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 January 12, 2015-- Organizational Meeting and Votes

The Republican Party of San Diego County (RPSDC) met on January 12, 2015 to elect new officers, for a two-year term, adopt bylaws, and consider a standing endorsement resolution.

We adopted a standing rule to recommend against any and all tax increase ballot propositions which require a 55% vote.  The standing rule can be overturned, and RPSDC can recommend for a tax hike, under the following provisions:

1- ten of the sixty committee members must request the reversal, in writing, at least ten days before a monthly committee meeting, prior to the public tax-hike vote
2- a reversal of the standing rule must receive at least 2/3 of the committee members' vote.

This is an important taxpayer protection because it sends a clear message that the Republican Party of San Diego County is, by default and design, against tax increases....NOT LIMITED TO BUT INCLUDING a taxpayer-funded stadium for the San Diego Chargers.

Stated differently, if the San Diego Chargers attempt to build a new stadium, with taxpayer dollars, and seek a public vote, the Republican Party of San Diego County is, by default and design, against that proposal unless 2/3 of the Committee approve a variance in oour endorsement.

I think that sends a powerful message to those who would seek to tax county residents for a private business concern.  I LOVE the NFL but I dont think it's fair to tax my neighbors to support my weekend hobby in the fall.  I've made my position quite clear on this issue and chose to record my name in favor of the motion and the subsequent vote.

A slate of candidates was presented to the full Committee and was approved unanimously by all members in attendance.  I voted for every proposed officer for two reasons:

1- Chairman Tony Krvaric has experience, committment, and trust of the donors.  He has served as Chairman since 2008, had good and bad election cycles, and is an integral part of the center-right coalition in San Diego County. He works hard and is a committeed volunteer.  No other candidates were nominated and few on our Committee could measure up to Tony in this election cycle.

2- The rest of the officers were recommended by Chairman Krvaric.  No other names were nominated for consideration and I saw no need to challenge the team Krvaric assembled.  I've known each Officer for a number of years and want to give the Chairman the team he needs to be successful.

I resigned from the RPSDC Executive Committee last year.  Dan Holstein will be replacing me as a regional chairman on the Executive Committee.  I accepted Holstein's challenge to build out our volunteer precenict captain network for the communities og Solana Beach, Del Mar, Carmel Valley, La Jolla, University City, Pacific Beach, Mission beach, Ocean Beach, Point Loma, Coronado, Imperial Beach, Downtown San Diego, Hillcrest, North Park, South Park, and Talmadge.

I think the number one challenge, facing RPSDC in the next election cycle, is to rebuild our volunteer network.  We do very well on fundraising but our volunteer GOTV network has contracted in the past ten years.  I chose to take on that action-oriented role rather than try to shape endorsements on the Executive Committee; I think it plays better to my strengths.

SDGOP Meeting April 14, 2014: Endorsement Considerations

The Republican Party of San Diego County met in April, 2014 to deliberate and vote on a consent list for endorsement in the June, 2104 and November, 2014 election. 

Our Executive Committee (of which I am a member) voted to forward Assemblyman Tim Donnelly's name for endorsement for Governor of California.  A majority of the Executive Committee voted to endorse him a week prior and that consideration was the first item on the agenda.  Chairman Krvaric, Assemblyman Rocky Chavez, and Vice-Chairman Nehring argued against endorsement.  I, and Caucus Chair Eric Andersen argued for endorsing Donnelly.  The full Committee rejected Donelly's endorsement motion with a majority vote.

A consent list was compiled which included incumbent Superior Court judges.  Two judges were removed from the consent list and considered seperately.  Those two incumbent judges were endorsed by the Committee with a majority vote.  I voted against the endorsement .

The Committee voted unanimously to endorse Barbara Decker for the 78th Assembly District.

Retired Navy SEAL Larry Wilske and school teacher Joel Marchese were considered for endorsement in the 53rd Congressional District.  I spoke on behalf of Larry Wilske and voted to endorse him.  Wilske was endorsed with a 2/3 supermajority vote.

Incumbent Poway Mayor Don Higginson and Poway City Councilman Steve Vaus were considered for endorsment.  I voted to endorse Vaus.  Vaus was endorsed with a 2/3 supermajority vote.

School Board Member John McCann and real estate broker Scott Vinson were considered for endorsement for the Chula Vista City Council.  I spoke on behalf of Vinson and voted to endorse him.  McCann was endorsed with a 2/3 supermajority vote.

Real estate broker Hector Gastelum and attorney Dan Smith were considered for endorsement for the Chula Vista City Council.  I voted to endorse Gastelum.  Gastelum was endorsed with a 2/3 supermajority vote.

Judge Pro-Tem Ken Gosselin and attorney Brad Weinreb were considered for endorsementfor Superior Court Judge.  I spoke on behalf of Gossenli and voted to endorse him.  Gosselin was endorsed with a 2/3 supermajority vote.

SDGOP Meeting January 13, 2014: Endorsement Considerations

The Republican Party of San Diego County met in January to deliberate and vote on a consent list for endorsement in the November, 2014 election.  The candidates offered were originally considered in the December, 2013 meeting but were voted down at that time. 

Even though this endorsement consideration is six months premature, I was prepared to vote for the consent list because, after performing my due diligence, I felt comfortable with the December consent list.  The Committtee pulled three names from that list,  for consideration in March, and that satisfied my desire to ask those candidates follow-up questions.

A week prior to the meeting, approximately 15 names were added to the consent list.  Many of the candidates and offices were unknown to me and were mostly school board candidates.  In the short period of time offered for due diligence, I discovered that 11 of the 12 candidates on the list voted for federal intervention into the local school curricula (Common Core Standards Initiative), a direct refutation of the Republican National Committee platform. 

I voted against the entire consent list because it was procedurally impossible to remove those 11 candidates at the meeting.  The endorsement list was accepted by the Committee and all of the candidates were endorsed in a majority vote.

A motion to endorse the three candidates, originally pulled from the consent list and scheduled for a March, 2014 endorsement vote, was made and seconded.  An objection to the motion arose,  during the discussion period, and the Chairman ruled that the motion to endorse was vaild.  I voted against all three candidates.  The Committee voted to endorse the three candidates in a majority vote.

The official press release about the endorsements is here.

SDGOP Meeting December 9, 2013: Endorsement List and Christmas Party

The Republican Party of San Diego County met last night to celebrate the holidays and consider the endorsement for incumbent City Council candidates, from various cities, for the November 2014 election.  The Executive Committee met last week (I was absent) and recommended that the compiled list of candidates be endorsed.

I voted against the motion to endorse the compiled list of candidates.  I primarily opposed the endorsement because prior notificaton of the compiled list hadn't been distributed to the full committee for consideration.  As such, I felt that a potential conflict with the endorsement rules existed.  I secondarily felt that the election was too far away (11 months) to endorse.    The motion was defeated and the list of endorsed candidates will be considered at a future date.

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. 

SDGOP Meeting: September 9, 2013--Endorsements

The Republican Party of San Diego County met last night, to deliberate and vote on the endorsement for the Special Election for San Diego Mayor.  One candidate, Councilman Kevin Faulconer requested the party's endorsement.

I voted to endorse Kevin Faulconer for the Mayor of San Diego.  The committee unanimously voted to endorse Mr Faulconer.

The Republican Party of San Diego County Central Committee met last night to deliberate and vote on endorsements for the 2014 election cycle. - See more at: http://delmar.typepad.com/restore_the_gop/#sthash.zpxTQuhl.dpuf

The Republican Party of San Diego County Central Committee met last night to deliberate and vote on endorsements for the 2014 election cycle. - See more at: http://delmar.typepad.com/restore_the_gop/#sthash.zpxTQuhl.dpuf

The Republican Party of San Diego County Central Committee met last night to deliberate and vote on endorsements for the 2014 election cycle. - See more at: http://delmar.typepad.com/restore_the_gop/#sthash.zpxTQuhl.dpuf

SDGOP Meeting: June 10, 2013--Endorsements

The Republican Party of San Diego County Central Committee met last night to deliberate and vote on endorsements for the 2014 election cycle.

A consent list was offered with incumbent Assembly Members Brian Mainschein, Brian Jones, and Marie Waldron.  Also included was incumbent State Senator Joel Anderson, US House of Representatives Darrell Issa and Duncan Hunter, County Supervisors Ron Roberts and Bill Horn,  County Treasurer Dan McAllister, County Assessor Ernie Dronenberg, San Diego City Council Member Lorie Zapf, and Escondido Mayor Sam Abed.

I voted to endorse the consent list of incumbent candidates.  I give a pretty wide berth to incumbents unless their policies or voting records are objectionable or grossly inconsistent with the CRP Platorm.  The Committee voted to endorse the consent list.

Three incumbents were considered in individual endorsements:  County Sheriff Bill Gore, Assemblyman Rocky Chavez, and candidate for San Diego City Council Chris Cate.

I voted to endorse Sheriff Bill Gore.  While he and I disagree about his CCW policy and Second Amendment rights, there is no other credible candidate offered.  Gore's job encompasses more than just CCW permits and his performance, as a public safety official has been good.  More importantly, Gore is an incumbent who won his first election with 57% of the vote (avoiding a run off election in 2010).  Had this been an election, for an open seat, I might have been hesitatnt to endorse but, as Gore is an incumbent, with broad-based support, I saw no reason to intervene.  The Committee voted to endorse Sheriff Bill Gore.

I voted to endorse incumbent Assemblyman Rocky Chavez.  While one of his votes troubled me (AB 351), his freshman record in the Assembly has been consistent with his promise to the taxpayers of California to: oppose tax increases, protect Proposition 13, and cap the taxpayers' contribution to public sector pension plans.  Moreover, his strong showing in both the June and November 2012 elections suggest that the voters of his conservative-leaning District will support him.  The Committee voted to endorse Rocky Chavez.

I voted to endorse San Diego City Council candidate Chris Cate.  He was the only one of the two interviewed candidate forwarded by the Executive Committee for endorsement after the interviews.  Chris had the endorsements from former Councilman Carl DeMaio and existing Council Members Zapf, Faulconer, Sherman, and Kersey.  He has broad-based policy experience, started a business while in college, and made the promise to taxpayers to:  oppose tax increases, protect Proposition 13, and cap the taxpayers' contribution to public sector pension plans.  The Committee voted to endorse him unanimously

RPSDC Awards Brady For Volunteer Efforts

Solana Beach/ Del Mar Get Out The Vote for November 2012

From the Republican Party of San Diego County:

The election is weeks away and the time has come to get out the Republican vote! Our candidates depend on us, from Mitt Romney to Carl DeMaio and nearly one hundred local Republican candidates! Are you up for it?

The money has been raised, the candidates vetted, the door hangers have been printed and now all that remains is an ALL OUT PUSH to visit every Republican in our county IN PERSON to remind them to vote!

IMPORTANT: This Saturday at 10 AM is our first deployment so please visit the Republican Victory Campaign HQ nearest you to make phone calls or walk a precinct! Can our Romney-Ryan ticket count on you this Saturday?

FALLBROOK

130 N. Main Avenue in Fallbrook [map]

Contact: Barbara Stevens via email or call (760) 940-0902

 

ESCONDIDO

237 W. Grand Avenue in Escondido [map]

Contact: Don Burgett via email or call (760) 745-1104

 

OCEANSIDE/CARLSBAD

3355 Mission Avenue in Oceanside [map]

Contact: Tony Trejo via email or call (619) 405-7488

 

RANCHO BERNARDO/POWAY

16935 W. Bernardo Drive, Suite 208 in San Diego [map]

Contact: Clare Michal via email or call (858) 876-8436          

 

MIRA MESA/MIRAMAR/KEARNY MESA

7939 Silverton Avenue, Suite 806 in San Diego [map]

Contact: Chelsea Cuellar via email or call (858) 255-0299

 

SANTEE

10152 Mission Gorge Road, Unit B in Santee [map]

Contact: James Jeffries via email or call (619) 722-0530

 

CHULA VISTA

884 Eastlake Parkway, Suite 1620 in Chula Vista [map]

Contact: Alex Gonzalez email or call (619) 549-9828

Note: These HQs are generally open weekdays and Saturdays so if you cannot come at 10 AM on Saturday, feel free to come by any time when it's convenient for you. If you want to make sure someone will be there, just call or email first.

FOR PRECINCT WALKING ONLY...
...you can contact the Community Leader for your area directly and work with him or her to pick up precinct walk materials. If your area isn't listed, just go to the nearest Republican Victory HQ!

SOLANA BEACH/DEL MAR

2010 Jimmy Durante Boulevard #220 in Del Mar [map]
Contact: Brian Brady via email

 

VISTA

615 Cabezon Place in Vista [map]

Contact: Amanda Rigby via email

 

SAN MARCOS

Contact: Mike Hansen via email

 

ENCINITAS

Contact: Jerome Stocks via email

 

SORRENTO VALLEY/TORREY PINES

11300 Sorrento Valley Road #105 in San Diego [map]

Contact: Joann Carlisle via email

 

LA JOLLA/UTC

Contact: Jim Fox via email

 

CARMEL VALLEY

4710 Plummer Court in San Diego [map]

Contact: Christie Walsh via email

 

CLAIREMONT

4327 Mount Hukee Avenue in San Diego [map]

Contact: Shirley Kaltenborn via email

 

TALMADGE/COLLEGE AREA

4688 Winona Avenue in San Diego [map]

Contact: John Cuthbertson via email

Note: These are individual Community Leaders so please do not just show up, but make arrangements with the individual listed. If you can't reach someone or your area isn't listed, just go to the Victory Campaign HQ (see above) closest to you.