Free Republic

Shocker: One of CA’s most promising young Republicans abandons GOP in midst of heated SD mayoral raceCalifornia State Assemblyman and San Diego mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher, seen as one of the California Republican Party’s most promising future possibilities for statewide office, announced today he’s abandoning the GOP and “partisan politics” to become an independent. The defection of Fletcher, who served in the Marine Corps for more than a decade and is an Iraq war veteran as well as a spouse of a prominent GOP activist — Mindy Tucker Fletcher, the former campaign spokeswoman for George W. Bush — is an...

The Tehama County GOP announced it has disinvited California Republican Party Chairperson Tom Del Beccarro from speaking at its May Lincoln-reagan Dinner. Apparently the Tehama GOP does not appreciate the CRP Chair’s hamfisted disregard for party bylaws and the state party’s controversial endorsement process that picks favorites before the California Primary. Not like we’ve never heard these complaints before. And brushing off bylaws concerning endorsements is just the tip of the iceberg.CRP Chairman Tom Del Beccaro,After serious discussion of the endorsement actions taken by the California Republican Party Board of Directors during their March 11th meeting, the Tehama County Republican...

Republican Assembly hopeful Andy Pugno kicked off his campaign today with a pledge that could leave him backing his rival over his own candidacy in November. The Folsom Republican is challenging Assemblywoman Beth Gaines, R-Rocklin, in the 6th Assembly District. Under the state's new top-two primary rules, voters could send both Republicans to the general election. But voters in the safe GOP district might be spared a second round of a same-party slug fest if that happens. Pugno said today that he would support whichever Republican gets the most votes in the June 5 primary -- even if he secures...

As a lifelong Democrat, I never thought I would be in this place. I never thought I would have to confront this dreaded unforeseen fear - the terror that is for me, dating a Republican. I don’t even know very many Republicans. But it turns out, I’m not alone. Outside of Washington D.C., the entire country is pretty segregated when it comes to political parties. According to dating website, seven out of ten people are in a relationship with someone of the same political persuasion. I grew up knowing very few Republicans and the rare ones I did know got...

Rep. Dan Lungren is stepping up his re-election efforts this week, raising cash, recruiting volunteers and holding town hall meetings in his Sacramento County district. The Gold River Republican faces a rematch with his 2010 challenger, Elk Grove Democrat Ami Bera, in the newly drawn 7th Congressional District. A close voter registration split and high turnout in the presidential election are expected to make the race one of the most competitive congressional elections of the year. Lungren, who has trailed his opponent in campaign cash both this election and in 2010, got some help from Republican leadership for a Monday...

The race for the newly drawn 6th Assembly District is shaping up as a potential political – and personal – Republican slugfest. GOP Assemblywoman Beth Gaines could face two challengers from her side of the aisle in her re-election bid for the safe Republican district. The Rocklin Republican's potential rivals – Folsom attorney Andrew Pugno and Roseville school board member Linda Park – both have ties to Gaines' former rival, Roseville Councilman John Allard. Pugno, who has filed a statement of intention to run but has made no formal announcement, used the same campaign consultant in 2010 that Allard did...

Suddenly June 5 doesn't seem so far away. With a muddled outcome from the 10 Super Tuesday states, there's no sign the GOP presidential primary process will be resolved before California Republicans hold a vote that pundits once said was too late to matter. In fact, June 5 -- when California and four other states will vote -- is now "one of the key dates between now and the convention" in late August in Tampa, Fla., said renowned election prognosticator Larry Sabato, who directs the University of Virginia Center for Politics. "As it turns out, every state is relevant, just...

Ron Paul's super PAC is secretly funded by San Francisco gay billionaire Peter Thiel, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Thiel, who co-founded PayPal and invested early in Facebook, has given $2.6 million to Endorse Liberty, the super PAC which has released several ads attacking Paul rivals Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry, without ever meeting Paul. The German-born Thiel is a 44-year-old conservative Christian who has previously supported gay rights causes and artificial intelligence research. “He has great insight,” Jimmy LaSalvia, the executive director of gay GOP group GOProud, told the paper. “He also is inquisitive, and most of...

Long written off as too late to matter, California's Republican primary June 5 may turn out to matter a lot. A new Field Poll shows former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum just six points behind front-runner Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts. California's mother lode of 172 delegates has long been considered Romney's firewall against a contested or even brokered national convention in Tampa, Fla., in August. A contested convention is the ultimate nightmare scenario for the GOP, which has savored this year as its best chance since Jimmy Carter to deny a second term to an incumbent Democratic president."It's...

Republican Rep. Dan Lungren of Gold River is getting some early help for his re-election bid from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. A new television ad airing in the Sacramento area praises Lungren for "fighting to protect California jobs" and singles out his support for repealing the federal health care overhaul. A slight voter-registration edge for Democrats in the new 7th Congressional District and high turnout for the presidential election are expected to make Lungren a top target this year. He faces a rematch with Elk Grove Democrat Ami Bera, the doctor and medical educator who lost to Lungren by...

Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich is spending Valentine's Day in the Central Valley. Sure, the former House Speaker is looking to woo California Republicans, whose votes he's hoping will still make a difference by the time the state's June primary rolls around. But the real object of desire for this trip is cash to fuel his campaign fund. The GOP presidential candidate is holding an evening reception at the Fresno home of Wendy Turner, daughter of former Secretary of State Bill Jones, and her husband Ryan as part of a fundraising swing through California. Gingrich is no cheap date. Spending...

Folks, we're not even being contrary when we point this out. For the 9th Circuit to rule Prop 8 unconstitutional, just as Gingrich is looking again for his footing -- just as Rick Santorum is about to steal his headlines -- is a Gingrichian dream. Look! He agrees: (TWEET FROM NEWT AT LINK) The link goes to the 9th (coincidentally) of Gingrich's solutions for fixing the judiciary, to prevent it from doing things that conservatives don't like -- abolishing courts that make "un-American decisions." He's been on the record wanting this treatment for the 9th circuit for a long, long...

Since just before the last California presidential primary, the proportion of voters registered as Republicans has fallen from 33.5 percent to 30.4 percent, according to new figures from the California Secretary of State.

Jon Fleischman, the conservative blogger, was brooding the other day on Facebook, underwhelmed by the presidential candidates he has left to choose from. It's "pretty alarming to me," the former executive director of the California Republican Party wrote, "how dispassionate, or non-interested I am in this new battle for the Republican nomination between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich." For like-minded Republicans – a cheerless majority of the party in California, according to a recent poll – a virtual therapy session ensued. One friend recommended a prescription for Xanax, another a vote for Ron Paul. Joe Ludlow, who helps run a...

The California Republican Party keeps making matters worse as it struggles against what seems inevitable. On Friday, the California Supreme Court unanimously decided to leave in place state Senate district maps drawn by the voter-created California Redistricting Commission. This was the second time the GOP turned to the court for help, and the second time it was slapped down. The Republicans spent – and probably wasted – $2 million on its drive to qualify a referendum challenging the maps. It's not certain that the measure will qualify for the November ballot.

While blue California is almost certain to go for President Barack Obama come November, California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro sees opportunity for the GOP to be a major force from the presidential race down.Del Beccaro laid out his strategy and expectations for the 2012 election in a Wednesday interview with The Bee Capitol Bureau.>Can the Republican Party play at all against Obama in California? The Republican Party historically in California has sent money to other states. So we do have an impact, regardless of whether this particular state is in play. … It will look like a competitive...

One of former GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry's most vocal California backers has thrown his support behind former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's campaign. "I think the people of America want to go back to work more than anything," Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Penn Valley, said today. "Mr Gingrich has the courage and the intelligence to turn the economy around." Logue, who founded the Committee to Draft Rick Perry for President last year, had campaigned for the Texas governor in Iowa earlier this month. He said he decided to endorse Gingrich late last week, after Perry dropped his own campaign and announced...

Sen. Tony Strickland has made his plans to run for Congress official, launching his campaign at a Camarillo news conference for the newly drawn 26th Congressional District. The Moorpark Republican decided to enter the race after longtime Rep. Elton Gallegly announced plans to retire. Gallegly, who lives in Simi Valley, had been considering a run in the incumbent-free CD26 after his own home was drawn into the same district as fellow GOP Rep. Buck McKeon. Strickland, who served three terms in the Assembly before being elected to the state Senate in 2008, cited national security and promoting alternative energy sources...

Jeff Miller, Texas Gov. Rick Perry's presidential campaign chairman in California, was in Iowa with a handful of California lawmakers for last week's caucuses. He may find himself in South Carolina when the race arrives there later this month. He isn't missing much back home. "That June primary," Miller said, "might as well be 100 years away." It sure feels like it. While the Republican presidential campaigns fast-forward to New Hampshire on Tuesday and South Carolina on Jan. 21, hardly anyone in California is off the couch. Republicans here know the race may be over before they vote on June...

GOP Sen. Sam Blakeslee has started publicly signaling that he might not run for re-election this year. The San Luis Obispo Republican told Bee sister paper The San Luis Obispo Tribune that his decision is tied to the fate of the new district maps drawn by the independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. Democrats now hold a 16-point registration edge over Republicans in the central coast swing seat Blakeslee won in a 2010 special election. But critics of the new Senate maps have collected hundreds of thousands of voter signatures in an attempt to ask voters to reject the districts next fall....