No matter how the impending recount comes out in the final results of the Orange County special election to succeed Democrat Lou Correa on the Board of Supervisors, the winner is more than just Republican candidate Trung Nguyen, it is also Assemblyman Van Tran, who threw his formidable Orange County organization behind Trung to win this important victory for the Republican party. Van Tran has now demonstrated his very formidable clout in southern California politics. The odds were steep: Santa Ana Councilman Carlos Bustamante had the early support of key members of the prestigious Orange County Lincoln Club, and as predicted in this column many weeks in advance, the Lincoln Club endorsed Bustamante. ButBustamante finished a disappointing and distant 4th place in the race, with just a little over 16% of the vote. Democrat Tom Umberg was in the money, finishing third, and Garden Grove Councilmember Janet Nguyen is currently second but neck-and-neck with Trung. Janet had the advantage of the very capable Dave Gilliard as her consultant.

Whichever Nguyen is the ultimate elected official in this race, Van Tran has proven himself to be alocalpolitical power to… Read More

It has been a long standing tradition of this column, going back to 2001, to publish the "Winners and Losers of the CRP Convention" column the week after the California Republican Party Convention. If you are going to be going to the convention, this is a reminder that as a FR reader, you can make your own suggestions on who should be recognized with high (or low) honors.

There are two ways to make suggestions — the first is to simply send in e-mail to me, or send an anonymous tip (the link is above to the right). The other is to let me, or any of the other FR bloggers that you see at the convention, know of your suggestions.

I will be conferring with my colleagues before publishing the column!

So, keep an eye out! Remember that there is a lot that happens at these events, and more eyes and ears help us to identify more notable ‘people and events’ at the convention… Read More

Yesterday, Sacramento County became the first county in the state to ban the sale of sex items within 1,000 feet of a school, child care center, library, church community center, park, bus stop or recreation center.

Besides protecting the kids in Orangevale, the ordinance had some political impacts as well. It was sponsored by Chairwoman Roberta MacGlashan — a client of fellow Flashreport correspondent Tab Berg and potential candidate in Assembly District 10. The district is safe for Republicans and moves like these help position her for a Republican primary where the most conservative candidate usually wins.… Read More

I am thrilled to report that today the Governor signed my SB 41 – The California Fallen Firefighters Assistance Tax Clarification Act of 2006.

It was a bitter-sweet event.

It was wonderful that all obstacles have been removed, so the families of the five firefighters that lost their lives fighting the Esperanza Fire will now be able to receive the $1.3 million that the community spontaneously donated to the Central County United Way for them. It was great that the governor made a special trip to Riverside County to sign the bill and express his sympathy for the families and gratitude on behalf of the state to the heroes that lost their lives.

It was terribly sadwe had to do this at all.

Last October,an arsonist started the Esperanza fire that destroyed 34 homes, caused nearly $10 million dollars in damage and claimed the lives of… Read More

When Van Tran first ran for assembly in 2004 he invested huge energy and moneyinto registering Vietnamese voters into the Republican party. Some have estimated he registered over 10,000 new Vietnamese voters. Predictably, during his mud wrestling primary, his opponent accused Van of being "Vietnamese". It was an ugly primary, appealing to left over red neck feelings of a by-gone era. Van’sopponent using Vietnamese national colors to "show" that Van Tran wasn’t a regular Republican backfired. Van won the primary in central Orange County going away. But he did need the 10,000 new Vietnamese voters.

Just 3 years later, Republican Vietnamese voters astound all political pundits.

Experienced pols assumed with 7 Republicans running in a 10 person field for 1st District Supervisor, and, worst than that, 3 Vietnamese Republicans were going to "divide" the fledgling Vietnamese vote. In other words,it would be Supervisor Umberg.

The results in this winner take all Special election yesterday, is that he two top candidates areJanet and TrungNguyen . No relation. Janet now has the lead, but as of this morning… Read More

You know you are at a pretty amazing event when the number of United States Military personnel in dress uniform make up a pretty big percentage of the crowd. Well, that was the case last night when my dad and I were the guests of Gala Chairman Brad Freeman for a dinner banquet for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation where President George Herbert Walker Bush was presented with the Foundation’s 2007 Ronald Reagan Freedom Award, with nearly a thousand guests on hand in the main ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Former President Bush and Nancy Reagan were both escorted into the dinner, and later onto the stage, by a pair of very sharp looking Marine Sergeants. The Master of Ceremonies was none other than Merv Griffin, a Foundation Board Member, and at one time the owner of the hotel (for a moment there were flashbacks to an old Dean Martin Roast program as Griffen tossed a barb at veteran comedian Don Rickles, who was in attendance).

There was a … Read More

Tonight I attended the monthly meeting of the San Joaquin County Republican Central Committee. The atmosphere in the room is a marked change from the last few years and is directly attributable to the new Chairman Dale Fritchen.

Fritchen, a local school board member, has been able to be a bridge builder and has been going about the hard work of rebuilding the committee’s infrastructure and finances.… Read More

Later today, FR friend Nathan Fletcher will announce his bid to replace termed-out Assemblyman George Plescia in the 75th AD. This is a safe Republican seat that takes in the northern portions of the City of San Diego, Poway, and a portion of Escondido.

Fletcher is a long-time Republican activist and business owner who does more than simply ‘talk the talk’ about patriotism and values…he’s a United States Marine who recently returned from combat tours in Iraq and Northeast Africa. This will work strongly to his advantage in a very military-friendly district, whichlies between the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. AD 75 communities are packed with active duty and retired military members.

I’ve known Nathan for some time, and I canfairly dub him a “Conservative Reagan Republican." Since his return to civilian life, he has not been shy about his disappointment (or disgust) with the lack of ethics and wholly irresponsible fiscal behavior of… Read More