Restore The GOP

2016 Republican Party of San Diego County Central Committee Endorsements

Here are my endorsements for the Republican Party of San Diego County Central Committee, for the June 2016 ballot.  This is a four-year term and the members make up the governing body of the local party organization.  My criteria for endorsement are pretty simple:

1- I eliminate anyone with a potential conflict of interest in the endorsements process.
2- I favor incumbents who have a good voting record.
3- I endorse a few "first timers" who are established GOP volunteers and use good judgement.

My first 'condition" has caused me to eliminate some really good people from the process, a few of which are close friends.  It's not personal.  I think those elected officials are already serving the Republican effort in San Diego well.  I seek to expand the effort by bringing more volunteers into the governing process.  Note that I did NOT file for election.  I intend to remain active as a fundraiser for the local effort and don't want that bias on the Committee.  In short, I am practicing what I preach.  I'll have plenty of influence with the Committee but my vote would be biased.

71st Assembly District (East County):

Eric Andersen
Frank Hilliker
Jim Kelly

All three are incumbents, each a volunteer, and I don't know enough about the rest of the field to offer an endorsement.

75th Assembly District (Northeast County)

Joe Bologna
Delores Chavez Harmes
Clare Plotner
Debbie Lenson
Regina Roberts

Lee DeMeo is a movement conservative but he serves on two regional boards, one of which presents a conflict with the RPSDC meetings.    Debbie Lenson is a new member to the Committee and is a hard working conservative.  Regina Roberts is a dedicated activist for the Second Amendment and important leader in the Republican Party.

76th Assembly District

Tia Ballard
John Buell
Gary Felien
Sandy Waecker
Dan Hughes
Judy Rees

All good choices.

77th Assembly District

Jeannie Foulkrod
Elliott Schroeder
Lynette Williams
Tony Krvaric
Richard Rider
Carl DeMaio

Krvaric is a superb chairman and, while he may not run for re-election for Chairman, he needs to be on the Committee.  Foulkrod is the current Secretary and a long-time volunteer.  Williams is one of the most dedicated  volunteers we have.  Schroeder and Rider are first-time candidates but were heavily involved in the Republican Liberty Caucus.  Richard Rider is a warrior for Liberty.  Carl DeMaio is a great choice.  If he ever runs for office, he should resign his Central Committee position; I have no doubt that he would do that

78th Assembly District

Taylor Bloom
Monica Fay
Waskah Whelan
Julio DeGuzman
Dan Holstein

I served on and chaired this District for two years.  Incumbents Fay, DeGuzman, and Holstein are independent thinkers with years of experience; they should be re-elected.  Whelan was the County Chair of the Republican Women's Federated and Taylor Bloom is a rising and important voice in the County.  Jean Roesch is a long time committee member but missed a lot of meetings; she would be a good sixth vote

79th Assembly District-- I can only endorse Martha Doiron; I don't know nor recommend the other candidates.

SDGOP Meeting November 11, 2013: Endorsement for CA 52nd Congressional District

The Republican Party of San Diego County (RPSDC) met last night to endorse a candidate in California's 52nd Congressional District (CD52).  The 52nd Congressional District includes the cities of Poway, Coronado, most of the City of San Diego communities north of Interstate 8, and most of the City of San Diego communities west of Interstate 5.  Please check the District map to see if you are registered in this District.

I am not registered in CD52 but, in my capacity as a regional chairman for RPSDC, I had an important interest in this race.  My "region" includes many of the City of San Diego communites and the City of Coronado.  As such, I spent a great deal of time intereviewing the candidates over the past six months.

The Executive Committee of RPSDC, of which I am a member, unanimously voted to recommend candidates for endorsement:  former San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio, Marine veteran and businessman Kirk Jorgensen, and trauma surgeon and businessman Fred Simon.  The recommendations to endorse were consistent with the endorsement rules and procedures passed by the Committee in January, 2013; a two-thirds vote from the full committee would be required for endorsement.

A motion from the floor was made to suspend the endorsement in this race. That motion was defeated.   I voted against this motion for the following reasons: 

1-Scott Peters, an independently wealthy trial lawyer, currently holds this seat.  A significant financial investment, from the RNCC, independent donors, and Republican voters, will be required to defeat his campaign for re-election,

2- Peters' record, for his short term in Congress, is abysmal.  He voted for Obamacare and increased and damaging regulations to the financial services sector.  He has no significant legislative accomplishments and votes the Pelosi/Reid agenda. 

3- The RPSDC endorsement will be necessary to co-ordinate the resources required to defeat him.

The Committee interviewed and deliberated about the three candidates:  DeMaio, Jorgensen, and Simon.  The Committee voted to endorse Carl DeMaio with a 2/3 majority.  I voted to endorse Carl DeMaio for the following reasons:

DeMaio has a proven record of government reform.  While he was defeated in the City of San Diego Mayor's race, he outperformed his opponent in an overwhlemingly high number of San Diego communities which are in CD52.  DeMaio's fundraising effort is off to a great start and he has secured endorsements from Congressman Issa House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, and most significantly, Congressman Tom McClintock. 

Why Should I Vote For Brian Brady for SDGOP Central Committee?

I received an email this morning, asking me these five questions about my motivation for serving and plans to grow the SDGOP.  I'm thrilled people are paying attention and asking the hard questions of candidates.  When voters ask the hard questions (and they are), we stand a better chance fo reclaiming and restoring the Republic. 

Questiones emboldened.  Answers italicized

1.      Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

I am a husband, father, tea party activist, and small business owner who announced his candidacy for the San Diego County Republican Central Committee, on February 15, 2012.  My conservative activism began soon after I registered to vote in my hometown of Cherry Hill, NJ. On my 18th birthday, I registered with the Selective Service Board then went to Township Hall to register to vote.  Maria Greenwald, mayor of Cherry Hill, was horrified when Mr. Brady registered Republican in the mostly Democratic township.

I smiled, told Mayor Greenwald that I was going to get President Reagan re-elected, and walked out of the Township Hall.  I was immediately approached by a bystander who invited me to the Camden County Republican Party meeting that month.  At the meeting, I committed to become a County committeeman.  I launched my campaign in my District, won at age 18 and 3 months, and the journey began.

Read my full biography

2.      What are the duties and responsibilities of the central committee?

The Central Committee is the governing body of the San Diego County Republican Party and is tasked with recruiting and endorsing candidates, raising money for local races, registering voters, and working to keep Republicans as the majority party.

3.      Why do you want to be on the central committee?

I want to "Restore the GOP" to the majority party in San Diego County, the State of California, and the country.  I believe the best way to do that is to recommit our party to the principles of Liberty and fidelity to the Constitution.

Ourr Founders gave us a "manual for good self-government", also known as The Constitution.  That brilliant document guarantees individual, God-given rights.  Both parties have strayed from First Principles, finding it easier to promise the electorate stuff rather than to follow the constraints placed upon government in Article One, Section Eight.  Not since Reagan and Goldwater have we heard those principles effectively articulated.   I want to help to RESTORE the GOP to the platform of constitutionally constrained government, promotion of free enterprise, and protection of individual liberties.

Read the about my ideas to RESTORE THE GOP here

4.      What specific ideas do you have that will make the SDRP more robust
and successful in its mission to elect conservatives to public office?

Recruit and educate candidates who can effectively articulate why limiting government is legally, morally, and practically the best course of action.

Read those ideas here.

5.      Any ideas on how to attract youth/minorities to the party?

Promote Liberty.  Liberty has a way of bringing people together.  The principles of Liberty are attracted thousands of young people, of all races, colors and creeds, to rallies across California.

Here is what young people said at the linked story about a Liberty rally:

One group of six students, all from different backgrounds, shared two things: They were men, and they were there in support of Dr. Paul. They agreed that if Dr. Paul is not the nominee, they would still absolutely vote in the general election.

They would not stay home.

Most of the six young men said they would lean toward President Obama over Mitt Romney, in varying degrees. They all agreed that they could not support Rick Santorum. These young men were overall very thoughtful. They were worried about crushing debt.

Ron Paul is no Messiah but to ignore the principles he is promoting:  sound money, scaled back military intervention, reducing the size and scope of government, and fiscal resposnisbility, is to ignore the future voters of the GOP.  Voters under 30 can and will passionately support candidates who stand for these principles.  We have plenty of those candidates in San Diego and need to recruit and educate them.

Talking Limited Government With The Coronado Republican Women's Federated

I had the distinct pleasure, of addressing the members of the Coronado RWF this week at a beautiful oceanfront home near the Naval base.  My topic was "Why we limit government".  My wife Debra and I were invited to become associate members of the Coronado RWF, after my address,  which we accepted with gratitude.

Mia Freymiller, a candidate for SDGOP Central Committee and Programs Chair introduced me.  Among the attendees were SDGOP Central Committee candidate and my good friend Eric Andersen, and Chairman of the San Diego Republican Party, Tony Krvaric.

Points I made were:

• The concept of a limited government, constrained by the Constitution, isn't novel nor outdated.  Senator Barry Goldwater laid out the framework for the modern restoration to limited government in his watershed work, Conscience of a Conservative.  President Reagan gave special notice to the concept of federalism in his 1981 Inaugual Address.  These men were not libertarians, they were conservative Republicans.  These men weren't "anti-government extremists", they were elected officials.
• American exceptionalism recognizes the concept of natural rights.  For the non-religious, this means that our rights pre-exist government because they are a product of our humanity.  Religious folks believe that we have rights, which can't be separated, as a gift from God. This made America uniquely good because we departed from our European cousins' belief that God make one man or woman a ruler over others.  In these United States, each Man is a King and each Woman is a Queen, but not a one of us is a Ruler.
• This belief makes our nation "exceptional".  Alexis de Tocqueville recognized that limited government unleased the goodness of Americans and that goodness made us great.  The result, as history has revealed, is an experiment which created the most wealth, for the most people, and meted out the most justice in the world, in the history of Man interacting with Man.
• For the well-intentioned but naive people who try to impose burdens on some, to bestow gifts to others, in pursuit of a Heaven on Earth, they are violating the First Commandment (or Laws of Nature for the non-religious).  Stated differently, while Man is made in the image and likeness of God, Man is NOT God,  God is perfect and Man is fallible.
• Since we recognize that Man is fallible, we recognize the empowering Man as a ruler is dangerous.  Lord Acton warned us that "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely".  We only need to look at the Soviet Union as an example of abslolute  and absolutely corrupted power.  Of course, that experiment, to create a "Soviet Heaven on Earth" , failed miserably.
• Our Constitution is a flawed but nearly perfect guideline for good government.  When we follow the constraints it placed upon the federal government, and all of the branches of government neither arrogate power from other branches, not abdicate power to the other branches, we handcuff government so that the power to rule over others is limited.
• Free citizens, left to their own devices, solve society's problems best through commerce, charity, volunteerism, and association with others.  Government distorts those solutions with forced, top-down approaches, inducing a sense of casual indifference towards society's problems from its citizens, and ultimately sufferes a collapse.
• It's not too late to fix what is broken.  If we return to First Principles, understand that our morality doesn't come from our laws rather our laws come from our morality, embrace the diverse solutions which different free citizens and citizens' groups attempt, we can restore the Republic.

When I finished my address, I enjoyed the fellowship of Senatorial candidiates Dan Hughes and John Boruff.  I had fun offering advice to improve upon Dan Hughes' "Bold Solutions Plan", with the principles from my speech.  I'm hopeful to see how if implements those ideas into his campaign

Visiting the Coronado RWF: Meeting Col. Rick Powell

I enjoyed my first visit with the Coronado Republican Women Federated club Tuesday night.   About 40 people showed up, at the Coronado Public library, to feast on home-made delicacies, network with other center-right activists, and listen to three speakers:  Superior Court Justice candidiates Garland Peed and David Berry and retired Colonel Rick Powell.

Powell's accomplishments are astonishing but not unlike many of the fine veterans who choose San Diego as their home.  COL Powell served in Vietnam and Operation Iraqui Freedom, is a retired federal agent, and was the GOP nominee for CA Assembly.  Today, he educates groups about the illegal immigration/national security link and host Amato Talk Radio on Friday nights.

COL Powell is a constitutionalist with a burning passion for this great land.  Coronado is one of the most beautiful cities in this country and home to the US Naval Special Warfare Center and Coronado Naval Base and NAS.  I was filled with pride, being in the western seaboard's southermost defense city, listening to a real American hero.