A Great Choice for Haiti Relief… With the tragic devastation in Haiti on just about everyone’s mind, many may still be deciding how they can help. There are of course several outstanding entities through which contributions can be sent. If anyone is looking for a homegrown organization with very low overhead and a great track record, California-based Rescue Task Force has my highest recommendation.

Started in 1988, RTF was led for many years by two Congressman Duncan L. Hunter staff members. Wendell Cutting passed away a few years ago, but many will remember him from his days as mayor of San Jacinto, president of California Republican Assembly, and — more recently — Hunter’s Congressional district director. Cutting is branded in the San Diego area as the namesake of a handful of continuing awards, given annually to those in the community exemplifying humanitarian efforts and high ethical standards.

RTF continues its relief efforts under the leadership of founder Gary Becks and his daughter Andrea Stone, in most cases with… Read More

I just got off of the phone with one of the Assembly Republicans working closely with Martin Garrick on his bid for Republican Leader. He confirmed for me, on the record (thus I share with you) that Garrick has indeed secured the commitments to be the next Assembly Republican Leader. Congratulations, Martin!

Presumably the vote will take place when legislators return to the Capitol on Tuesday, but I don’t know that. Also unknown is how the transition would take place between Garrick and Sam Blakeskee.

FR readers will be pleased to know that Martin is a strong conservative who understands all too well the dangerous path that liberals have taken state government here in California.… Read More

Jim Sanders reports over on the Sacramento Bee’s Capitol Alert blog that there is currently a leadership race taking place within the Assembly Republican Caucus. That may be news to many FlashReport readers, though not news to it’s Publisher. I’ve spoken with many members of the Assembly Republican Caucus over the last few days about this, and the dynamics.

That said, to the dismay of all FR readers, I wanted to remind you that while there is virtually no area that is "shielded" from my editorial wit, as a general rule, I do NOT write about the internal politics of the Republican legislative caucuses. Which is to say there would have to be a really good reason to do so, like finding out that a potential candidate doesn’t read the FlashReport each and every day! ;-)

Good luck to all of the potential candidates for Assembly Republican Leader. We’ll let you know how it turns out!… Read More

The departure of former Congressman Tom Campbell from the Republican primary for Governor benefits the candidacy of Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner at the expense of former eBay CEO Meg Whitman. Exactly to what degree we will have to see.

First and foremost, I think that Whitman was advantaged in a field where she could run as the only candidate coming straight out of the private sector, challenging two opponents both of whom hold public office. Now, of course, this advantage is gone.

I also believe that Whitman benefited by Campbell’s presence in the race from a gender-perspective, the one woman running against two men.

Finally, I think that with Campbell out of the primary, now means that the ultimate GOP nominee will have to get the voters of over 50% of voters in a closed Republican primary (yes, DTS voters can participate but historically those numbers have been very small). While neither Whitman nor Poizner is a rock-ribbed right winger, clearly Poizner has been posturing his candidacy well to the right of Whitman, whose strong… Read More

The departure of former Congressman Tom Campbell from the Republican primary for Governor benefits the candidacy of Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner at the expense of former eBay CEO Meg Whitman. Exactly to what degree we will have to see.

First and foremost, I think that Whitman was advantaged in a field where she could run as the only candidate coming straight out of the private sector, challenging two opponents both of whom hold public office. Now, of course, this advantage is gone.

I also believe that Whitman benefited by Campbell’s presence in the race from a gender-perspective, the one woman running against two men.

**There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

Senator Abel Maldonado doesn’t like political parties. He makes that clear over and over again, whether stumping for his "top-two" ballot measure (that limits voter choice, keeps parties and vastly increases the cost of running for office) or now, in his official reaction to the Governor’s State Of The State Address.

As an officer with the Republican Party, I think it shouldn’t surprise anyone that I think that political parties are an important player in American politics, and would like to see my party grow in influence as much as possible, so that we can elect more people to office who support the outstanding policies outlined in our party’s platform.

Republicans believe that the problems we face in Sacramento have been largely created by decades of control of the legislature by liberal Democrats. Abel Maldonado seems to think that the problems in Sacramento are not caused by the Democrats, but by both parties. How you can possibly blame Republicans for our woes, given that we have virtually no input in California public policy (I don’t count Governor post-partisan)?

There are many who talk about the two… Read More

Board of Equalization Member Bill Leonard is an enthusiastic leader of Steve Poizner’s campaign for Governor. Today the Poizner Campaign released this memo from Leonard to their Grassroots Team…… Read More

It’s that time of year when we highlight which Republicans running for statewide office, Congress, State Senate and Assembly have signed the Americans for Tax Reform No New Taxes Pledge. This is NOT about playing "gotcha" though, or catching that candidate who would have signed but hadn’t thought about it.

So this is actually a "last minute warning" alert — we’ve been in touch with Americans for Tax Reform’s staff who are going to compile and send our way a list of those who have signed the form. When they do, we’ll be publishing that list along with a list of those candidate of whom we are aware, that have NOT signed the pledge.

The best way to make sure you don’t end up being questioned for not signing the pledge, if you would like to sign it, is to go to www.atr.org and download the pledge form, sign it, and fax it in.

Of course if you can envision a scenario where you, as a candidate, might vote to raise taxes, perhaps you should do everyone a favor — own up to it and don’t sign the pledge.… Read More