Restore The GOP

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. 

Ballot Propositions For Nov 6, 2012 Election

There are ten statewide propositions on the ballot next week.  Here is how I'm voting:

• 30--Higher Income and Sales Taxes -- NO
• 31--  State Budget--  NO
• 32--  Money out of politics-- YES
• 33- Keep Your Good Driver Auto Insurance Discount-- YES
• 34-  End the Death Penalty-- YES
• 35-   Increased Penalties for Human Trafficking (poorly written)-- NO
• 36-  Ends Three Strikes Law For Non-Violent Crime-- YES
• 37-- More Mandatory Labeling and Bureaucratic Overisght of Food-  NO
• 38-- Tax Hike Earmarked for Education Only-- NO
• 39- Higher Business Taxes on out-of-state businesses-  NO
• 40-- Redistricting Challenge--- No opinion

Four local school bonds to oppose are:

• Prop Z in San Diego-- NO
• Prop AA-- San Diguito High School District-- NO
• Prop CC-- Del Mar Union School District-- NO
• Prop EE-- Miracosta Community College District-- NO

Feel free to call me if you have any questions at 858-777-9751

SDGOP Central Committee Meeting: Aug 13, 2012

I was elected by the Republican voters, of the (new) 78th Assembly District, to be one of the six members of the SDGOP Central Committee, for a two-year term beginning December, 2012.  Recently, Mark Olson asked me to be his alternate member, representing the (current) 74th Assembly District and I accepted.

I pledged to publish my voting record when I ran and I will be honoring that pledge here.

Last night, your SDGOP Central Committee deliberated on endorsing candidates.  I represented Mr. Olson, as his alternate, in the 74th Assembly District. 

A slate of incumbent Republicans was presented for endorsement.  Those incumbents were endorsed unanimously. I voted to endorse.

Steve Johnson sought the party endorsement for his re-election to the Lakeside Water District.  He secured the 2/3 required for endorsement.  I voted to endorse Mr. Johnson.

Sherry Hodges  and Rocky Chavez sought the party endorsement for the 76th Assembly District.  Sherry Hodges won the 2/3 required for endorsement.  I voted to endorse Sherry Hodges.