I sent this to CRP Members and to FR E-mail Subscribers this morning, but since there are so many FR readers who do not get the free daily e-mail update, I thought I would throw this up here, too…

Last Saturday, I was humbled to be elected to the important position of Vice Chairman, South, of the California Republican Party. In this capacity, I will serve on the Board of Directors of the CRP, and act as a liaison between the State GOP and the County Republican Parties in Orange, Riverside, San Diego and Imperial Counties. Of course, each of us on the CRP Board has a duty to well-represent all 1500 Central Committee Members from all around California.

To those of you who supported my candidacy, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you so much for your support. Clearly my victory by nearly a two-to-one vote margin was because of the tremendous and widespread support that I had since announcing my candidacy last Summer. I could not… Read More

I don’t know about you, but to me, it seems like sometime in the last couple of weeks, it seems like someone flipped a switch and the 2008 Presidential primary has begun! Here in California, Democratic Presidential contender Barack Obama and GOP Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani are both making multi-day swings. Of course the other front-runners – Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, John McCain and Mitt Romney – have all been out campaigning in the Golden State, and all have plans to return here again soon. Of course, with the high likelihood of Californian’s Presidential primary moving up to next February (the bill has already passed the State Senate on the fast-track and is now awaiting action in the Assembly), these visits will increase even more as all of theses candidates will need to visit not only to raise money from our donor-rich state, but suddenly our delegates become more meaningful in the quest for each Party’s respective nomination. Looking at the GOP… Read More

I’m a little behind at my tally of Gubernatorial appointees, in terms of how many Democrats, how many Republicans, etcetera. I’ll blame my tardiness on my campaign for Party office. That said, I’ve dutifully saved the releases, and will play catch-up soon.

In the meantime, today the Governor announced some appointments worthy of noting right away:

GOVERNOR APPOINTS HEAD OF POLITICAL EFFORT TO PASS BONDS TO COMMISSION THAT WILL DOLE OUT BOND FUNDS The Gov has appointed James Earp to the State Transportation Commission: When I saw this appointment, my eyes popped out of my head. I cannot even imagine the logic behind ‘rewarding’ the political efforts of the Chairman of the Campaign to pass last year’s bond measures with an appointment to the extremely powerful State Commission that will be doling out much of the funds. Yet, in a shades-of-Gray-Davis move, that is what the Governor has done. Understand that James Earp, a Democrat who has served as chairman of the Yes on 1A-1E Campaign (and… Read More

I was very pleased to read the announcement that today Governor Schwarzenegger appointed retired State Senator Ross Johnson as the new Chairman of the State’s Fair Political Practices Commission. This is an outstanding appointment. Ross Johnson is someone I have known since I first got involved in politics in the late ’80’s. By then, he had already cut his teeth as a conservative leader in the State Assembly, where he had been serving since 1978. I can remember like it was yesterday the hard-fought special election that Ross won in 1995 to become elected to the State Senate. It was a hard campaign, but a fun one. Ross was an outstanding candidate, and served as a great State Senator until term-limits forced him out of the legislature in 2004. It’s not always that I know a high-level appointee well enough to gush-on about them like this, but since I know that Ross, a humble man, will hate every minute of it, I will take the opportunity share that he is perfect for… Read More

I have had 100% confirmation that long-time California Republican Party Chief Operating Officer Mike Vallante is going to be soon departing from his post to take on new responsibilities with a presidential campaign. Back once upon a time, when I served as Executive DIrector of the CRP (since then, the title has been changed to COO), Mike Vallante worked for the CRP as its Finance Director. He’s a great guy. Which campaign, you ask? A picture is worth a thousand words.… Read More

According to The Hill newspaper, right now California Congressman Duncan Hunter has more Congressional endorsements in his bid for the Presidency than former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Of course, maybe that actually helps The Mayor, since Congress isn’t so popular these days. Congratulations to Hoover Institution Fellow and FR friend Williamson "Bill" Evers who was tapped by W. to be Assistant Secretary of Education for Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development. Perhaps while there he can advise that "federalizing" education through programs like No Child Left Behind is a bad thing. In his Silicon Valley appearance yesterday, GOP Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani talked a lot about global warming. I don’t remember it being a big part of his talk to Republican leaders at the State GOP Convention last weekend… If Joel Stein’s column today in the Los Angeles Times where he describes the cloistered work of fellows at the Hoover Institute at Stanford is even close to accurate, we should all be lining up to spend time there. If you buy into the argument that all … Read More

Ron Nehring having been elected to the Chairmanship of the California Republican Party, the Chairman’s seat for the San Diego Republican Party has opened. In past weeks in various meetings and over the weekend at the GOP Convention, the whispers and commitments began in full force between potential candidates, committeemembers, and elected officials.

As of yesterday there were two strong candidates: Tony Krvaric (pictured to the left) and Mike McSweeney. Both are Party stalwarts with a commitment to the organization that has been built over the last several years. Both have the confidence of donors, officials, and activists.

At last night’s committee meeting (like the weekend wasn’t enough) however, Mr. McSweeney… Read More

SB 113, the bill to move up California’s Presidential Primary from June to February, flies through the Senate today, 31-5.All "no" votes were by Republicans. The billwasthen hurried to the Assembly Rules Committee today, where they met off our floor during session. It then passed out of the Rules Committee[over Republican objections on process, the bill hasn’t been in print 30 days] I half-expected a bunch of rule waivers to bring it to our floor today but that didn’t happen, it would take 60 floor votes to waive the "30 days in print" rule. We’ll see what they try Friday. Amazing how quick a bill can move sometimes, when the Legislature is "motivated"….… Read More