Free Republic

Simon Rally Reports 11/02/02 - Santa Barbara, Monterey, San Jose, Modesto, Fresno Feel free to post your comments on today's rallies for our California statewide candidates... SAN JOSE Freepers NormsRevenge, Mediaqueen, and yours truly, along with many more, welcomed the GOP statewide ticket to the San Jose area headed by (hopefully) our next governor, Bill Simon. Many camps were at the San Jose Hyatt north of downtown for their candidates as well as many local races such as Linda Rae Hermann (to unseat Congresscritter Mike Honda) and Douglas McNea (to unseat Congresscritter Zoe Lofgren). Signs, stickers, and buttons were in...

<p>Gary Mendoza may well be a rising star in the California Republican Party. Less certain is whether he can soar high enough in the next few weeks to win the statewide office of insurance commissioner.</p> <p>"The hardest thing to do is establish your viability," said Mendoza, a former state corporations commissioner and deputy to former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan who now works as a lawyer in Riordan's firm.</p>

Friday, Aug. 9, 2002 Gary Mendoza, a candidate for California State Insurance Commissioner, has managed to raise over $500,000 in campaign funds, making him the second-largest money raiser among so-called "down ballot" hopefuls in this year's statewide races. He has a mere $31,039 in campaign debt. In contrast, his opponent, John Garamendi, a former insurance commissioner and deputy secretary of the interior in the Clinton administration, has managed to run up an incredible $703,000 campaign debt, the largest amount of debt incurred by any of the down-ballot candidates of either party. Apparently Garamendi learned his lessons in financial management from...