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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Sen. Tom McClintock are California's best-known Republicans. McClintock is the quintessential Republican candidate for statewide office. He is a middle-aged, upper-middle-class, white, male career politician. He currently serves as state senator for the 19th District, where he hasn't lived in years, and is running for Congress in the 4th District, where he not only doesn't live, but can't even vote. McClintock is completely inflexible and incapable of compromise, and as a result, receives little to no Republican support in Sacramento. He regularly gets beaten in statewide elections, having lost races for state controller, lieutenant governor...

Ernie Scherer of Pleasanton, who was found brutally murdered with his wife on March 14 in their home, has been elected posthumously to the Alameda County Republican Central Committee. Scherer had received 4,758 votes as of Monday’s tally at the Alameda County election web site. Voters were to choose six people among nine candidates and Scherer came in third place behind David Latour and Douglas Miller.The Central Committee must now vote to appoint someone to fill the vacancy.In order of votes, the other candidates were: Brian Eschen, Deslar Patten, Christopher Kuhn, Daniel Byards, Andrew Latour and Gregg Byars.The police still...

The California Republican delegation to the national convention in Minneapolis selected its leadership over the weekend. [My summary from short article below] Chairman: Former Secretary of State Bill Jones, who chaired GOP nominee Sen. John McCain's California campaign Honorary Chairman: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Co-chairmen: former Gov. Pete Wilson, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and state party chairman Ron Nehring Committee reps: • Rules: Bob Laurie and Jill Buck• Credentials: John Peschong and the Hon. Rosario Marin• Platform/Resolutions: Rep. Kevin McCarthy and Jennifer Russo• Permanent Organization: Sonia Denham and the Hon. Van Tran

Should they decide to enter the 2010 race for governor, former EBay CEO Meg Whitman and State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner will likely have to explain to Republican voters why in recent years they have donated thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates. Contribution reports show that Whitman gave former State Controller Steve Westly, with whom she worked at EBay, $20,000 in combined donations for his 2002 run for controller and 2006 campaign for governor. In 2005 she contributed $1,000 to state Sen. Joe Simitian’s 2008 reelection campaign. She made contributions to candidates for national offices as well: $1,000 to U.S....

Former Gov. Pete Wilson has lashed out at GOP state Sen. Tom McClintock, saying McClintock couldn't be counted on in the Legislature and should not go to Congress. Wilson, a fellow Republican, made the remarks during a campaign event for the 4th Congressional District GOP primary organized by McClintock rival Doug Ose. The two are battling to replace incumbent GOP Rep. John Doolittle, who is retiring. McClintock was in the state Assembly while Wilson was governor. Wilson said McClintock was the first to criticize but the last to help his own team. McClintock's campaign did not immediately respond to a...

A former California Republican Party official's false-arrest lawsuit against U.S. immigration authorities has been thrown out of court. A federal judge in Brooklyn, N.Y., ruled last month that immigration officers did nothing wrong when they jailed Michael Kamburowski, 35, on a deportation warrant in 2004, three years before he was hired as chief operating officer for the California GOP. Kamburowski, an Australian citizen, had sued in 2005, seeking $5 million damages from the government. The lawsuit was pending when state party chief Ron Nehring hired him in March 2007 to oversee the state party's finances, but party officials said they...

It has not been easy being a Republican in Los Angeles - or California - for quite some time. Even with the election of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger - a nominal Republican, at best - the GOP has had hard times for nearly 20 years in the state. And now it looks even more bleak. "This is the worst time for Republicans than at any other point than Watergate," said Allen Hoffenblum, a GOP consultant who publishes the Target Book, a compendium of how political races stack up throughout the state. "We always go through cycles where one party is up...

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, 43, a prolife freshman Republican from California, will chair the platform committee for the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., The Washington Times has learned today. Steven J. Duffield, former aide to conservative Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, will be the committee's executive director. In his first year in Congress, Mr. McCarthy had a 100 percent prolife voting record, according to the National Right to Life committee. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has let it been known through associates that he will not work to "soften" — even behind the scenes — the...

Sacramento Republican Activists Launch Effort to Support the Republican Wing of the Republican Party (Sacramento) - Limited government, lower taxes and family values are just a few things that voters usually associate with the Republican Party. But recently, elected Republican officials have been actively taking positions against these bedrock Republican values and have supported efforts to increase minimum wage, driving up unemployment; proposed a tax increase on homeowners to pay for fire protection that they are already paying for; and fighting against an effort to protect the definition of marriage, as between a man and a women. Some say you...

Governor Schwarzenegger is barnstorming the state telling everyone that he's ready to sign off on a budget deal that includes higher revenues combined with budget cuts. All of that is code for raising taxes. The danger in this talk is that some Republicans could end up following his lead. If Governor Schwarzenegger can convince enough Republicans to go along it would be fatal to legislative Republicans. Legislative Republicans have one thing that makes them relevant to policymaking and that is the 2/3rds vote requirement to pass a budget, increase taxes, enact urgency statues and put measures on the ballot. If...

LOS ANGELES, (AP) -- A splinter group of Republicans with ties to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and financed by six-figure donations will recruit candidates with hopes of reversing the party's disappointing record in recent statewide elections. Disclosure of the group Tuesday — California Republicans Aligned for Tomorrow — comes at a time when the California Republican Party has been struggling with financial and management problems and factional strife between moderates and conservatives. A list of supporters comes from across the party's political spectrum, but the organization appears geared to promoting Republicans who can compete statewide in a state that leans Democratic....

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sidestepped the superdelegate controversy as she opened the California Democratic Party convention tonight in San Jose, instead taking aim at likely Republican presidential nominee, John McCain. Pelosi noted that McCain campaigned alongside Governor Schwarzenegger during the polarizing special election the governor called in 2005. Schwarzenegger tried to pass ballot measures aimed at weakening the power of public employee unions, changing teacher tenure rules and clamping down on state spending. Californians rejected those reforms and she predicted they'd reject McCain as well. The gathering at the San Jose Convention Center continues through...

At a time when the GOP presidential nominee will need more assistance than ever, a number of state Republican parties are struggling through troubled times, suffering from internal strife, poor fundraising, onerous debt, scandal or voting trends that are conspiring to relegate the local branches of the party to near-irrelevance. In some of the largest, smallest, reddest and bluest states in the nation, many state Republican organizations are still reeling in the aftermath of the devastating 2006 election cycle, raising questions about how much grassroots help the state parties will be able to deliver to presumptive GOP nominee John McCain....

SACRAMENTO -- The Canadian political operative hired by the California Republican Party on a coveted H1B visa to do campaign consulting has been fired after it was revealed he was apparently working in violation of immigration law. The dismissal, announced this week, came after The Chronicle reported last month that Christopher Matthews apparently violated federal immigration law when he also earned money from a second employer. Matthews, a Canadian citizen, was hired last year as deputy political director for the California Republican Party, with responsibility for handling campaign operations and information technology for the country's largest state GOP operation, U.S....

With talk of carrying California for presumptive presidential nominee John McCain — who few of them actually supported in the primary — hard right conservatives won internal party fights at this weekend’s California Republican Party convention in San Francisco. Former state Republican chairman Shawn Steel, an amiable yet flamboyant far right conservative, trounced incumbent Republican National Committeeman Tim Morgan with 60% of the vote. Morgan is more moderate, treasurer of the Republican National Committee, who criticized the party’s hiring of non-citizens for top party posts. It turns out both had been in the country illegally for years. The convention also...

With John McCain's presidential nomination nearly in hand, California Republicans began the task Saturday of trying to unify the party's moderate and conservative wings behind the Arizona senator. It was a first step in what is expected to be a gargantuan struggle in November -- winning a state that last voted for a Republican president in 1988. As the two Democratic presidential nominees still battle it out, state GOP leaders meeting in San Francisco this weekend are hoping to get a head start on the general election. They are laying the groundwork for encouraging McCain's campaign to spend the tens...

A Canadian hired by the California Republican Party to do political work on a coveted H-1B visa appears to be in violation of immigration law because he is also earning money from another employer, federal officials said this week. Christopher Matthews, a Canadian citizen, was hired in 2007 as full-time deputy political director, with responsibility for handling campaign operations and information technology for the country's largest state Republican Party operation, U.S. Department of Labor records show. He currently works for the state GOP as a political coordinator, said Hector Barajas, spokesman for the California Republican Party. The state Republican Party...

Missed a few things around the longest day Game Day coverage package earlier this week. Nothing earth shattering, and all of a piece with predictable developments in California politics. … State Senate Republican leader Dick Ackerman was finally forced out. He was replaced not by George Runner, an early favorite — who stepped aside to help care for his wife, Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, who is seriously ill — but Central Valley legislator Dave Cogdill. He’s another member of the anti-government faction, except on infrastructure and water. Where he has bonded, if you will, with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, carrying his water...

A former California Republican Party official who resigned last year in a controversy over his immigration status had no valid visa or work permit during his high-profile career as a Washington lobbyist for conservative icon Grover Norquist..... Michael Kamburowski, an Australian citizen who served briefly as chief operating officer of the state GOP, worked from 1995 to 2000 as a vice president of Americans for Tax Reform in Washington, D.C., an organization headed by Norquist - an architect of modern conservatism who has advised President Bush and top GOP political leaders. For Norquist, Kamburowski lobbied Congress on dozens of issues,...

It's the fall of 2006, and the midst of a very intense General Election here in California... a decision was made by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, his campaign manager Steve Schmidt, and then State-GOP Chairman Duf Sundheim. You see, while the Governor's re-election campaign was going well but the Victory Program was rapidly running out of money heading into the final month. Then came the big decision -- to literally "bet the bank" and have the State GOP take out a THREE MILLION DOLLAR LOAN thus providing the necessary injection of cash into the CRP coffers to run a full campaign...

The cash-strapped California Republican Party is facing deeply divisive political and financial problems in this critical election year - beginning with a $3 million loan from a furious contributor who was supposed to have been repaid on Friday. The troubles of the GOP in the nation's most populous state - which backers of Sen. John McCain insist could be competitive in the fall presidential election - come at a crucial time. The California party convention is Feb. 22 in San Francisco, and conservatives and moderates will debate the platform and whether independent voters should be allowed to cast ballots in...

<p>This is a disappointment, we really need to get our act together if we are going to impress upon voters the importance of GOP leadership to lead this country to better times.</p>

The aftermath of Sen. John McCain's stunning rise to the top of the Republican field in this year's presidential contest has been marked by great angst, weeping and gnashing of the teeth over whether he is "conservative enough" to unite Republicans in the November election. I hate to be the bearer of bad news: Despite claims from all quarters to the contrary, California's role in electing a president this year is over. Sen. McCain will not contest California against the Democrat nominee in November. So if my theory is correct, and McCain doesn't contest California, what is there for the...

LOL. There was another article this weekend about big donor GOP liberals worried that the party was too right wing and demanding changes in the structure etc.... This story comes around every so often, usually because someone is trying to benefit financially or politically from the effort. Sometimes both. These articles always make me laugh. Why? Because it is all fantasy. The State GOP central Committee is not controlled by conservatives and hasn't been for the over 15 years I've been an actual member. I should point out I've been a member of the Executive Committee of the CRP for...

It’s fun to watch the Democrats desperately trying to spin how everything is so wonderful for their team as we head into the thick of this general election campaign. Lest we allow the pixiedust to have too much of an effect, let’s take a look at some of the major forces that are moving our way in California and nationally. Something clearly happened on Senator Clinton’s trip to her coronation as the Democrats’ nominee for President. The limo wheels have come off, and the campaign is in turmoil as managers are fired and new people brought into try to save...

Several months ago the San Francisco Chronicle exposed California Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring for hiring a shadowy Australian immigrant to be Chief Operating Officer of the Party. I also detailed the scandal in widely published articles. When they appeared, Nehring’s fellow radical ultra-conservatives screamed in pain and anguish. They accused me of lying about and smearing Nehring and his intimate circle. Nehring’s crony successor as San Diego Party Chairman (Tony Krvaric) a recent immigrant from Sweden isn’t even civil with me even as I offer the Party FREE television time on my station. The truth, of course, is that...

An influential Republican donor with ties to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is pressuring the California GOP to overhaul its operations, depicting Chairman Ron Nehring as an ineffective, insular manager apparently more concerned with promoting conservative purity than electing Republicans.In a four-page letter to Nehring obtained by The Associated Press, Larry Dodge outlines a litany of complaints against the state party, from sinking registration numbers to suspect expenditures by party officers. More troubling for the state party, Dodge, the American Sterling Co. chief executive strongly hints in the letter that he may withhold a $3 million check he was planning to write...

Just off the transom, State GOP Chairman Ron Nehring issued a hearty "congrats" to Senator McCain for his big win here in the Golden State: "Congratulations to Senator McCain for his victory across California today. Based on the results reported by the Secretary of State, Senator McCain has triumphed in every part of California, from the Oregon border to San Diego. California Republicans know how to win in our state, as Governor Schwarzenegger and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner demonstrated in 2006. While the contest for the Republican presidential nomination appears it may continue, we're confident the issues of this campaign...

About 34 percent of voters in California are registered Republicans, and are the only voters allowed to cast ballots in the Republican presidential race on Tuesday. ... Political consultant Hal Dash said the decision to exclude independent voters could play to the Democratic Party’s advantage by allowing Democrats to argue that the GOP doesn’t want them.”Why would you want to shut the door at the beginning when you have the opportunity to be able and welcome some numbers? If I was the California Republican Party, I’d want anybody I could get given their shrinking numbers,” he said.

Outgoing eBay CEO Meg Whitman isn't retiring to life on the golf course. The L.A. Times reports today that Whitman may run for governor of California. "Whitman has talked with top Republicans about the possibility of a run for California governor in 2010, according to three operatives who have had discussions with her. Whitman is said to be asking detailed questions about the logistics of a run and the effect she could have as governor, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the conversations." Whitman said this week that she'll...

During the past month, there has been a complete reordering of candidate preferences among Republicans likely to vote in California's February 5th primary election. Four weeks ago, Rudy Giuliani stood atop the field at 25%, followed by Mike Huckabee at 17%. Now, John McCain, who was in fourth position in December, has vaulted to first place with 22%, just ahead of Mitt Romney, who is now in second place, with 18%. Support for Giuliani has plummeted to 11% in the current poll, putting him in a tie with Huckabee for third place, just ahead of Fred Thompson (9%) and Ron...

As she prepares to depart from EBay after a decade at the helm, Chief Executive Meg Whitman appears to be investigating a new career -- in politics. Whitman has talked with top Republicans about the possibility of a run for California governor in 2010, according to three operatives who have had discussions with her. Whitman is said to be asking detailed questions about the logistics of a run and the impact she could have as governor, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the conversations. Whitman did not make herself...

The California Republican Party is struggling to get out of debt, creating a potential drag on voter registration and other party-building efforts in the midst of a heated campaign season, records showed Thursday. As of last week, the state GOP's main account had a balance of $3.2 million but $3.4 million in unpaid obligations. The party's federal account - used to finance activities that support congressional candidates - listed a balance of $34,000 but nearly $460,000 in debts, according to records filed last month. The shaky finances are due in large part to sluggish fundraising. The party collected $5.6 million...

California's 33rd Congressional District is hard-core Democrat. Ethnically diverse, cutting a swath from Hollywood through the city's historic black heartland, it's so thick with Democrats that John Kerry won 83 percent of the vote during the 2004 presidential election. Republicans didn't even bother to field a candidate in the last U.S. House race. So why would Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney be interested in voters here? In a twist on political logic, heavily Democratic patches in California are being fiercely contested by some Republican presidential candidates because of a change in state election rules. For the first time in a...

While the once-imperiled California condor has made a striking comeback, there is another ailing bird in the state that should probably be considered for the endangered species list: California Republicans. As the 2008 Republican presidential contenders turn their sights toward California on Feb. 5, they might want to take stock of the sorry state of the GOP in the Golden State. Registered Republicans now constitute barely a third of the electorate in the biggest state — 34 percent — a decline from 39 percent just two decades ago. Even in Orange County, regularly described as “the most Republican county in...

California Republicans, already looking ahead from the first 2008 presidential election votes, are starting to float a new name for the 2010 gubernatorial race -- Rep. Duncan Hunter. The Southern California Congressman has barely surfaced in the polls as a 2008 GOP presidential candidate, but his get-tough stance on immigration and border security -- he takes credit for the legislation and construction of the U.S.-Mexico border fence -- makes him popular among the party's hardline conservatives here. And those conservatives are casting about for an alternative to wealthy and moderate GOPer Steve Poizner, the state insurance commissioner, who is widely...

State Republican lawmakers have a long history of resisting taxes, and this year is no different. Even before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger calls a planned special session to deal with the state's "fiscal emergency," GOP legislators say they have ruled out revenue increases as a potential remedy. They're not joking: All but one GOP member in the Capitol has signed a no-tax pledge. It's said "an elephant never forgets," and the Republicans whose party is symbolized by that pachyderm remember tax increases as hurting the economy – and their own political fortunes. "It's such a strong plank of the Republican platform...

San Francisco Republicans reaching out to voters in overwhelmingly Democratic Bay Area districts may sound like a losing strategy for GOP presidential candidates. But supporters of White House hopeful Ron Paul say they know better. They’re taking advantage of a rule change in February’s California GOP primary under which the previous “winner-take-all” system has been replaced by one that awards three primary delegates for every congressional district a candidate wins — no matter how many or how few Republicans live there. “Our primary purpose is to help Ron Paul to get delegate votes in the primary,” said Paul supporter Stephanie...

f legislation approved by the state Assembly Monday becomes law, it would be the largest overhaul of a health care system ever undertaken by a state. The legislation also would require insurance companies to offer coverage to Californians with pre-existing medical conditions. The landmark measure that would provide coverage to most uninsured Californians cleared its first major hurdle when it was approved along party lines in the Democratic-controlled lower house. If the Senate approves the bill and voters agree to pay for it, it would extend coverage to nearly 70 percent of the state's permanently uninsured and require most Californians...

The state Assembly on Monday approved the first phase of a $14.4-billion plan to extend medical insurance to nearly all residents, giving Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his Democratic allies their first victory in a risky yearlong campaign to overhaul California's healthcare system. The measure, negotiated by Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles), would require almost everyone in California to have insurance starting in 2010. It would provide subsidies and tax credits for those who would have trouble paying their share of the premiums. The authors estimate that it would bring medical coverage to 3.6 million Californians, including 800,000...

SACRAMENTO - The state Assembly this afternoon approved a sweeping health care reform plan that would extend health insurance to more than two-thirds of the state's uninsured and create new protections for people anxious about keeping their coverage because of a pre-existing health condition. The plan, which faces uncertain prospects in the Senate and then must be approved by voters before taking effect, would create a new requirement that individuals carry insurance or potentially be fined. Employers would have to offer coverage or pay a percentage of revenues into a state health pool. The proposal would also impose taxes on...

These should be heady times for the California Republican Party, which has a resurgent, world-famous governor in place whose outsize fundraising capabilities could flood its coffers with relatively little effort. But the party Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will address at its semiannual convention in Palm Springs tonight is hardly flourishing. It's broke. It's been embarrassed by scandal. And it's almost entirely bereft of a bench; few members are considered strong enough to capitalize on Schwarzenegger's momentum. The governor has shown little interest in throwing the organization a lifeline. And some party leaders leave the impression that if one were to come...

For three reasons, that's wrong. An honest assessment of the budget picture – of the sort required of corporations by the Sarbanes-Oxley law – would put the 2007-08 deficit at $16.3 billion, not $14 billion. That's because Sacramento treats the $48 billion in guaranteed-but-unfunded health care benefits for state retirees as if it were something ethereal instead of a huge fiscal obligation that state Controller John Chiang says should be prefunded with $2.3 billion a year. Both the governor and Assembly Speaker Fabian NÚñez continue to push for a grand health insurance measure under which nearly all employers would be...

in·cred·i·ble –adjective 1. so extraordinary as to seem impossible: incredible speed. 2. not credible; hard to believe; unbelievable: The plot of the book is incredible. —Synonyms: farfetched, astonishing, preposterous. "It's an incredible plan," said Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles). The Speaker’s quote about the just-struck agreement on government healthcare with Governor Schwarzenegger unintentionally speaks volumes. Incredible, farfetched, preposterous, hard to believe – call it what you will, the plan will cost far more than advertised and will drive business out of state, reducing state tax revenue and throwing people out of work. Beginning with a low-balled $14 billion price...

When you take a close-up look at the red ink gushing from the state Capitol, it becomes a very ugly sight. For starters, the problem is worse than first thought. Nonpartisan Legislative Analyst Elizabeth G. Hill last month projected a nearly $10-billion deficit spread over the current and next fiscal years. Then last week, reports leaked that the Schwarzenegger administration, with updated numbers, is projecting a $14-billion deficit. Actually, it's $14.5 billion. Add to that some minimal reserve any prudent budget should include -- say, at least $1 billion -- and it's a $15.5-billion hole that must be filled next...

Legislative leaders said Thursday that more taxes would be needed to fill a projected $14-billion budget gap next year, and the state Senate president said a healthcare overhaul -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's priority this year -- will have to wait. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles) said lawmakers would have to consider raising a host of taxes, including those on Internet purchases and on foreign companies that do business in California. "We've got to close those tax loopholes," Nuñez told reporters at a news conference. "We can generate billions by doing that." Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) said...

So, too, has a striking increase in the number of Californians who blame illegal immigration for the state's problems. "There is more unity among Republicans in this state on illegal immigration than on anything else, including taxes," said Tom Hudson, chairman of the Republican Party in Placer County, near Sacramento, one of the most conservative counties in the state. Among the GOP candidates, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has seized the issue with vigor, and U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado has made border security the centerpiece of his long-shot campaign, even airing a campaign commercial comparing illegal immigration with...

The California Republican Party can’t fund some political activities just weeks before the Presidential Primary in February. It has no money. Some months ago, the Party faithful were shocked when it was revealed that new State Chairman Ron Nehring had hired illegal aliens for top state Party positions. Nehring diehards publicly decried my efforts and those of the San Francisco Chronicle that exposed the dry rot in the Party. Many of the state’s newspapers ignored the story and printed nothing about it until Ron Nehring’s illegal alien Australian hire for Party Chief Operating Officer resigned in shame and was replaced...

On the verge of a presidential election year, the California Republican Party is slashing funds for key operatives as the party struggles to overcome lackluster fundraising and lingering debt. At the end of the year the state party will eliminate what is called its county executive director program, which distributed about $260,000 a year among about a dozen counties to assist with fundraising activities and grass-roots organizing. Its finances are so shaky, the state party faced the choice of ending the funding or possibly laying off workers from its staff, according to one official. In an era of multimillion-dollar presidential...

Mitt Romney has had a great week in California. First, on Wednesday night, the Young Republican Federation of California's Board of Directors voted to endorse the Romney campaign - becoming the first grassroots group in the state to endorse Governor Romney. To add to that, just minutes ago, the California Republican Assembly joined the YRFC by overwhelmingly voting to endorse the Romney campaign. By a vote of 148 - 73, CRA took a big step in showing clearly that the conservative base of the Republican Party is coalescing around Governor Romney. Primary elections are traditionally dominated by the bases of...