Like most of the California political community that has heard that the Secretary of State has said that the proponents of the Adams Recall did not have a high enough percentage of valid signatures in the random count to move forward with the election, or even to move forward with a manual count, I am shocked.

My initial thought was, "How could this happen?"

It seems like there are only three obvious possibilities, all of them extraordinarily lucky for Anthony Adams, who should by rights be facing a recall over his taking of the no new taxes pledge only to turn around and vote for the largest tax increase in the history of any state.

1) A really unlucky pull of random signatures. It’s not likely that all of the "bad apples" (invalid signatures) in the bunch would be all stuck together — but it is not impossible. Probably more likely that the Governor’s veto letter to Tom Ammiano was a coincidence.

2) Fraud by one of both Registrars of Voters. This isn’t likely. From what I’ve heard, the ROV in San Bernardino is as honest as the day is long. While I have little faith in the LA County ROV… Read More

I am a hard core conservative. But I never liked this recall effort on Anthony Adams from the beginning. I wrote so here. I don’t like the idea of commercial radio personalities who have no history in the trenches, and a profit motive, calling shots for the Republican party. While Adams voted the wrong way on the budget, in my view, a primary challenge would have been the better way to make the point. And I am sure that by now, Adams regrets his vote and has learned a huge lesson in politics. Let’s hear from Adams now: vote conservative all the way, or else! That is enough for me. Let us stop wasting resources on this stuff and start using resources fighting Democrats!!!… Read More

The Secretary of State has determined that the random sample of signatures for the recall of Assemblyman Anthony Adams indicates that 24,579 are valid.

The proponents of the recall needed 35,825.

Recall fails to qualify.… Read More

The latest from FR correspondent Bradley Benbrook, who is keeping a close eye on the redistricting process as we move closer to the redrawing of legislative lines…

One Step Closer To The Prop 11 Redistricting Commission Bradley Benbrook

California’s new redistricting process took another step forward this week with the selection of a three-member “applicant review panel,” comprised of three CPA’s from the Bureau of State Audits (one Republican, one Democrat, and one decline-to-state) who will review a mountain of applications for Proposition 11’s Citizen’s Redistricting Commission. Next year this panel will publicly interview applicants and ultimately narrow the field to three groups of 20 Republicans, 20 Democrats, and 20 unaffiliated applicants they… Read More

The latest from FR correspondent Bradley Benbrook, who is keeping a close eye on the redistricting process as we move closer to the redrawing of legislative lines… One Step Closer To The Prop 11 Redistricting Commission Bradley Benbrook

California’s new redistricting process took another step forward this week with the selection of a three-member “applicant review panel,” comprised of three CPA’s from the Bureau of State Audits (one Republican, one Democrat, and one decline-to-state) who will review a mountain of applications for Proposition 11’s Citizen’s Redistricting Commission. Next year this panel will publicly interview applicants and ultimately narrow the field to three… Read More

[Cross-posted from RedCounty.com]

Former Anaheim Councilman Tom Tait’s campaign for Mayor is metastasizing into a freight train of momentum.

Current Mayor Curt Pringle, who is close friends with Tom (whose last two years on the council overlapped with Curt’s first two as mayor) organized a kick-off Tait fundraiser at The White House in Anaheim that was monstrously successfully, raising $190,000 for Tom’s campaign.

You heard that right:$190,000.

There are candidates who have been running for legislative offices for more than a year who haven’t raised that much money. For a city council candidate to raise that much is practically unheard of. Curt Pringle raised more than $300,000 at a single event for his 2006 re-election drive.

In this case, the candidate has ben out of elected office for almost six years. The massive haul is testament not only to Curt Pringle fundraising prowess, but to Tom Tait’s popularity, which cuts across… Read More

Well respected political analyst Charlie Cook has issued his latest assessment of which U.S. Senate and House races are in play.

In the Senate he places Boxer in the "Leans Democrat" column.

For California House races, most of the seats are either "Safe Democrat" or "Safe Republican."

Here is a breakdown of those in-between (seven seats "in play" – 4D, 3R):

Likely Democrat Cardoza (CA-18) Costa (CA-20) Sanchez (CA-47)

Lean Democrat McNerney (CA-11)

Lean Republican Lungren (CA-3) Calvert (CA-44)

Likely Republican Mary Bono Mack (CA-45)… Read More

November 19, 2009

It’s a Tax, stupid.

by Acquanetta Warren

Halloween is over, but the fright is just beginning. At a time when taxpayers are struggling with a faltering economy, plummeting home values, declining retirement investments and education savings, salary cuts or job losses, and reduced public safety services, the state is there to help by adding to the burden. Talk about dumb.

It shouldn’t be allowed to happen, but it is – and at the worst possible time.

I’m talking… Read More