First, an update on the Leader race. RSC Chairman Mike Pence of Indiana and Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis of California have both taken their names out of the race. Conservatives in the House are still optimistic that Arizona Rep. John Shadegg will still decide to jump in though its seems Shadegg is unconvinced 1) that he can win and 2) that is useful for conservatives to run and lose. Yet, there is a desire to clean house and Shadegg could benefit from that.

On that note, there is a movement among the GOP Conference to have full leadership elections and have a fresh start. However, Conference rules do not require that and by my understanding, that would take 50 members to sign a petition calling for full elections (it might even require a petition for each of the 8 elected positions). This movement is not limited to conservatives and could build steam.

If Roy Blunt wins the Leader race (by my count he has a very slight lead), he would then vacate the Whip’s job. Here the candidates lined up to replace him:

… Read More

The word tonight is that after only one term National City Mayor Nick Inzunza will not seek re-election in November, likely ending the career of the guy considered only a few weeks ago as the front runner to succeed Juan Vargas in the state assembly.

To partially recap, the Union-Tribune in mid-December published the results of a months-long investigation into Inzunza’s several slum-like properties. I conjectured in a prior post that the U-T’s surprising but rightful use of resources to pursue such a story was the result of Nick being the brother of convicted former San Diego Councilman Ralph Inzunza of stripper-gate fame.

Within days of the U-T revelations about Nickthe slum lord, the paper also caught him in a bald-faced lie about the ownership of the properties. In the last several… Read More

Tonight I drove down to the San Diego Republican Party’s monthly Central Committee meeting. Well, to be most accurate, State GOP Southern Vice Chairman Keith Carlson drove, and I warmed the passenger seat. County Chairman Ron Nehring ran an excellent meeting with about 200 Republicans in attendance – including many VIPS (the introductions took quite a while). Curiously, disgraced criminal Randy “Duke” Cunningham is apparently still a member of this committee. He didn’t answer his name when the roll was called – go figure – he’s not here. That said, it does seem like there may be 100 candidates here running for Duke’s seat. Apparently the rumor is true, that FR Contributor Duane Dichiara is no longer Chief of Staff to Assemblyman Mark Wyland. I just met his replacement. Fresh from the Congressional office of Florida Representative Dave Weldon comes Paul Webster. I don’t know much about Paul yet, except that he has good taste in employers – Wyland is top notch. The big speaker tonight – State GOP Chairman Duf Sundheim. The Chairman spoke about some of the Governor’s staff picks, and some of his… Read More

Dan Weintraub’s column this weekend about the Governor’s public works plan uses a baseball reference that I’d like to play off of for this post. His full piece is here, but this is the money paragraph:

"Schwarzenegger’s signature proposal for the coming year, then, is not a return to the small-ball he played in his first year in office. It’s every bit as audacious, in its own way, as the agenda he laid out in year two. And it might be just as difficult to achieve."

Swinging for home runs is in the Governor’s nature. This is a man who has aspired to big dreams and ideas all his life — training for a Mr. Universe Title, perseverance to become a successful businessman and studying to be a movie actor.

To paraphrase the Governor’s State of the State speech — Californian’s have big dreams and that is what makes them unique to… Read More

Today, the Orange County Register editorialized on the City of Anaheim‘s citywide WiFi [full disclosure: the City of Anaheim is a client].

The Register, while favorable toward Anaheim’s approach to erecting citywide WiFi, express the sneaking libertarian suspicion that it is somehow contrary to the American experiment in representative government.

Or as the Register put it: "Citywide wireless Internet access is cool, but is it really the government’s job?"

My answer to is "yes" to the first, and "not really" to the second. The thing is, under Anaheim‘s approach, citywide WiFi really isn’t the government’s job.

Unlike other major cities like … Read More

Bill Leonard and Ray Haynes are both influential and important Republican officials in California. Leonard, currently on the State Board of Equalization, spend decades in the State Legislature, serving in both the Senate and Assembly. Haynes has also served in both houses of the legislature, and is now the senior (or tied for it anyways – I’m not sure). in the legislature.

Leonard and Haynes both have e-newsletters they send out. Below I am excerpting Leonards thoughts on both the Governor’s BIG BOND proposal, as well as on the issue of mandating a increase in the minimum wage.

Immediately beneath Leonard’s thoughts, I have excerpted some of Ray Haynes’ observations.

FROM LEONARD: ***The Price of Bonds*** … Read More

Update: The link to both the Democrat and Republican surveys in the 50th is here.

Leave it to team Furlong/Babcock at Datamar to be running numbers at this point:

Republican Voters Not Wild Yet About Any One Republican Candidate

For Every Republican Candidate in the Candidates-crowded April 11th 50th Congressional Special "Mixed" Primary Election the Combined "Neither favorable or unfavorable" (neutral) and "Unfamiliar with the name" responses Far Exceed the Combined "Favorable" and "Unfavorable" responses San Diego – In the poll released today by Datamar Inc. regarding Republican candidates in the mixed-parties 50th Congressional Special Election to be held April 11th, the combined "Unfamiliar with the name" and "Neither favorable or unfavorable" (neutral) responses exceed the combined "Favorable"… Read More

The knock on Bill Morrow going into the special election to replace the Duke of Wiretapping has been the perception that he won’t be able to raise the money to be competitive. Morrow shattered that perception with his announcement earlier today that he raised over $200,000 in the 4th quarter – an impressive number for anyone given the challenges of raising that money in the current environment and the holiday season.

Also, conservative Congressman Gary Miller joins a majority of the elected California Senate and Assembly members in endorsing Morrow.

Those that counted Morrow out early, should take notice. With more candidates to come, this race will be a free-for-all.… Read More