As we often say here on the FR Blog, we really aren’t in the practice of writing about the internal politics of legislative caucuses. That having been said, it’s been reported by Capitol Weekly and the SacBee’s Capitol Alert that tomorrow Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines will step down. This, of course, follows a tremendous amount of internal and external pressure to see a change in this position after Villines negotiated and provided one of the key votes for the largest tax increase in California history.

Capitol Weekly is reporting that Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee of the Central Coast will be the next leader. Blakeslee is a close ally of Villines, and we can presume that his taking the helm would be as a result of a "friendly hand off" by Villines, who probably realized that his days as leader were numbered (especially if, as expected, the ballot measures… Read More

This just in from conservative Assemblyman Martin Garrick:

“I wanted to take a moment to relay some of my experiences with Sam Blakeslee and share why I am supporting him for Leader. Sam is someone that I have come to know to be a strong social conservative and fiscal hawk. I’ve pulled up Sam’s ratings and note that he enjoys perfect A ratings from Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, perfect A ratings from the National Rifle Association, he consistently scores among the highest with the California Manufacturers and Technology Association and the Chamber of Commerce, and received a 100 percent in the California ProLife Council’s most recent voter guide. I saw a report that Sam had voted for AB 32, and so I pulled up the vote tally on the bill. It confirmed that, in fact, Sam not only voted against AB 32, but I recall he gave quite an impassioned speech on the floor about why AB 32 was a bad bill. I know Mr. Blakeslee will be a … Read More

[Cross-posted from Red County.com]

I’d heard over the weekend that Assemblyman Van Tran would announce formation of a congressional exploratory committee later this month.

"Later" has come early, as Van announced today he’s formed his exploratory committee to take on Rep. Loretta Sanchez, according to Total Buzz.

Van will be the first real opponent Loretta has had since, arguably, her 1998 re-match with Bob Dornan (although few doubted the outcome of that race. In the meantime, she had benefited from a strong of underwhelming or downright weird GOPgeneral election nominees — much like Bob Dornan benefited from a string of underwhelming and downright weird Democratic opponents before newly-minted Democrat Loretta Brixey… Read More

Apparently, the Assembly Republican Caucus is on the verge of ousting leader Mike Villines — perhaps as soon as a few hours — a course of action I strongly support.

It is embarrassing for our Assembly Republican Caucus to be headed by an individual who is criss-crossing the state proudly championing the largest state tax increase in American, and eroding what’s left of Republican credibility. not the stuff of which the Republican Party will be re-built.

The bad news is Assembly Republicans are apparently poised to replace Villines with their most liberal member: SamBlakeslee.

Here’s a run-down of Blakeslee’s philosophical profile:

He is one of five Assembly GOPers who has refused to take a position on Prop. 1A — which has become the political demarcation between those favoring true government reform and those unwilling to do more than feed the beast until they are termed out. A real profile in courage. Blakeslee earned a 43% rating … Read More

Let’s call it the first California test case of the voters’ view of taxes since November 2008. Let’s say the citizens asked, resoundingly,"What the heck are you thinking?"

Over 2/3 of the voters in Chula Vista, thesecond largest city in San Diego County, yesterday easily defeated the Prop A sales tax increase in a controversial mail ballot election.

Combined with the state state sales tax increase, the measure would have imposed on Chula Vistans a nearly 10% sales tax, one of the highest in the region.

Republican Mayor Cheryl Cox along with three Dem colleagues supported the tax. Opposed was Republican Deputy Mayor John McCann, the GOP nominee for AD 78 last year. The San Diego County Taxpayers Association, local Chula Vista Taxpayers Association, and Lincoln Club of SD joined the opposition, with the latter doing a sizable independent expenditure in the final days.

This is a major win forMcCann, who was recently named the SD GOP’s Local Elected Official of the Year.

More Info….

NO on Measure A website… Read More

Over on our favorite hard-left blog, the California Progress Report, they featured an interview with Democrat State Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez.

If readers of the FlashReport didn’t already have enough reason to vote down the ballot measures on the May 19th ballot, look at what Flores sees coming down the pike…

CPR: "What happens on May 20?"

FLORES: "May 20 is really clear to me, it’s an all-cuts budget, period. There’s not one more Republican in that house that is going to vote for a tax increase. We lose twenty billion dollars plus in taxes. May 20 is an all-cuts budget, period. I expect it to be a quick budget because we’re not going to have to convince a Republican to vote for this one because there will not be a tax increase in it. It will be the most painful quick budget in California history.

I… Read More

This just in from conservative icon Tom McClintock:

Prop 1A: Extend the Tax Increases. NO. This is the fig leaf that hides certain deficiencies suffered by the legislators who caved into pressure for the biggest tax increase in California’s history. This measure EXTENDS the tax increases for up to two ADDITIONAL years in exchange for a spending limit that doesn’t limit spending. The "spending limit" is laughable – it requires placing "unanticipated revenues" into a special fund that is then to be spent for a variety of additional purposes including education, debt service and health care. And since all funds are interchangeable, this merely allows funds spent for one purpose to be shifted for another. The bottom line: If you were against the tax increase, you’re against Prop. 1A.

Prop… Read More

**FR EXCLUSIVE** This just in from Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association…

Right on cue, our Hollywood Governor is trotting out the firefighters and threatening Californians with burning homes unless he gets his way. Voters can absolutely be assured that, next week, he and the California Teachers Association will be threatening public education and school closures.

But these threats – reflecting little more than simple extortion – should not be taken seriously. First, the Governor’s own Director of Finance recently testified that the… Read More