged recipients of government largesse are mostly an excuse for politicians to take money from you and me, and give it to their political friends, whether those friends are government unions or government rent seekers.

The fact is that rule number one in any decision about taxes is that RAISING TAXES IS ALWAYS WRONG, no matter when, no matter how, no matter who pays them, no matter what the alleged program that is supposed to benefit from the tax.Since it is always wrong, anyone who decides to… Read More

I’ve gotton to know Steve Francis a bit. A successful businessman, we served together for a time on the Board of Directors of the California Republican Party. Francis was unsuccessful in 2004 in a bid for Mayor of San Diego, losing to Jerry Sanders.

Well, Francis is back. He has retooled his image for this next go-around, smoothing the edges a bit. We’ll keep an eye on this race, as San Diego is a huge city, and what happens there matters not only in that city, but in the region and the state.

Francis in this commerical below emphasis that he is taking no campaign contributions whatsoever. He is funding his entire campaign from his own (deep) pockets.

He’s now up on television with his first buy. You can see the spot below. He has purchased $200,000 in advertising for the next two weeks, and his campaign says that he will stay on the air through election day in June.

I guess by way of pushing his "independent" credentials (a label that must poll well with San Diego City voters), Fracis’ campaign volunteered that his ads are produced by the same company that works with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg!… Read More

From today’s Roll Call Newspaper… Conservative Hero McClintock Testing the Waters in Two California Districts By David M. Drucker Roll Call Staff Although it now appears likely that California state Sen. Tom McClintock (R) will run for Congress in the Golden State¹s 4th district, he has yet to completely rule out a primary challenge of Rep. Elton Gallegly (R) in the 24th district, according to a Republican insider familiar with McClintock¹s plans. … Read More