Four years ago only one Republican filed for the Board of Equalization’s Fourth District. The seat is now held by Democrat John Chiang and is heavily Democratic. It encompasses most of LA County (they left out the GOP areas) [Publisher’s note: Are there Republican areas of LA? – Flash]. The Republican nominee got 30% of the vote in the general election.
Legislators Judy Chu and Jerome Horton are battling it out on the Democratic side. Chiang is term limited and running for a statewide office
This year there are three candidates for the GOP side in what is turning into an interesting race for the Republican nomination.
The lone Republican four years ago was businessman Glen Forsch. He is running again this year. He is a traditional conservative Republican. Four years ago and this year he ran a grassroots campaign among GOP activists in this sprawling district (with 1/4 of the state’s voters).
Sam Park is Monterey Park businessman and an elected member of the California Senior Legislature. The Senior legislature was formed — to make sure seniors have a voice. (Apparently unbeknownst to us politicos who tell candidates to hang out at Senior Citizen Centers, seniors are underrepresented in the voting population and need a voice!) He also lost a race for Monterey Park City Council.
The newcomer is Eric Siddall. He has worked for Mitt Romney in Massachusetts And John McCain’s Senate Commerce Committee. He is probably most well known for his writing on how “Gay Marriage Promotes the Conservative Agenda”. You can see it here.
Siddall also sports the endorsement of Republican Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley. Not to shabby. In Los Angeles County the Log Cabin Club is very active and will be able to help him.
The real question is who will raise enough money to get their message out and/or buy up all the slates.
The real real question is why all the fuss over a race where the chances of winning are slimmer than slim to none.
The answer of course is the state Republican Central Committee. The winner of the GOP primary will have a seat on the state GOP Central Committee and as a bonus the Los Angeles County Republican Central Committee. The winner if his vote percentage goes above registration in November can appoint a few more people to the state committee.
Look for these types of races cropping up in very Democratic districts as the fight for control of the party continues.