Tomorrow at 11 AM, Turlock Irrigation District Board Member Mike Berryhill declares his candidacy for U.S. Congress against Dennis Cardoza. Berryhill, the cousin of current Assemblymembers Bill and Tom Berryhill will be a strong candidate against the newly vulnerable Cardoza.A farmer, Mike Berryhillhas served on the TID Board for over 25 years. With a formidable resume that includes an MBA from Northwestern, President of the California Young Farmers and Ranchers and two terms on the Ceres School Board, Berryhill has the backgroundto highlight Cardoza’s failures on many issues. This race ups the stakes considerably in the very competitive Central Valley. (Disclosure: He is a client)

With his move to Maryland and his vulnerability on the healthcare and cap and tax bills, Cardoza will be a new concern for Nancy Pelosi and the DCCC as Kevin McCarthy expands the battlefield to a district where Cardoza ran unopposed last cycle in a district won by President Bush in 2004.

More details to follow….including website… Read More

Some news of note from the past week…

Poizner Hi-lites GOP Elected Officials Tribute… Thursday night’s Republican Party of San Diego annual "Salute to Republican Elected Officials" at the Bahia Resort was well attended, with Insurance Commissioner and Governor hopeful Steve Poiznerkeynoting the event. Hisarea visit resulted in a KUSI news story on the governor’s race, also including video clips from Meg Whitman’s San Diego stops a couple of weeks ago.

KUSI Reporter Steve Bosh notes that all three GOP candidates for Governor, including Tom Campbell, are "distancing themselves from Arnold Schwarzenegger." Wow, now there’s a stretch.

Here’s the KUSI story.

Heating up in 77th AD… If you missed it, on Thursday another candidate announced for an anticipated open Joel Anderson seat. It’s now four candidates that have decided they would each rather get a head start on 2010 than wait for an Anderson senate run confirmation.… Read More

It seems the Chronicle, whose concern about the health of the State’s GOP is well documented, is now worried about who votes in Republican primaries. Excuse me if I don’t worry about the Chronicles opinion about our party. We have a bigger problem.

Rod Lapsley, of the State’s Chamber of Commerce, commented that prohibiting decline to state voters from voting in Republican primaries would relegate the party to "permanent minority status." Excuse me if I don’t care what the Chamber thinks, either. The Chamber is as much responsible for Democrat hegemony in this state as any other group. They demand absolute fidelity from Republicans, but have little problems hopping into bed with the other side if it suits their purpose. The Democrats have a faithful spouse in the unions; the business community, to whom the Republicans seem to have married their future, cheat on the Republicans all the time. They do not have our best interest in mind either.

Republicans’ problems go deeper than who votes in their primaries, and the sooner Republicans understand that, the better we will be. In the same day as the Chronicle story… Read More

Original Post: 712pm Friday (Update Below)

In a shocker for Riverside County politics, longtime Supervisor Roy Wilson (pictured), whose 4th District Supervisorial Seat is on the eastern end of the county — and much of the Coachella Valley. In his resignation letter Wilson states that he is resigning because of his poor health — and so we extend our heartfelt best wishes to Wilson as he deals with this personal trauma.

In this instance, the vacancy on the Board of Supervisors will be filled by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Whomever he selects would fill out the remainder of Wilson’s term, which would have expired next year.

In what I would a non-typical circumstance, Wilson actually asks the Governor to appoint newly elected State Senator… Read More

FlashReport Exclusive…Let’s see, I wrote previously that Joel Anderson had yet to say he’s not runing for re-election to his 77th Assemby District seat next year, resulting in FR honcho Jon Fleischman calling it quaint that I would even doubt Joel isn’t running for Senate in the 36th (Hollingsworth, currently). Quaint.

Of course, I didn’t say I doubted it, I simply said Joel hadn’t officially done anything, like file paperwork.

So, speaking of filing paperwork, in this case for an open 77th, we have another candidate to go along with Christine Rubin (see FR post), Brian Jones and Bill Wells.

Former Cajon Valley Schools Trustee let me know a short time ago that he submitted paperwork today to run. Here’s what he has to say…

I am pleased to… Read More

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FR readers should be very pleased to learn that yesterday Governor Schwarzenegger appointed conservative leader Chuck Poochigian to serve as a judge on the Fifth District Court of Appeal! This is great news.

As most know, Poochigian served for many many years in the California legislature, distinguishing himself as a legislator who understood and respected the limited role for government that was envisioned by our Founding Fathers. Prior to serving in the State Senate and State Assembly, Poochigian served in the administration of Governor Pete Wilson — he served as Judicial Appointments Secretary (a small world, indeed).

We always add that it is a mixed blessing when conservative leaders are appointed to the bench. Of course it is great for the state, and for those who believe that we should have judges who enforce the laws of the land, as opposed to making the laws. But this also takes Pooch off of the "political field of play" as it is traditional and expected for judges to be… Read More

After a long day of waiting, the Assembly just adjourned without taking up any new business.

This is a major victory for Californians. My colleagues from across the aisle pulled back from a public safety disaster at the very last minute. With more than a handful of Democrats having issues with the Senate bill, the sentencing commission (along with its absurd requirement of one ex-felon member) and early release of prisonersare bothdead for the time being.

So even though waiting for absolutely nothing today may have been a big waste of time, I am very happy to say that California scored a major victory tonight.… Read More