The California Republican Party’s state convention is now in the rear-view mirror and the election is upon us. Millions of absentee ballots are being mailed out today and Californians will start voting later this week.

There are a lot of observations to be made about the weekend confab — but out the gate I am going to name the clear big winner of the convention – businessman Cole Harris, who is running for Lt. Governor of California — and who is now the officially endorsed candidate of the State GOP.

Harris wins the FlashReport Winner of the Convention honors for two reasons. The first was his ability to run a… Read More

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker showed a strong lead in a new California statewide poll of 600 likely Republican voters.

Walker leads by a statistically significant 20 percent margin in California’s June 7, 2016 presidential primary election, in the poll conducted Feb. 8-9 by Landslide Communications.

The results were particularly interesting because California Republicans see parallels with Wisconsin over the influence of public employee unions and labor agreements.

The poll questions were prepared by Jim Lacy, Managing Partner of Landslide Communications, and author of Taxifornia.

In an interview Thursday with Lacy, he explained:

When matched with 15… Read More

Democrats lost big in the November 2014 midterm elections. And their money folks lost even bigger. The country’s largest teachers unions spent nearly $60 million of their members’ money on the failed 2014 midterms elections.

What the 2014 results suggest is the significance of electing the first black president no longer applies. And it will not apply again in 2016.

The hysterical racial appeals to cultivate black voters failed. The “War on Women” failed. And that’s all they have. There are no back-benchers for the Democrats right now; they have been spending their capital without reinvesting.

Dems’ Aging… Read More

As reported in the Sacramento Bee on Sept. 26 “Teachers union, SEIU open wallets to California Republican Party,” in recent weeks the California Teachers Association donated the California GOP $15,000, the SEIU Local 1000 donated $10,000, and the California Correctional Peace Officers Association donated another $25,000. Representatives of all three of these powerful public sector unions were present at the GOP convention in Anaheim last weekend.

As a proportion of total GOP fundraising in California in 2013, $50,000 is small potatoes. Under the leadership of their new chairman Jim Brulte, theCalifornia GOP has raised over $3.0 million so far in 2013, enough to pay off their debts and put them onto viable financial footing. As a proportion of total public sector union political spending in California, $50,000 is even smaller potatoes. Just the CTA, with 325,000 members who on average pay over $1,000 per year in dues – about 30% of which is used for political activities – spends around $100 million per year to… Read More