[Fiji Hill]

Tunney's opponent in the 1970 Senate election was George Murphy, a conservative Republican who had bucked the 1964 Johnson landslide to defeat Pierre Salinger, JFK's press secretary. Murphy's 1970 re-election campaign was the first political campaign for which I did volunteer work.

Unfortunately, he had a medical condition that impaired his ability to speak, a severe handicap for a politician. he also had to fight off a last-minute challenge from Norton Simon, a RINO businessman. These factors, plus a recession were too many obstacles for Murphy to overcome.

Fortunately, Tunney only served one term before being knocked out by Dr. Sam Hayakawa (who would turn out to be a disappointing RINO).

[Theodore R.]

I didn’t know why so many CA Republicans turned against Hayakawa in the 1982 primary, but they nominated another RINO, Pete Wilson.