FLASHREPORT

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, “no”. He replied with, “President Bush wants these rules changes.” My response was something like, “If Bush cares about the CRP Rules changes after we just lost the World Trade Center , I want him impeached”. So it wouldn't be the first time someone’s name has been used without authorization.

2. Meg Whitman DOES know about this. This is very troubling. It is similar to Spring Convention when I saw a State Assembly candidate. I asked him why he was there and not campaigning in his race. He told me it was in the bag. Well, he won’t be called Assemblyman this year because he lost the primary. If Whitman knows then she isn’t as focused on beating Brown as I would hoped she would be.

Why would the Whitman campaign want to get involved in this convention?

Maybe they think there is a straw poll and they want to make sure they beat Steve Poizner?

I won’t raise the issue of consultants making money. In my years, I have met no people purer in heart than the political consultant. So absent a profit motive, why?

I was in Sacramento last week and I ran into someone on the Meg Whitman payroll. It isn’t that hard to do so up there and I asked that question. The response was they didn’t want any “trouble” at the convention.

Really? Then why jump into fights. Does the Whitman campaign want headlines from political reporters about how her proxies were used to beat up conservatives? Or headlines favoring conservatives over moderates? The last one probably wasn’t realistic, but here is a good one.

CRA President Celeste Greig has a resolution supporting Arizona ’s immigration law. Would reporters and maybe John and Ken wonder if Whitman’s proxies were used to kill the resolution? Or did she use them to let it pass? Maybe the answer depends on the geography, but you see my point. By actively involving themselves they have made “trouble” for themselves, when they should be beating up Jerry Brown.

Listening to the torturous half-hour in-studio interview of Meg Whitman on the John and Ken Show last week was not easy to do. At first blush it would seem difficult to imagine a candidate with so much money and so many consultants doesn’t understand the electorate or John and Ken.

Whitman supporter Ventura County Supervisor Peter Foy published a thoughtful column in the San Diego Union Tribune explaining some of the problems with her campaign's strategy, which appeared on the same day of the John and Ken interview debacle.  And he was on the mark. But there is more.

It amazes me that up in Sacramento, where many of the consultants live, they just  don’t understand the phenomenon of the Los Angeles based-John and Ken.  Before I became a “spokeshole” (A John and Ken term), I had several opportunities to be on the show and actually did on-site shows in various locations to gather petition signatures on the issue of illegal immigration. 

A few mistakes the consultants make relative to John and Ken are as follows.

• Thinking John and Ken are or should be Republican hacks. Memo: they aren’t and they don’t care about Republicans or the Grand Old Party.  They are radio hosts that want to be successful. Their path is not to read the talking points memo put out from the GOP. It just doesn’t happen. In that sense they are more populist. But also what has been good for ratings is also exposing Republicans that say one thing, like pledging not to raise taxes, and then doing another. That is a Republican Party problem, not John and Ken’s.
• Underestimating their appeal. In the Capitol, I was always surprised by how many people would say, “I don’t know why people say they should worry about John and Ken. Who listens to them anyways?"  I don’t know. How about the estimated listening audience of over a million people during peak drive times? Lets say it is half that. Not to shabby. I represented my boss at a meeting with 40 people. It was a heck of a meeting but not thousands.  John and Ken's daily listeners could fill the Rose Bowl -- over and over and over!
  
• Thinking if they don’t win, they don’t have an impact. Some of the projects that John and Ken adopt don’t pan out. An initiative isn’t qualified or a person isn’t recalled. Major League batters don’t hit a home run at every at-bat. John and Ken have a pretty good batting average and do make a difference. Especially in a close race.

That brings us to Meg Whitman, who they now call Nutmeg. John and Ken say they don’t want Jerry Brown as Governor. I know I don’t want Jerry Brown to be Governor. I suffered through that once.

John and Ken are putting voice to a very real concern that I have heard from many conservatives -- who are upset enough that I would call it a big problem.  They can’t be blackmailed into voting for the Republican nominee anymore. Twenty years ago it went like this, "Pete Wilson isn’t good on everything, but we need him for reapportionment, judges etc..."

In 2003 and 2006, it was, "Look Schwarzenegger isn’t good on everything, but if Bustamante or Angelides become governor we would get higher taxes, bigger government, Harvey Milk Day, regulations on ammo, same-sex marriage, Democratic judges, horrendous environmental regulations, high unemployment, huge budget deficits, massive increases in bond debt, businesses leaving the state, dogs and cats living together..."   At least we didn’t get the cats and dogs.

So that is the problem. In 2010 the blackmail doesn’t work. The nuances or “triangulation” that candidates used successfully in prior elections doesn’t cut it. That is why you see Poizner and McClintock and others are not racing to the Whitman campaign -- and Foy, who is supporting Whitman, boldly challenging her strategies in a major daily newspaper.  That is the message of many that sympathize with the Tea Party movement.

What people want in 2010 is boldness, clarity and courage. Even if they don’t agree with every position, the boldness will be rewarded. This isn’t like past elections.

John and Ken tap that knowledge for their radio program. GOP candidates, especially Meg Whitman, should tap into it for votes.

Part of the debate around proposition 23 will be about jobs. AB 32 is responsible for driving out of California companies that can’t comply or can’t afford these new regulations and higher energy costs. No worries “Green Job” will be our savior.

First you may be interested in what a “green job” is? I found out some amazing things from Jared Blumenfeld, Obama's Regional Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency. Before this gig he was the Director of San Francisco’s Environmental Department.

At a regional visit in June, he talked about ‘green jobs”. Workers that install insulation=green job. Bicycle repairman, I mean bicycle repairperson = green job. I’m not kidding, he didn’t say anything about shoe store owners or cleaning people who turn off the lights, but why not? If you pick up a day laborer in front of Home Depot you are helping illegals and the environment as long as they put in insulation. That is a liberal twofer.  Apparently Covina Valley Schwinn was doing green jobs my entire life. Who knew?

But it gets better. Anyone involved at all gets counted as a “green job”. Lawyers, secretaries, shipping clerks, reserachers, environmental lobbyists, and even evil Wall Street venture capitalists. The people that make up the numbers count them all. This logic should be expanded. Maybe donut store clerks are public safety related jobs or Staples clerks are education related jobs. You can prove almost anything if you are willing to cook the books.

But the scam doesn’t end there. Many of these companies are California based. Which really means the wealthy venture capitalists, and some administrative staff are in California enjoying the weather and their sense of self-esteem through using tax subsidies to save the earth, but the jobs don’t come to California all that much.

San Jose’s Solexant is building a solar plant in Oregon, if they get enough tax money to do it. Amonix, in beautiful Seal Beach is doing their project in North Las Vegas. Say good bye to 278 jobs. MiaSole from Santa Clara is using about $100 million in tax credits to build a plant in Georgia. So a 1000 jobs go down there along with the devil. Well maybe the devil came here.

So when you hear ‘green jobs” realize many really aren’t or weren’t “green jobs" until they needed to find green jobs. And that the jobs being created are quasi-government jobs that require subsidies from you and me, but even California companies know California is a bad place to do business, unless you repair bicycles.

 

King Ron George will finally leave the building. Chief Justice Ron George will not longer be the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. Good riddance.

Ron George epitomizes what is wrong about allowing activist judges to dictate their personal views into law. Same-sex marriage is just one example of how George's so-called leadership has played out. George's court redefined overturned the will of the people and re-defined marriage. Then knowing there was an election just a few month away refused to stay the order. Why? In order to insure the views of the great and wonderful George could become law in a cold political calculation to influence the November election. For this he will be remembered.

The Parental consent case that George presided over showed his willingness to undermine the judicial system in order to impose his social views on the people of California. As many know a bi-partisan parental consent law was passed the Legislature and signed by Governor Deukmejian. The law was on hold until the court cases could be resolved. Turns out the California State Supreme Court actually upheld the constitutionality of the law. At that point there were some justice changes and George used his power to rehear the case. The new make-up decided to strike down the law. One day it is constitutional, the next it isn't. Politics over precedence.

There are many other examples of Ron George ruling against private property rights, religious freedom and business owners as he pursued an increasingly liberal activist agenda.

Ron George won't be missed on the court. However he will still be in your pocketbook. George through his Judicial Council successfully advocated raises fees on all court filings including parking tickets, family court filings, and traffic violations and attending traffic school in order to build courthouses. You know the courthouses that the state doesn't have the money to staff. You know the courthouses that are only used between 8-5 weekdays when working people can't access them. You know the courthouses that many of the people paying the fee will never see, but the trial lawyers will spend months trying cases in rooms funded by others.

 Unfortunately Old Supreme Court Justices never die; their rulings and fees still get implemented.

 

FR has covered the controversy of the competing claims of leadership of the Republican Party of Los Angeles (RPLAC) of Jane Barnett and Robert Vaughn, including the outcome of the May 26, 2010 court case. The court ruled in Barnett's favor.

A reporter called me right before the case for a comment and I told the reporter that the outcome of a court case wouldn't decide the future of the RPLAC, but the following weeks Central Committee elections would. I should point out I have been an elected RPLAC member for almost two decades. Yikes!. And I am a local Lincoln Club Chair.

Here is a quick look at it. I should note that RPLAC could have over 200 members. With people elected from districts that have little GOP registration to some that have a lot. Some District are very small, like the LA portion of the 61t AD. Needless to say in some districts you get whomever runs and that is it.

As I look at the winners, Barnett clearly was the winner. She had help from the LA County Lincoln Club that bought slates in the very competitive areas.

There help had a big impact.

In the 36th District they won 7 of 7, 6 of 6 in the 40th, 5 of 7 in the 41st.  5 of 7 in the 42nd, 7 of 7 in the 43rd, 7 of 7 in the 44th, 7 of 7 in the 53rd, 6 of 7 in the 54th, and 7 of 7 in the 59th.

In other words 57 of their endorsed candidates won in competition for 62 slots. Roberts Vaughn came in 17th of 18th for re-election to the 44th Assembly District. I guess voters don't remember The Man from U.N.C.L.E. anymore?

Although Vaughn stays on the Central Committee as an ex-offico, he filed for a Congressional seat as well; Barnett clearly has the edge at the future reorganization committee.

Flying through Vegas this weekend I noticed this hand dryer. It is a little blurry (people don't like cameras in restrooms). A rebel in the spirit of 1776 placed a sticker on it that says.

"Please push button and listen to a short message from the President"



Made my day.

If I had a dollar for every time some liberal newspaper or pundit said conservatives lost an election, I could well run for Governor of California. Of course most of the time they are wrong and the June 2010 election is one example.  In the June primary conservatives won.

"What," you may say? Meg Whitman is our GOP nominee. So is Carly Fiorina. How did conservatives win?

If I had a dollar for every time some liberal newspaper or pundit said conservatives lost an election, I could well run for Governor of California. Of course most of the time they are wrong and the June 2010 election is one example.

In the June primary conservatives won.

"What," you may say? Meg Whitman is our GOP nominee. So is Carly Fiorina. How did conservatives win?

Simply look at messaging. Someone show me the ad that Meg Whitman ran saying "I am a moderate vote for me". I saw a lot of ads beating up Steve Poizner for being a liberal and implying that she was more conservative. Show me otherwise and I will buy you lunch.

Carly Fiorina ran ads beating up Tom Campbell on taxes and featuring Sarah Palin. She got pro-life endorsements as well. Again show me her "moderate" ad. Carly is a conservative and ran as one.

The reality is our nominees had to run as conservatives. Even a Maldonado slate mailer said he was conservative. LOL.

Conservatives do need to find better ways to get the truth out when being outspent by their opponents, but no one ran as a moderate.

Finally the legislative elections tell the real story.

The seats held by the three tax increasing Assembly members are being replaced by conservatives. (Pugno, Halderman and Donnelly) Other additions like Mike Morrell and Kristen Olsen. Conservatives. Brian Jones, Allan Mansoor and Don Wagnor. Oh ya conservative.

In almost every race for a safe GOP Assembly seat the successor is as or more conservative than the person being replaced.Simply look at messaging. Someone show me the ad that Meg Whitman ran saying "I am a moderate vote for me". I saw a lot of ads beating up Steve Poizner for being a liberal and implying that she was more conservative. Show me otherwise and I will buy you lunch.

Carly Fiorina ran ads beating up Tom Campbell on taxes and featuring Sarah Palin. She got pro-life endorsements as well. Again show me her "moderate" ad. Carly is a conservative and ran as one.

The reality is our nominees had to run as conservatives. Even a Maldonado slate mailer said he was conservative. LOL.

Conservatives do need to find better ways to get the truth out when being outspent by their opponents, but no one ran as a moderate.

Finally the legislative elections tell the real story.

The seats held by the three tax increasing Assembly members are being replaced by conservatives. (Pugno, Halderman and Donnelly) Other additions like Mike Morrell and Kristen Olsen. Conservatives. Brian Jones, Allan Mansoor and Don Wagnor. Oh ya conservative.

In almost every race for a safe GOP Assembly seat the successor is as or more conservative than the person being replaced.

Horrible Arizona has passed a horrible law that allows cops to ask about immigration status if someone horrible is busted doing something wrong and has no identification. Did I say how horrible?

Somehow critics of the law think Arizona peace officers will take time from busting smugglers on the border and increased violence in their cities to check identification cards at local theaters and somehow violate everyone's rights. Well not everyone's.

Needless to say such an outrage must be met harshly. My county and several cities have decided that they will boycott Arizona and its companies. Martin Luther King and Ceaser Chavez are held up as great examples of the success of boycotts.

Truly though today's boycotters are nothing like their heroes. Today's boycotters are wimps. They will only boycott unless it is "necessary". Some sacrifice. We will not do business with you unless we need too. What a great battle cry. If it hurts I'll stop.

I'm not Catholic, but sometimes people will ask what I am giving up for Lent. I usually reply by saying "salad". These boycotters want to feel warm and fuzzy without enduring any kind of real sacrifice. It is to be expected. Look at most student protests on campus. One demand when there is trespassing or property damage is  that charges will be dropped against the criminals amongst them.

What a bunch of wimps.

Then you have to ask yourself what why were all these government agencies doing business and traveling to Arizona if it WASN'T needed. Aren't  times tough enough that they shouldn't be doing unnecessary traveling to other states?

Wasters.

Are wimps and wasters the new Democratic Party Majority?

Much has been made about the possibility of Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina heading the two top spots on the ballot for Republicans.

What many miss is the dramatic increase that will happen at the State Assembly level. Conservative GOP women are heading to Sacramento.

The current count in the state assembly is 4. Diane Harkey and Connie Conway are staying where they are at. Audra Strickland is termed out and hopefully wins a County Supervisor seat in Ventura.

The fourth Jean Fuller will win her primary and win election to the State Senate. That would make two counting Mimi Walters. A third could be Lucille Kring running against Lou Correa in the competitive Senate District in Orange County.

In the Assembly, there are a several gains where for the most part CONSERVATIVE GOP women could win in heavily GOP seats.

Assembly 25 has two women in the front fundraising wise. Janice Keating and Kristen Olsen. This is Tom Berryhills seat.

Assembly District 29 has Linda Halderman leading the pack to succeed Mike Villines. (I am a proud donor to her campaign so she better win)

I am pretty confident about those two replace the two leaving.

Then there are other races to watch.

Assembly District 32 to replace Fuller has Shannon Grove locked in battle with Ken Mettler.

Assembly District 33 Etta Waterfield is in a fight with Matt Kokkonen and Khatchik Achadijan

Assembly District 63 has two women with a chance to win. Redland City Councilwomen Pat Gilbreath and Fontana City Councilwomen Acquanetta Warren. This race is blood bath and I'm not sure who comes out on top. Other candidates include Paul Chabot, Mike Morrell and Don Kurth.

Assembly District 77 the Joel Anderson seat has Bill W3ells and Brian Jones battling with Christine Rubin.

There could be a gain of four more likely a little less than that. The best part is that with a couple exceptions the women are running as conservatives. NExt door in Nevada a the GOP will nominate a women to beat Harry Reid.

I should also mention that Barbara Alby is running hard against George Runner for the BOE #2. Of course Michelle Steel is already a GOP member of the board.

Take that you liberals who think the Republican women. We love women....the conservative kind.

A quick rundown of the 59th Assembly District GOP Candidates fundraising

In first is former City Councilman Chris Lancaster. Lancaster who has run before has raised and contributed himself over 160K. He is clearly the money leader. He is also the leader in endorsements having secured Dick Mountjoy, and Bob Huff. He also has endorsements from both parts of this vast district Lancaster is also the candidate that seems to have broken through in Sacramento. He also has support of most the public safety unions that have endorsed. Lancaster has bought more slates than anyone else and mailed more as well, but has only 6K on hand. Consultant is Chris Jones.

In Second is Claremont Mayor and former legislative staffer Corey Calaycay. His totals are 93K raised and he has the most COH of 42K. Calaycay has some slates and has done some mail He has a lot of endorsements from the LA County side of the district and the endorsements of the San Bernardino Sun and Inland Valley Bulletin.

In third is Hesperia School Board member Anthony Riley. Riley raised over 67K and has almost 17K on hand. Riley has done mail with consultant Steve Presson. Riley endorsements are mostly from the San Bernardino side of the district as wells as the committee to Recall Adams.

Ken Hunter, Tim Donnelly and Iver Bye didn't rise of the 50K necessary to file. No matter how good your message you need money to get it out.

Riley and Lancaster have been hitting each other. 

So here are the questions for the last week?

Will Calaycay spend the money (he loaned himself 50K)?

Does Lancaster have enough to get through the last week and did he overcome some of the issues that cost him four years ago?

How much of the Lancaster vs. Riley help Calaycay?

Does San Bernardino County still have enough of an operation to elect some one in this seat?

Stay tuned. For other posts on the seat start here.

We all know Jon is not one to toot his own horn, I thought I would take a moment as a member of the FlashReport team to congratulate him on his being named by Capitol Weekly as the 49th most influential person in the State Capitol (elected officials were excluded from the list).  Few people made the list who are actually committed to shrinking the size and scope of state government.  And even fewer managed to make the list who live and work over 500 miles from Sacramento!

Capitol Weekly annually puts out their list of the 100 power-brokers in Capitol policy and politics.  If I recall, last year Jon was somewhere in the bottom 50, so he's actually moving up in influence, according to CapWeekly.  I might question their judgment, but Anthony York didn't call me.

Congratulations, Jon, on well deserved recognition.  I am sure you realize that this would not have been possible without your fellow FlashReport contributors, and as such we'll all be expecting a piece of that cash prize (assuming the FPPC doesn't ban bloggers from receiving prizes).

You are such a man of principle, though, I wonder if you will publicly reject being on a list when it is topped by none other than your close friend, Susan Kennedy, the Democrat Chief of Staff to the Governor on whom you call (unsuccessfully) to resign each year.

For those unfamiliar with the California Republican Assembly endorsement process, it is bottom up. This means that local units endorse locally not the state. Any unit that has ANY part of the district in their boundaries can participate. Gerrymandered districts make this interesting. As a past president I know this makes things interesting. Sometimes the locals defy prevailing wisdom. I have seen a great conservative do something to enrage local delegates and lose the endorsement and I have seen local units find a gem that no one in Sacramento is talking about. And as always it takes a 2/3rds vote of the delegates to be endorsed.
 
CRA held their Los Angeles endorsing convention Saturday in Pasadena. CRA President Celeste Greig presided.
 
Below is the list of endorsements. There were some good presentations. Star Parker running against Laura Richardson for Congress is always awesome to hear. She was of course endorsed. The one surprising race was the 59th AD. The San Bernardino County part of the district was invited. And the Hesperia unit I'm told decided not to send delegates. Anthony Riley, Ken Hunter and Corey Calaycay didn't show.
 
I don't know is it was an organized boycott or not, but in the political process there is an important lesson in all of this. If you don't show up or boycott your side usually loses.
 
The delegates there endorsed Chris Lancaster. Obviously Dick Mountjoy's support is really critical in some of those LA units. Tim Donnelly and Iver Bye did make presentations. They sounded solid conservative themes, but Lancaster was the big winner.
 
ENDORSEMENTS FOR CRA LA COUNTY CONVENTION (any spelling errors below are Peggy Mew's not mine for a change)
 
LA COUNTY ASSESSOR
    John Dortch
 
CONGRESS
    26th CD    David Dreier         
    27th CD    Mark Reed                  
    28th CD    Merlin Froyd               
    29th CD    John Colbert               
    30th CD    David Benning            
    31st CD    Stephen Smith           
    32nd CD    Ed Schmerling           
    33rd CD    James Andion            
    35th CD    K Bruce Brown           
    36th CD    Pete Kesterson          
    37th CD    Star Parker                
    39th CD    Larry Andre                
 
STATE SENATE   
    20th SD    Suzy Evans   
    24th SD    William Morrison   
    26th SD    Rabbi Nachum Shifren
    28th SD    John Stammreich
    30th SD    Noel Jaimes
 
ASSEMBLY
    36th AD    Steve Knight              
    37th AD    Jeff Corell                  
    38th AD    Cameron Smyth        
    40th AD    Dennis De Young      
    43rd AD    Sunder Ramani         
    44th AD    Alvaro Day                
    47th AD    Lady Cage                
    49th AD    Brad Taylor               
    50th AD    P J Mellana             
    52nd AD   Gwen Patrick           
    53rd AD    Nathan Mintz           
    54th AD    Martha Flores Gibson
    58th AD    Garrett May             
    59th AD    Chris Lancaster        
 
 
 
CENTRAL COMMITTEE
    44TH AD
        Peter Amundson
        Steven Johnson
        Elaine Klock
        Gene Masuda
        Peggy Mew
        John Quintanilla
        Julie Vallante
 
   53rd AD
        Patrick Kit Bobko
        Bob Holmes
        Kimberlee Mac Mullan
        Richard Montgomery
        John Parsons
        Julius Wilson
 
    54th AD
        Deborah Berger
        Alex Burrola
        John Cozza
        John Fer
        Davina Keiser
        Dave Najar
        Nancy Sciortino
 
    59th AD
        Linda Boyd
        Carolyn Gonzales
        John Gordon
        Paul Gray
        Jamie Menetrey
        Jim Meyer
        Joseph Salas
 
 
 
 

So you want to win a California GOP Primary?

June is almost here and I get asked a lot about what it takes to win a GOP Primary. I tell people it takes two things.
1.       A Conservative Message
2.       Enough money to get it out. You don't need the most money, but a basic minimum level to be competitive

So what should the message be? Some will tell you that this cycle it is jobs, health care, the economy, anti-establishment, being the most conservative etc...

Here is a secret on communicating all that to GOP voters whether you are running for Governor or Assembly. Ready.

Attack the Governor.

That's right not President Obama, but Arnold.

The last few months I have opened many presentations to GOP oriented groups (not just the hard core one) with something this like. "Governor Schwarzenegger is a failure."

Guaranteed applause every time. 

Of course it is a fact. His poll ratings are in the 20's. He broke promise after promise and worse kept a couple. Arnold raised taxes, cost jobs with AB 32, grew government, signed nanny state legislation, and opposed Prop. 8, appointed bad judges, doubled the bond debt, released prisoners early, and on and on and on. My wife says I shouldn't tell people I told you so, so I won't.

Distinguishing yourself from the worst GOP Governor in California's history does several things.

1. It defines you as a conservative.

2. It shows you got the moxie to take on the powerful big government interests.

3. People are talking about you not your opponent.

4. It shows you aren't an R by the name kind of candidate. You mean what you say. Principle and people over the party.

The last point can't be understated. People are mad at Democrats AND Republicans. Too many GOP officials pass on criticizing bad ideas if a Republican says them.

Think the strategy doesn't work? Ask governor Crist how his Senate race is faring?

 

Some significant events took place in the 59th AD GOP Primary race in the last couple of weeks.

On the endorsement front: The Recall Anthony Adams Committee announced support for Anthony Riley. This coupled with the Howard Jarvis endorsement gives him a couple of good district wide endorsements.

At the Lincoln Club debate last Friday Corey Calaycay announced support from his former boss Senator Bob Margett.

Chris Lancaster picked up LA County Supervisor Mike Antonovich and the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs. All are solid endorsements.

On the money end only Calaycay and Lancaster met the 50K threshold to file electronically. The difference between the two is about 50K. Lancaster loaned 100K and Calaycay loaned 50K. So far most of the money has been spent on slates. Lancaster does have Chris Jones on the payroll.

The Lincoln Club debate was not as heated as in past years. All but Tim Donnelly were able to attend. Ken Hunter, Chris Lancaster, Anthony Riley and Inver Bye all sounded conservative themes. Hunter's grassroots campaign had RINO hunting licenses for people. Nice touch. I have a couple trophies on the wall myself. A couple close attacks, but that will wait for the mail. If they have the money?

It will take money and money fast to make this horse race.

Stay tuned..... for earlier posts start here.