Fresno's Mayor and LA County: What a fight! [can Republicans ever again win statewide?]

Fresno Bee ^ | January 13, 2015 | by George Hostetter

[Jim Robinson]

"We knew we had problems when the returns from Los Angeles County started coming in."

That's what Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin told me several days ago when we chatted by phone about her race for the state controller's office.

Turns out LA County voter returns are still catching the eyes of political gurus throughout the state.

To refresh, Swearengin, a Republican, lost to Betty Yee, a Democrat, in the Nov. 4 general election by a 54%-46% margin.

Yee had 3,810,304 votes. Swearengin had 3,249,668 votes. That's a difference of 560,636 votes. Those numbers from the state's official Statement of Vote.

I called the mayor to get her take on the overall and county-by-county returns for her race. I also took a glance at county-by-county statistics for voter registration and voter participation in the Nov. 4 campaign.

I'm not an expert on voter numbers. But some of the LA County statistics stood out when compared to other counties.

I made a few phone calls. I learned that other reporters who do have expertise in this area saw what I saw. They, too, are curious.

I offer a few of my thoughts only because the statistics could impact Swearengin's political future. She is termed out in two years. She is seen as a rising star in California GOP circles. She may run for governor in 2018. She doesn't like to lose.

But I wonder: Do the Democrats have a system in place that makes it impossible for a Republican to ever again win a statewide office?

[Jim Robinson]

And the idiot GOPe wants to give amnesty to millions more democrat voters? Why?

[anton]

Because the GOP represents crony capitalism which is fueled by government boondoggles and cheap labor. The GOP is dead to me. It should be to you too. Let’s all meet in Wyoming or somewhere and secede.

[re_nortex]

My fear is that Texas is just a few decades away from becoming just another California. The criminal invaders are everywhere here. They've already taken control of the Valley, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Houston and Odessa. Worse yet, those criminals are now expanding into the suburbs as evidenced by the hydraulic fracturing ban in Denton, once a nice community that's gone far, far left and is possibly beyond repair.

On the other hand, my fervent hope is that Patriotic Texans (we have a large number of FReepers here) will see what's happened to California and take all necessary measures to stop the swarm of these criminal invaders. A revival of Operation Wetback is long overdue.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

>>> The Democratic Party then generates on Election Day the number of precinct voters necessary to give Democratic candidates for statewide office a guaranteed margin of victory. It’s all as easy as pie. <<<

Democrats in CA have a higher winning percentage than Saddam Hussein in his hey days. And there’s more vote fraud in LA than Baghdad.

[hosepipe]

AND of course there was ZERO voter fraud in Los Angeles....

/snark..

[dragnet2]

lol...Thanks for the ping tex..

Sorry CA is destroying your state.

But I don’t think I can help ya.

Good luck.

[Menthops]

When was the last time the GOP ran a conservative for state-wide office?

I don’t see how they can ever win by continuing to run non-conservatives. Look what has happened recently with Scott Brown in MA and NH.

[RginTN]

California is what will happen once the GOP goes full Leftist. No point in voting for leftwing GOP when the Dems been Leftist longer.

[Mark17]

And the idiot GOPe wants to give amnesty to millions more democrat voters? Why?

They don't call them the stupid party for nothing.

[rbbeachkid]

Part of the problem is all of the takers in LA. And part of the problem is all of the illegals. But a huge part of the problem is a completely inept Republican Party in California. Last time Barbara Boxer was reelected we couldn’t get her opponent to do a campaign appearance in Los Angeles.

[1010RD]

When was the last time the GOP ran a conservative for state-wide office?

Are you at all familiar with GOP Senators or Governors or do you not believe those are statewide offices?

[Political Junkie Too]

And now we know why the National Popular Vote people are so anxious for it to pass. The only thing that keeps LA County's "generated votes" from spilling into the Presidential election is the Electoral College.

-PJ