Free Republic

Republicans in California "as a brand," said former GOP party chair Duf Sundheim, "are dead." Ouch. Not that we didn't already know that -- and we told you the other day about some trying to do mouth-to-mouth on the GOP (sorry about the image). But Duf's nugget at the end of a discussion about California's 2010 gubernatorial primary was one of several things we learned here at the lovely Hotel Shattuck at UC-Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies looky-loo-back at the 2010 Guv race. As the name hints, this confab is like a rave for political geeks-- and those who aspire...

The Republican Party, as a brand, is dead in California. That's the eye-opening consensus of a crowd of political observers, lawmakers and strategists - Democrats and Republicans - gathered at a UC Berkeley symposium this weekend to mull over California's defiantly blue status in the wake of a conservative tide that swept the nation in November. Many of the 200 attendees at the two-day Institute of Governmental Studies conference appeared surprisingly unified on one issue: that, barring dramatic upheaval, the GOP's prospects may be doomed in the voter-rich Golden State. "Republicans, as a brand, are dead," Duf Sundheim, the former...

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...

SACRAMENTO -- Republicans could be on the verge of sinking into political oblivion in California, especially if they continue to take hard-line positions on illegal immigration, experts say. Elections across the state this month left Republicans shut out of all statewide offices. Republicans also failed to gain any new congressional seats and lost one in the Assembly. The failure was in stark contrast to gains made by Republicans across the country, sending the state GOP into a period of self-reflection over the future solvency of the party. "We have a deep problem, not one solved easily," said Duf Sundheim, a...

CRAFT is a 527 committee launched by last year by Schwarzenegger donors Larry Dodge and Paul Folino, and former Gov. Pete Wilson to recruit the "next generation" of statewide Republicans candidates. It is run by former California Republican Party Chairman Duf Sundheim. Moderate GOP pundit Tony Quinn opined at the time that CRAFT's formation "...shows the money people in the party have no faith in the California Republican party. This group would not exist if not for the fact that Republicans can't win statewide elections." Judging by CRAFT's financial disclosure, I'm not sure those involved know how to run a...

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...

For the past four years, Duf Sundheim has been walking a tightrope between the really, really conservative wing of the California Republican Party and the party's "still pretty conservative but we like to win an election occasionally" bloc. But with the end of his four-year term just a few days away, the party chairman made it clear this morning that his money is on the pragmatists. --snip-- For people who don't spend a lot of time hanging around GOP activists, "broad coalition" is the code phrase for blacks, Latinos, moderate Republicans, decline-to-state voters and the occasional conservative Democrat. Who, as...

I have enjoyed reading articles about the election, some of which I agree with, others I do not. But as Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." And the fact is the California Republican Party is much stronger today than it was three years ago. In 2002, a Republican "red tide" did not stop California Democrats from winning every statewide office. Pundits, Republican and Democrat, said Republicans could not win in this "bluest of blue states." Just four years later, in the worst year for Republicans nationally since 1974, those...

George "Duf" Sundheim, chairman of the California Republican Party, will talk about President George W. Bush's Nov. 2 election victory as well as California politics during a Web chat from 10-11 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 18. Readers are welcome to post questions in advance. Elected as CRP chairman in February 2003, Sundheim campaigned on a pledge to unify the party and make sure Republican candidates and volunteers have the resources necessary to win elections. Since his election, the CRP has successfully raised more than $24 million and registered more than 390,000 new Republican voters. Sundheim regularly appears as a political...

<p>There was Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, getting an autograph from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at a rally in Bakersfield, where he used his bully pulpit to pressure Parra and other Democrats to support his budget plan.</p> <p>Adding irony to the photo that appeared last week in newspapers around the state: Parra is the Republican Party's No. 1 target in next year's Assembly races, based on her slim 266-vote victory in 2002.</p>

Mon September 29, 2003 08:19 PM ET By Dan Whitcomb and Gina Keating LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Arnold Schwarzenegger picked up an unprecedented endorsement in California's recall election from leaders of the state Republican Party on Monday as Gov. Gray Davis tried to regain momentum eight days before the Oct. 7 vote. Schwarzenegger was unanimously backed by the California Republican Party's Board of Directors despite the presence of a second GOP candidate, state Sen. Tom McClintock, on the ticket as a new poll showed the film star surging and Davis fading. "Arnold has a proven ability to connect with voters...

<p>California Republican Party Chairman Duf Sundheim crashed a Gov. Gray Davis campaign event Friday where he defended Arnold Schwarzenegger, criticized Davis' debate challenge to the actor -- and ended up in a confrontation with feminist activist attorney Gloria Allred.</p> <p>After an event with women supporters wrapped up, Sundheim began giving spin to reporters, accusing Davis of ignoring the public's business to raise money and defending Schwarzenegger's record with women.</p>

or a White House that would particularly like to see President Bush prevail in California in the 2004 election, the recall move that is threatening to topple Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, would seem, at first glance, like a gift. But as a nervous White House contemplated the successes, so far, of the effort to oust Mr. Davis, it was hardly clear that the recall effort would provide the advantage Mr. Bush was seeking in the solidly Democratic state. Some Republicans argued that the installation of a Republican governor in California would give Mr. Bush the organizational and fund-raising foundation...

<p>SACRAMENTO (AP) - State Republicans elected Palo Alto attorney Duf Sundheim as their new chairman Sunday, choosing the head of a moderate Republican group over a longtime grass-roots activist after a racially charged campaign.</p> <p>He also praised the losing candidate, current party Vice Chairman Bill Back, as ``one of the greatest Republicans.''</p>