Free Republic

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former Trump administration appointee Connie Conway has advanced to a June runoff in a California special election to fill a U.S. House seat left vacant after Republican Rep. Devin Nunes resigned to lead former President Donald Trump’s media company. The race for the second runoff spot was too early to call, after election officials paused counting early Wednesday morning. Completing the vote count will take at least a week, as mail ballots can arrive as late as April 12. Officials said they would not release additional results until Thursday in Tulare County and Friday in Fresno...

Sacramento, Calif. (AP) -- Reflecting on lessons learned on a two-day trip to the Lone Star state, Assembly Republicans said Thursday California needs to follow Texas' model of lower taxes and fewer regulations and legal hurdles to keep the economy growing. GOP lawmakers led a delegation of California representatives to meet with Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, and spoke to business owners about why they left California last week. Assembly Minority Leader Connie Conway of Tulare said the trip affirmed her caucus is on the right track with a package of bills she says would help California companies thrive....

When Connie Conway was elected to the Assembly, a colleague quipped that the former county supervisor was going "from the frying pan into the bonfire." Fast forward two years, and the one-liner seems prophetic as Conway assumes leadership of the Assembly Republican caucus while lawmakers brace for a new fight over billions in red ink. "I don't have to worry about the freezing weather," Conway quipped when asked about political heat at the Capitol. "I'm warm all the time." Conway, 60, takes the GOP reins at a time when Democrats control the Governor's Office, Assembly and Senate – and recent...