Free Republic

In GOP-rich Placer County, the Placer County Republican Central Committee chairman views himself as a brand manager of sorts. "We need to protect our brand," said Tom Hudson. "We need to stand for something." Hudson, 42, takes pride in unmasking and ousting people he says are liberals posing as Republicans. With the elected committee's backing, Hudson has drafted candidates to run against sitting GOP officeholders he views as not conservative enough, orchestrated a controversial endorsement during the primary for the 4th Congressional District seat, and played a role in the decision by two Placer County officeholders to drop their Republican...

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's choice of Sen. Abel Maldonado for lieutenant governor was essentially a political challenge to his fellow Republicans: Expand the party, or continue to wither on the vine of ideological purity. Maldonado's confirmation is largely in the hands of legislative Democrats, who must decide by mid-February if they will accept his nomination. The Santa Maria Republican's long-term prospects, however, could be decided by GOP activists who have held him in disdain since he voted earlier this year for a tax hike — but may need him if they are to win in a statewide race. "He...

November 19, 2009 Brown, Whitman tied in new Rasmussen poll With nearly a year until the general election, a new Rasmussen Reports poll puts GOP gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman and still-undeclared Democratic contender Jerry Brown locked in a tie with 41 percent support a piece. The results show Whitman gaining traction since a September Rasmussen survey, in which Brown outpolled Whitman 44 percent to 35 percent. Whitman's two rivals for the Republican nomination, former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner trailed Brown in the telephone survey of 500 likely voters. Brown came out nine-points ahead of Campbell...

One Republican's political action committee on Sunday suggested Democrats enticed former Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava with "favors" in return for her endorsement of the race's remaining Democratic challenger. In a fundraising pitch to supporters this afternoon, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) through IssaPAC railed on Scozzafava for choosing to support Bill Owens over Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate who effectively forced her out of the race on Saturday. Issa also called on Republicans to donate promptly to Hoffman's war chest so that the party writ large could "send a message to Barack Obama that he can't buy this election." "Just...

One candidate in next year's gubernatorial race contributed thousands of dollars to Democratic Sens. Barbara Boxer and John Kerry. Another wrote $21,000 in checks to Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore and the Democratic National Committee in 2000. A third was a registered Democrat in the early 1970s and has acknowledged supporting George McGovern as the party's presidential candidate in 1972. All three – Meg Whitman, Steve Poizner and Tom Campbell – are vying to become California's next governor, but not as Democrats. They constitute the entire GOP gubernatorial field, a fact that has some Republicans wondering where their candidates' loyalties...

California Republicans are seeing political gold in California's water problems, hoping to steal the issue from Democrats and win support from one of that party's key constituencies - Latinos. GOP leaders have put water atop their agenda for next year's statewide campaigns. They are expanding voter-registration efforts in the drought-stricken Central Valley, where unemployment is high and food banks are busy, and encouraging candidates to reach out to Latino voters hit hard by the recession. The strategy was distilled on a 5-foot-high banner at the Republican voter registration table in front of a Walmart store in Dinuba (Tulare County) in...

Meg Whitman, the 2010 GOP gubernatorial candidate already on the defensive for her embarrassingly poor voting record, once endorsed and actively supported Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, one of the most proudly liberal politicians in California. Whitman not only endorsed Boxer and donated the maximum $4,000 to the junior California senator's 2004 re-election campaign, but the former eBay CEO also served on an exclusive committee of Technology Leaders for Boxer in her re-election battle against Republican California Secretary of State Bill Jones, according to election records obtained by The Chronicle. Whitman, in a 2003 Boxer campaign statement, spoke strongly on Boxer's...

(CNN) – Two Republican statewide candidates in California are touting the results of a state GOP convention straw poll that showed conservative activists overwhelmingly rejecting the gubernatorial bid of former eBay CEO Meg Whitman and the likely Senate bid of former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. The campaign of gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner boasted about his 64-point victory over Whitman in Sunday's straw poll on their Web site and on Twitter. Senate candidate Chuck DeVore's campaign touted their own dominating win over Fiorina — 91 percent to six percent — in a campaign e-mail celebrating their success at this weekend's Fall...

Indian Wells, California Republicans begin the 2010 campaign season with something many considered unthinkable just a few months ago - hope that they can win a major statewide race. They realize the odds are still steep. Only 31 percent of California voters are registered Republicans and no Congressional or legislative district has a majority of GOP voters. And demographically, former state Republican leader and current political analyst Allan Hoffenblum said the GOP has become an "old white guy" party in a state that is rapidly diversifying.Yet coming out of their three-day state convention that ended today, party activists say they...

Indian Wells, CA -- Greetings from the California Republican Convention, where we've already made a tactical error: We forgot to eat before the speeches. Do you know what the sound of 900 Republicans chewing sounds like? For all intents and purposes, this weekend is the kickoff for the 2010 campaign season and all the major statewide candidates are here. (Save for US Senate hopeful Carly Fiorina, who is undergoing her final two weeks of radiation therapy to treat breast cancer.) The next 40 hours are all about kissing up to the hardcore activists here. But before the smooches were planted,...

SACRAMENTO -- With President Obama's numbers slipping amid the rancorous debate over health care policy, state Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring couldn't be more pleased as his party takes its first steps into the 2010 campaign. "It's going to be a good election cycle," said Nehring, who is presiding over the state GOP convention in Indian Wells this weekend. "We'll have the wind at our back." Nehring's enthusiasm rests in three "leading indicators" that suggest that Republicans may be emerging from their electoral slump: the president's approval ratings, generic ballot strength and party self-identification, which he says have all "moved...

Surprised NewsBusters hasn't picked this up yet. This guy is a Republican? VIDEO

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is message-testing with a web ad going after former Hewlett Packard boss Carla Fiorina -- highlighting her huge severance package and the 18,000 staff reductions she instituted to bolster profits and HP's stock price. Fiorina has filed papers with the California elections board and is expected to challenge Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) next fall. Her cash, name recognition and ease on TV have gotten Democrats good and worried. A July Rasmussen Survey [take it with a grain] shows Boxer leading Fiorina by a 45-to-41 percent. The first quote is from Fiorina herself from a recent...

After consultation with many fellow supporters of my proposed change in the California Republican Party Bylaws, I made the very difficult decision just a few minutes ago to withdraw the change. To make a long story short, while I am confident that the votes were there to pass the change at the convention, the matter was becoming extremely divisive due to a lot of misinformation being spread about the proposal, and its effects.

At our next Republican Convention here in California, the most important vote we take may be the vote to close our primary elections, ensuring that people are Republicans before they can choose who will represent our party on the ballot. Since 1999 when we opened our primaries to those who do not join a party, we have had no noteworthy statewide electoral success from primary-nominated Republicans (our dear Governor Schwarzenegger, remember, bypassed the primary process in the recall of Governor Gray Davis). So the benefits of the open primary have been shown to be minimal. Yet a certain coalition of...

California Republican Party leaders, in a move that could reshape state primary-election politics, are preparing a move to bar decline-to-state voters - now 20 percent of the electorate - from casting a GOP ballot in statewide and legislative primaries. The proposed bylaw to the state Republican platform, which delegates will decide at the party convention next month in Indian Wells (Riverside County), has riled some business leaders and Republicans. They say it could be disastrous for the party's future and could relegate Republicans in the state to "permanent minority" status by keeping independent voters from supporting Republicans in primary elections....

We'll give the young Republican crowd some points for, uh, creativity -- but we just hope they get their fun in the right order when they hold that big Bay Area Young Republicans' "Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Fundraiser" this weekend. Say, whaaaa? No kidding. In a move that says that the Wild West is alive and well in California politics (or that maybe there's no adult advisor involved here), the San Francisco, San Mateo and Silicon Valley Young Republicans are planning an official smokin', drinkin', shoot-em-up fundraiser -- literally. It's even listed on the California Republican Party events website.

The Republican Party in California: Where Do We Go from Here? (7/10/09) Abe Maldonado, California State Senator Joe Tuman, Professor of Political and Legal Communications, San Francisco State University Tom Del Beccaro, Vice Chair, California Republican Party Carla Marinucci, Political Writer, San Francisco Chronicle In the wake of significant Democratic victories in the congressional and presidential elections, Republicans are divided over the best way to move forward and regain political ground. The debate is playing out on both the national and regional stage: In California, the months-long budget showdown revealed a split among Republican officials. Join us to hear from...

Meg Whitman, an early front-runner in the race for the 2010 Republican nomination for California governor, told a lunchtime crowd Friday in Ventura that she can be the candidate to rescue the California Republican Party from irrelevance and the state itself from near bankruptcy. “In business terms, we would say the Republican Party is losing share at an alarming rate,” said Whitman, a veteran executive who was CEO of eBay for 10 years. Republicans make up just 31 percent of the state’s registered voters, trailing Democrats by 14 percentage points, she said. “We’re going to have to include groups that...

California Republicans, known to engage in intraparty warfare, got an unexpected boost from the state's fiscal crunch as party leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger united against Democratic appeals for less-traumatic budget cuts. But GOP unity in Sacramento doesn't extend statewide, where activists and insiders are eyeing next year's election and fiercely debating the future, the message and potential leaders of the party in California, the nation's most-populous state. The dissidence in party ranks was on full display at a Commonwealth Club of California event Friday to explore the party's prospects. State Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria (Santa Barbara County), who...

State Sen. George Runner is stepping down as chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus, the Flash Report reported today. The 57-year-old Lancaster lawmaker told his 14 GOP colleagues that he will leave the post at the end of this month, according to the blog, written by state GOP official Jon Fleischman. Runner said that resigning the chairmanship will allow the post to be held by someone who is not seeking higher office and, at the same time, trying to qualify and pass a statewide ballot measure.

It's confirmed that CA GOP Chairman Ron Nehring will receive a list of questions from me and provide answers I can publish on FreeRepublic. I've asked that he also come online and answer follow-up questions but that has not been confirmed. I plan to group the questions as much as possible by the classic three components of Conservatism. Based on some crucial questions raised, I plan three additional question categories for a total of six, not listed here in any priority: 1. Social/Moral Conservatism 2. Fiscal Conservatism 3. Sovereignty/Nationalism 4. Candidates, Primary & General Elections & Party Leadership 5. Constitutional...

The California Republican Party seemed to hit political paydirt in a YouTube ad that pilloried the Service Employees International Union for "bullying state leaders in the budget process." The ad featured footage of an angry woman telling lawmakers that union members would work to defeat lawmakers who didn't vote their way. It turns out that the woman portrayed as an SEIU union leader in the commercial is a home health care worker from Fresno named Lisa Brown, who works for the state by caring for her son who has Down syndrome. Now Brown is calling on Republicans to pull the...

Republican activists may have breathed a sigh of relief today on learning that Santa Monica City Councilman Bobby Shriver has opted not to run for state attorney general. Now they are working to recruit their own star candidate. Their target is U.S. Atty. Thomas O’Brien. A recruitment effort is being spearheaded by California Republicans Aligned For Tomorrow, or CRAFT, a nonprofit focused on enlisting candidates for statewide office. The organization is bankrolled mostly by corporate leaders who have been seeking for years to move the party more toward the middle. Its chief executive is Duf Sundheim, former chair of the...

FR EXCLUSIVE: RON NEHRING, CALIF GOP CHAIRMAN TO FREEP YOUR QUESTIONS! -- ASK AWAY! I was invited to participate in a strategic GOP meeting on June 5, during which many topics including the Internet, voter registration and fundraising were discussed from a tech/strategy standpoint. Durind the event I had the chance to speak with Ron Nehring, California GOP Chairman. I mentioned to him that GOP leadership is perceived as RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) by much of the grassroots. When I noted that an enormous GOP opportunity exists among both Republicans and Democrats on the issue of our borders, fighting...

I stand ready to fight against the special interests in Sacramento and make the necessary cuts and reforms needed to reduce the size of government and get California's economy back on track. But I believe one course of action must be flatly rejected - raising taxes.

Assemblyman Roger Niello, who cast a key vote to pass a state budget that raised taxes this year, has been replaced as the GOP's point man on the Assembly Budget Committee. The Fair Oaks Republican will hand his committee post to Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, who is a freshman in the lower house but served a dozen years in the Senate, leaving in 1990. The switch was made by the Assembly's new Republican leader, Sam Blakeslee of San Luis Obispo, who has stressed that taxes cannot be raised again in tackling a $24.3 billion shortfall. "There is no doubt that...

Arizona Senator and former presidential contender John McCain will be making another visit to the Central Valley. McCain will be in Fresno on Friday for a town hall meeting with Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Meg Whitman. Whitman who announced her candidacy back on February 9th, is touting her business experiences with Ebay, Procter & Gamble, and Disney. Whitman helped Ebay grow from 30 employees and $4.7 million in revenue to more than 15,000 employees and almost $8 billion in revenue.

Arizona Sen. John McCain wants Meg Whitman to be California's next governor. The former eBay chief executive has not formally declared her candidacy, but a spokesman said Wednesday that she will pick up the 2008 Republican presidential nominee's endorsement at an event in Orange County on Friday. "We are thrilled to have someone of his stature as part of the team," spokesman Mitch Zak said. Whitman is one of several Republicans maneuvering to get into next year's race to replace Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is prevented by law from seeking a third consecutive term. McCain is one of the party's...

Just hours before budget negotiations begin at the Capitol, Republican state senators declined to specify today what big-ticket costs they favor chopping to solve a massive $21.3 billion deficit. Instead, gathered at a press conference outside the Capitol, the senators said the collapse of all but one ballot proposition Tuesday was a green light for long-range plans to cut public spending in the future. They unveiled a series of reform ideas to change school spending and hold state bureaucracies accountable for performance by imposing "term limits" on them or requiring them to "prove their worth" to be funded. "Solving the...

Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee, a Central Coast Republican in his third term in the Assembly, was chosen to succeed Assemblyman Mike Villines as the GOP leader of the lower house. The moved to replace Villines came less than two weeks before the May 19 special election, in which voters will be asked to approve a controversial mix of taxes and cuts to help shore up the state budget. The 29-member Assembly Republican Caucus selected Blakeslee in a closed-door meeting that lasted more than an hour. He is expected to formally take over on June 1. The caucus had become restive in...

Assembly GOP leader Mike Villines of Clovis is expected to resign his leadership post tomorrow. . . . Villines has caught the wrath of anti-tax conservatives ever since negotiating a budget deal in February with Democrats and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that includes temporary tax hikes

Schwarzenegger Candidacy Proves Republican Party's Lack of Commitment To Conservatism By Chuck Baldwin Food For Thought From The Chuck Wagon October 3, 2003 If there is anyone left who truly believes the Republican Party is committed to genuine conservative principles, the candidacy of bodybuilder/actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be California's next governor should be enough to set the record straight. Despite Schwarzenegger's extreme liberal views, he has won praise from Republicans nationwide. On virtually every issue worth noting, Schwarzenegger comes down on the left side of the page. Schwarzenegger is pro-abortion, pro-homosexual rights, pro-gun control, pro-green, and pro-illegal immigration. He even...

If there is anyone left who truly believes the Republican Party is committed to genuine conservative principles, the candidacy of bodybuilder/actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be California's next governor should be enough to set the record straight. Despite Schwarzenegger's extreme liberal views, he has won praise from Republicans nationwide. On virtually every issue worth noting, Schwarzenegger comes down on the left side of the page. Schwarzenegger is pro-abortion, pro-homosexual rights, pro-gun control, pro-green, and pro-illegal immigration. He even said that Clinton's impeachment made him "ashamed" to call himself a Republican. Furthermore, Schwarzenegger's immoral escapades make even Bill Clinton look unsoiled. He...

If there is anyone left who truly believes the Republican Party is committed to genuine conservative principles, the candidacy of bodybuilder/actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be California's next governor should be enough to set the record straight.Despite Schwarzenegger's extreme liberal views, he has won praise from Republicans nationwide. On virtually every issue worth noting, Schwarzenegger comes down on the left side of the page.Schwarzenegger is pro-abortion, pro-homosexual rights, pro-gun control, pro-green, and pro-illegal immigration. He even said that Clinton's impeachment made him "ashamed" to call himself a Republican.Furthermore, Schwarzenegger's immoral escapades make even Bill Clinton look unsoiled. He once bragged in...

What George Will missed: The decrepit state of the California GOP By Michelle Malkin  ?  May 4, 2009 02:21 PM George Will?s latest column on the sagging economy of California and the upcoming slate of massive tax-hike initiatives on the ballot only scratches the surface of what?s rotten in the formerly Golden State. The state GOP is a basket case. The party establishment epitomizes everything that is wrong with the Republican Party nationally: Cronyism, arrogance, waste, and leadership out of touch with its base. I reported on how grass-roots conservatives greeted California GOP chairman Ron Nehring with boos and heckles of ?Go...

LOS ANGELES — If Republican candidates for governor of California are hoping for an automatic high five from the sitting governor, they ought not to get too comfortable. When asked Friday after giving a speech on health care in which he highly praised President Obama and other Democrats whether he would ever consider endorsing a Democrat to replace him, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said, “It could happen, yes.” The governor offered no specifics on any particular candidate he might support.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s regrettable reign as governor of California has made the road rockier for Meg Whitman, the Republican who hopes to succeed him. In other circumstances, the Republican party would be thanking its lucky stars for sending them a candidate like Whitman, the former CEO of eBay. Twice declared the most powerful woman in business by Fortune magazine, she’s nearly universally praised as smart, successful, and relentlessly hardworking. She’s on the cover of this month’s Fortune, smiling serenely while holding a horse on a seaside ranch at Half Moon Bay — an image that can only be described as Reaganesque....

Days after a Republican congressman asked Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to step down, Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines has a target on his back. Shawn Steel, a former California Republican Party chairman and one of two representatives to the Republican National Committee, on Wednesday told Rob Johnson of Modesto's KMPH 840 that he and other Republicans plan to ask Villines to step down from his Capitol leadership post. Steel said Republicans are angry that Villines helped approve billions in temporary taxes during the latest budget agreement and that he is now advocating passage of Proposition 1A, which contains a spending limit...

Tom Campbell, the former state budget director and Republican congressman exploring a bid for Congress, recognizes that he's financially overmatched against his mega-rich opponents Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman. But, in an interview with ABC News, he sees a path to victory in the GOP primary. "A three-way race is exceptionally more achievable,

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is selling access to a pair of social soirees at his Brentwood mansion to deep-pocketed political donors willing to hand over at least $100,000 for his political fund.Donors who cut six-figure checks will be able to sip cocktails with the celebrity governor and first lady Maria Shriver at their Southern California home this Thursday and dine again there early next month, according to the four-page fundraising invitation obtained by The Bee.The events represent the kind of access to the state's chief executive that makes government watchdogs wary. "These sums may be a small price (for donors) to...

This just in from friends on the scene... California Republican Party (CRP) opposes Prop 1A-1F Mike Villines & Tom Campbell had spoken in favor of 1A and Steve Poizner against.

When it comes to congressional races, California — despite its 53 seats — is typically one of the least competitive states in the nation. Next year, however, that may change. The emerging consensus in both parties is that a highly gerrymandered state that rarely sees tightly contested House races is about to see a surge of them in 2010, largely because of erosion in the Republican base. “There are a few [Republican incumbents] that are probably in danger,” said Dave Gilliard, a California-based GOP strategist. “A lot of these guys aren’t used to working the district, and they’re going to...

From Sacramento -- Up close, the state Senate's new minority leader is soft-spoken and seems perhaps shy. But he definitely is not shy. And through his soft voice, he is an outspoken advocate for a conservative ideology. Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, 42, of Murrieta is a hard-right Republican who gives every indication of being a legislative leader who won't budge on taxes. Not now, not ever. He could be Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's worst nightmare, not to mention the Democrats'. Hollingsworth says he and the governor have only chatted briefly, not substantively, since the senator landed his job in a February coup...

Californians today will begin to feel the impact of the February budget compromise lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger struck, as the state sales tax rises 1 cent on the dollar. That probably won't help the polling for the May 19 ballot measures, none of which beyond the one involving lawmakers' salaries topped 50 percent support last week, according to the Public Policy Institute of California poll. That didn't particularly bother Schwarzenegger who said last week, "I'm here to fix problems, to fix what is broken, rather than worry about poll numbers." Speaking of broken, it's fair to say the relationship...

WASHINGTON — In the strongest signal yet of her political ambitions, Carly Fiorina said Tuesday that she is "seriously considering" challenging U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer in next year's California Senate race. Fiorina, who had surgery for breast cancer a month ago, said she is about to begin chemotherapy at Stanford Hospital, but then plans to resume a busy schedule. The former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, 54, was a highly visible supporter and economic adviser to Republican Sen. John McCain in the 2008 presidential campaign. ... Fiorina, a resident of Los Altos Hills, spoke to the state Republican convention in February and...

Threats of protest halt Pink Swastika author's scheduled talk by Temecula Valley News staff The Murrieta/Temecula Republican Assembly’s (MTRA) next meeting was scheduled to be April 3; however, that meeting and location are now in doubt as a result of threats of protest. According to MTRA president Bob Kowell, their speaker was scheduled to be Pastor Scott Lively from Abiding Truth Ministries in Massachusetts. Pastor Lively’s book, “The Pink Swastika,” has gained the attention and protest of gays and gay activists across the world. “The meeting was to be held at Temeku Hills Country Club,” said Kowell. “Temeku Country Club...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger can't be happy that the ballot measures he and leading Democrats are pushing for the May 19 special election took a gut punch in this morning's Los AngelesTimes from former LA Mayor Richard Riordan. Titled "California's May ballot scam," Riordan's op-ed says the Republican governor and legislative backers of the measures could challenge Bernie Madoff for "swindler of the year." . . . But Riordan says both parties are blindly supporting the approach. ..." And to my conservative friends: Will you be intimidated into voting for something you know is wrong? You should be against increases in...

Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, the Republicans' new state Senate leader, predicted Thursday that five out of six ballot measures linked to the budget deal will fail at the polls May 19.Speaking to a Sacramento Press Club luncheon, Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, also said majority Democrats would have gotten the blame if the recent budget deal had collapsed and driven the state into insolvency.Hollingsworth took over the Senate GOP caucus in the middle of the night after his colleagues deposed Sen. Dave Cogdill of Modesto. Cogdill had cut the budget deal that included tax increases with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Democrats and Assembly Republican Leader...