For those of you who have not been following it, there has been a controversy brewing in Central Orange County where a letter had apparently been sent out to around 14,000 hispanic voters geared towards suppressing hispanic turnout.

The letter, written in Spanish, apprently say in it, "You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time…"

The letter has set off a formal investigation by the Attorney General’s office, and it is looking very much like the responsible party looks to be Tan Nguyen (to right). Nguyen is the long-shot Republican challenger to Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez in the 46th Congressional District.

I will draw the attention of FR readers to three blog posts on the Red County/OC Blog website (the definitive source for political news in "The OC") — the… Read More

by FR State Capitol Correspondent Dan Schnur

Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice. So if you’re a California Democrat contemplating electoral apocalypse and you’ve already reconciled yourself to the idea that Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to be re-elected next month, you’re probably just beginning to confront a downticket dilemma that’s almost as frustrating:

McClintock or Strickland.

If you’re a California Democrat and you’re still mad about the special election, but you’ve come to term with the idea that another four years of Arnold won’t be that bad as long as he continues to compromise with the legislature on everything but taxes and illegal immigration, and you were never that wild about Phil Angelides anyway so it’s time to start thinking about Villaraigosa or Newsom or O’Connell (or Obama or Gore or Hillary), you’ve still got an unpleasant decision to face in the meantime:

**There is more – click the link**… Read More

Thanks to a heads-up with some stats courtesy of the Office of the Governor, we can compare some judicial appointment statistics based on party registration of the appointees:

Here are numbers on appointments for the past three years — of course the Governor served only part of 2004 and 2006 is not yet over. While there is still a long way to go for our Republican Governor, his 2006 GOP % of 61 beats 2005’s dismal 52% We’ll be hoping for even more GOP judges for 2007, but even under the watchful eye of Chief of Staff Susan Kennedy (former Executive Director of the California Democratic Party, Naral, Feinstein, blah blah) we are seeing an improvement!

2004 Republican – 2 (33.3%) Democrat – 2 (33.3%) DTS – 2… Read More

by FR State Capitol Correspondent Dan Schnur

[WELCOME BRITONS!]

Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice. So if you’re a California Democrat contemplating electoral apocalypse and you’ve already reconciled yourself to the idea that Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to be re-elected next month, you’re probably just beginning to confront a downticket dilemma that’s almost as frustrating:

McClintock or Strickland.

If you’re a California Democrat and you’re still mad about the special election, but you’ve come to term with the idea that another four years of Arnold won’t be that bad as long as he continues to compromise with the legislature on everything but taxes and illegal immigration, and you were never that wild about Phil Angelides anyway so it’s time to start thinking about Villaraigosa or Newsom or O’Connell (or Obama or Gore or Hillary), you’ve still got an unpleasant decision to face in the meantime:

Strickland or McClintock.

Of course you’ll vote against both Tom McClintock for… Read More

The crack investigative team at the FlashReport has uncovered documents (attached below for your perusal) showing that political upstart and congressional candidate, Terrance J. (“T.J.”) Cox, was sued for fraud in Texas before moving to California four years ago. Cox is the latest Democrat to challenge popular Republican Congressman George Radanovich in the Central Valley. However, unlike previous challengers, Cox has already lent his campaign more than $500,000. According to court records filed by Atkins Production Services, Inc. in Tarrant County, Texas, Cox “manipulated and cooked the books of his companies to fraudulently sell the businesses and fraudulently obtain an inflated price for the businesses.”

In addition to Cox, others named in the August 1, 2002 suit were T.J. Cox, Inc. and The Framing Solution, two companies owned by Cox while living in Texas. The suit was filed shortly after Cox moved to California and charged that Cox falsified records when he told the new owner his businesses were… Read More

This just came over the trasem… MEDIA ADVISORY WHAT: Tom Del Beccaro, Chair of the Contra Costa Republican Party and Mark Pruner, Chair of the Yolo County Republican Party, will be holding a press conference to discuss their filing of a lawsuit that seeks declaratory relief that Jerry Brown is ineligible to serve as Attorney General, because he does not meet the minimum qualifications for the office as set forth in California law and injunctive relief directing Registrars of Voters not to count ballots cast for Brown due to his ineligibility. WHERE: In front of the Superior Court for Sacramento County, 720 Ninth Street, Sacramento, California WHEN: 10:30 AM, Thursday, October 19, 2006 … Read More

San Diego Lincoln Club Executive Director Chris Niemeyer, largely responsible — with the support of his board — for taking the organization to a new level in recent years (see Duane Dichiara’s post of last December), is leaving for other pastures.I say "other," not "greener," in that my guess is Chris loves the political work, but also knows he’s capable of doing very well financially in the "real private" sector. He is right. The word is that Chris wants to take a stab at being a political donor, not just an operative. Good for him.

I wish him very well.

The rest of the inside word is that after running through about a half-dozen applicants, the list of replacements has been narrowed to two, a Republican legislative aide in San Diego (who will remain nameless for the present), and a local political consultant (who…yeah, yeah…I gotta keep this one nameless too).

My understanding is that the Lincoln Club may make a final selection tomorrow. More to… Read More

According to Shane Goldmacher over at Capitol Weekly, New York’s nominally Republican Mayor – who was elected on a “no new taxes” platform – has donated $250,000 to pass a new tax here in California – on cigarretes.

Billionaire Bloomberg is now officially a jerk. Who does this? Who pledges not to raise taxes in his own city, but finances a campaign to raise them elsewhere?

Bloomberg’s had a couple of appearances with Governor Schwarzenegger. No more, please. Time to roll up the red carpet!… Read More