PLESCIA SET TO TAKE REINS FROM MCCARTHY
Thanks to a number of conversations with members of the Assembly Republican Caucus yesterday, the FlashReport is pleased to congratulation San Diego Assemblyman George Plescia on becoming the new Assembly Republican Leader!
Over a week ago, the FR reported that AR Leader Kevin McCarthy was making ‘what if’ phone calls to members of the caucus, engaging them in ‘theoretical’ discussions about how long he might stay on as leader if he were to run for Congress. These calls, of course, were our first real hint that 14-term incumbent Congressman Bill Thomas of Bakersfield was seriously considering retiring from the House.
This set into motion a behind-the-scenes scramble between various GOP legislators to see who would become the leader whenever McCarthy moved on, whether in days or months. By my reckoning, the strongest candidates through that internal process were George Plescia, Mimi Walters, Rick Keene and for a brief moment, Sharon Runner.
With yesterday’s formal announcement by Thomas that he is calling it quits, the politicking, networking, alliance-making and horse-trading accelerated to a crescendo — and when the dust cleared — conservative stalwart and FR friend George Plescia emerged as the consensus candidate for Assembly Republican Leader!
At this point, it will all be about the details, the first of which will be timing. The Assembly Republican Caucus meeting originally scheduled for today would have been ideal, but it was cancelled to facilitate a noon press conference by Kevin McCarthy, in Bakersfield, where he will be announcing his candidacy for Congress. The vote will be at lunchtime tomorrow, though this may not be the actual passing of the baton, but rather formalizing two whom it will be passed.
I’m sure there will be discussions taking place between Plescia and his developing leadership team, and the outgoing McCarthy. McCarthy has been showing strong leadership during the debate on the Governor’s proposal Strategic Infrastructure Growth Bond and early budget talks. How this transition takes place remains to be worked out.
On the staff side, I haven’t heard any news on whether there will be wholesale change at the top, though this is usually the case as a new leader seeks to bring staff in with whom he has an existing relationship. However, Plescia has been close with McCarthy and Bogh, so this may not be as pronounced as some transitions. One person likely to stay in his post is the lead political consultant for Assembly Republicans, Joe Justin. Joe was retained by McCarthy a couple of months ago, but conveniently is Plescia’s own consultant, so if anything, Joe has an even stronger relationship with the incoming leader.
Again, congratulations George!
(Yeah, we had a lot more juicy details of intregue – but the FR is NOT the press, and some things are best left to those who participated, and not put out into the open.)
W&L OF THE GOP CONVENTION
Today we feature the long-awaited Winners & Losers of the State GOP Convention on the main page. I won’t give away their names here, but make sure you scroll down to the top ten list of AWOL Republicans — not showing up at all makes you a ‘loser’ for sure!
If you think my selections were brilliant, let me know ;) Seriously, though, I always end up with a few honorable mentions in the coming days as people point out obvious gaffes to me, so feel free to chime in. This is an art, not a science!
**There is more – click the link**