Senate Republicans: Referendum or Irrelevance
A few days ago it happened that I was sitting down with former Senate (and Assembly) Republican Leader Jim Brulte. While we talked about a number of things, when the topic came up of redistricting, and the recently announced plans of the Senate Republican Caucus to qualify a referendum on the Senate District maps created by the California Redistricting Commission, Jim was very clear — he said that referring the proposed lines was critical, and that there was simply no choice. He told me, “I have reviewed in detail the Commission lines for the California State Senate, and I can tell you that it will be nearly impossible for Republicans to block aDemocrat super-majority.”
Many readers of this column know Senator Brulte, though the vast majority of you do not. Brulte has a reputation both for being a keen political strategist — and an equally strong reputation for not talking out of school, or making widely speculative statements.
I wrote about the importance of qualifying the referendum on the State Senate lines last week, but it is… Read More