Yesterday Republican Assemblyman Roger Niello officially jumped into the State Senate Special Election in District One, the Republican-dominated district in the greater Sacramento Area that had been represented for many years by the late Dave Cox, who recently passed away after a long bout with cancer.

Niello has been serving as a member of the State Assembly since 2004, and served for some time as Vice Chairman of the Assembly’s key Budget Committee. Neillo talks about his campaign priorities in the video at the bottom of this blog post.

It is clear that a major theme of Niello’s will be carrying on the work of Dave Cox. Cox, just before he passed away, endorsed Niello and made major contributions to Niello’s campaign committee — and the press release announcing Niello’s candidacy contained a quote from Cox’s widow, Maggie:

“Dave knew that Roger would be the only choice to continue on his legacy of public service – of ensuring that every person that lived in his district would be listened to, cared for, and represented. This feels very personal to me, and Dave and I endorsed Roger… Read More

I am happy to support Meg Whitman for CRP Chair. I know many maybe confused because Whitman has been running ads touting her candidacy for Governor. But perception is not always reality. The Governor’s campaign could just be a way to build name identification and contacts for the coveted CRP Post!

Of course I’m kidding, but recent actions by Meg Whitman’s campaign staff are very puzzling. Whitman’s people have joined some others in the usual intra-party squabbles that no one cares about except those of us that attend conventions. I’ve seen the emails with the Meg Whitman campaign on it asking and organizing proxies for this weekends CRP Convention in San Diego .

Why would any candidate for Governor divert resources from a closely contested campaign to gather proxies for rules changes and resolutions?

I have two theories both troubling.

1. Meg Whitman doesn’t know her resources have been diverted. In October 2001 I got a phone call asking me if I was supporting the “Parsky reforms” that would bring prestige, power and wealth untold to the State Party. (Results may have varied). I told the person,… Read More

Endangered House Democrat Loretta Sanchez of Orange County, according to premiere DC Political Analyst Charlie Cook, is officially flying into the "danger zone" as her re-election, along with that of nine other Democrats around the country, has been shifted in an unfavorable direction. In the case of Sanchez, up to this point, Cook had rated her reelection "likely Democrat" — but as of today, that has been downgraded (or from our perspective, upgraded) to a "lean Democrat."

You can expect Sanchez and the DCCC to try to downplay this to the media (got that, Dena?) while simultaneously trying to shamelessly use it to press for campaign cash.

This reassessment of Sanchez’ chances comes as the campaign of Assemblyman Van Tran swings into high gear — with his fundraising going very well, and his ground operation already at full throttle.

Those familiar with stick shift cards know that you have to put a car that… Read More

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg has been pitching his budget plan (the one that calls for a big tax increase on the middle class) to the several newspapers in hopes of getting more support. I wrote about that plan recently, sharing with readers what a bad idea it truly is.

In today’s Sacramento Bee, Steinberg was asked how he can support higher taxes when California voters rejected Proposition 1A at the ballot box in May 2009. Amazingly, Steinberg answered the question by saying “I don’t think voters rejected 1A because of the taxes,” and then blamed its failure on those who saw it as a “spending cap.”

It’s bad enough that Steinberg would speak on behalf of the 65% of voters who voted against Proposition 1A, and… Read More

The State of California has landed a starring role in a new TV ad—but it’s not a particularly flattering one. Americans for Prosperity launched an ad campaign in 11 states and 27 media markets this week exposing the outrageous expenditure of taxpayer money in the $862 billion stimulus plan. One of the projects used to “stimulate the economy” was $1.1 million to resurface Hollywood’s Sunset Strip. In light of the 2.7 million jobs lost in America, spending $1 million to repave a road in a wealthy, glamorous locale shows a shocking disconnect with the priorities of average citizens.

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Congressman Ed Royce is featured today on the House Republican America Speaking Out website, talking about the need to cut spending. Below is a video that the California Congressman taped for the site. Watch the video — then speak out right here.

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The California Peace Officers’ Association has endorsed Meg Whitman for Governor of California. The following is a column penned by their President, Jim McDonnell… Keep California Safe: Elect Meg Whitman By Jim McDonnell, California Peace Officers’ Association President We all want a safe and more prosperous California. There’s one candidate for governor with the vision to make that happen. Since the beginning of her campaign, Meg Whitman has said that protecting Californians is the first priority of government, because without safe communities nothing else we do matters. Meg recognizes that this begins with supporting our first… Read More

Today is a big day for breaking news for California Republican Party politics. Today CRPTreasurer Keith Carlson announced the formation of an exploratory committee looking at a run for the State Assembly – for a run in 2012. He is looking at the coastal Orange County seat currently occupied by Assemblyman Jim Silva, who is running for his third and final term this year. Carlson’s efforts start strong out of the gate with support from Silva, as well as popular local Congressmaen Dana Rohrabacher and Ed Royce, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, Assemblyman Van Tran, along with a host of others. Carlson is a well-respected conservative. His new exploratory bid website can be found here.

Carlson’s announcement has significant impacts in the world of California Republican Party Central Committee politics. Carlson was the leading (and only) announced candidate for the CRP Vice Chairmanship – and in… Read More