Free Republic

California governor candidate's refusal to sign 'Pledge' costs him support California Republican gubernatorial candidate Richard Riordan, facing a tough primary fight this Tuesday, is out of step with 80 percent of the state's Republicans who voted to support marriage between a man and a woman, according to pro-family organizations, after Riordan refused to sign the Marriage Protection Pledge. Riordan's Republican rival, Bill Simon, has signed the pledge -- designed to show support for marriage as being exclusively between a man and a woman -- according to Bill Peotter, spokesman for the Simon campaign in Orange County. In March 2000, some ...

"Two years ago, California Gov. Gray Davis was on top of the world. Thought to be a likely presidential candidate for the Democrats in 2004, he was well-funded, had strong support on the left, and was viewed in a generally positive light by the business community," United Press International said today. "My, how times have changed." In reporting the results of the latest Field Poll, which found conservative businessman Bill Simon ahead of liberal "front-runner" Richard Riordan for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, UPI noted another stunner: the decline of Davis, with Simon having a "shocking" advantage of 44 percent to ...

Simon catches the former LA mayor thanks to an improved campaign, Riordan’s self- destruction, and Davis’s ads. George Neumayr is a member of California Political Review’s editorial board. Dick Riordan and Bill Simon are tied, according to the Los Angeles Times’ poll. Were Bill Jones not in the race, Simon would enjoy a large lead. This much is clear: Dick Riordan-style liberalism has no significant base in the California GOP, and, at this point, Republicans voting for Bill Jones rather than for Simon will only help George Skelton muddle this plain truth in his post-election L.A. Times “analysis.” Jones, although ...

<p>Republican Richard Riordan has vowed that if he is elected governor he will bar lobbyists from his office -- a policy he adopted as Los Angeles mayor.</p> <p>But while mayor, according to interviews, Riordan not only spoke with lobbyists at his office and official mayoral residence, he also appointed at least a dozen to city commissions where they could play a more direct role in steering city policy.</p>

I just got this update of talk radio appearances by Bill Simon today. Here's your chance to talk to the next governor... SACRAMENTO The Tom Sullivan Show KFBK-AM 1530 2pm-3pm SAN DIEGO "Larson Live" w/Mark Larson KCBQ-AM 1170 3:20pm-3:30pm LOS ANGELES The Al Rantel Show KABC-AM 790 7:30PM-8PM

FREEPERS - ALERT!!! . We need to make sure that conservative Bill Simon crushes liberal RINO/DIABLO Dick Riordan. Simon has surged ahead in the most recent polls (YESTERDAY!) but the media says Dick Riordan is spending millions in attack ads on Simon this final week. Also attacking Simon is a liberal group called the Republican Leadership Council which has taken out conservative Republicans in primaries before. . ACTION ITEM: Ask Bill Jones to Endorse Bill Simon Bill Jones is the other major GOP canidate for Governor. He now gets about 9-12% in the polls. He is moderately conservative but his ...

<p>Secretary of State Bill Jones on Wednesday predicted one of the lowest voter turnouts in state history for Tuesday's primary election but said his lagging gubernatorial hopes could benefit from what has become a fluid, late-breaking campaign.</p> <p>Predicting that just 36 percent of the state's 15.2 million registered voters will exercise their rights Tuesday, Jones blamed a number of factors, including the early date of the election and voters' failure "to connect the dots between the campaigns and the politics and the governance that allows us to be free."</p>

SACRAMENTO – Los Angeles businessman Bill Simon has pulled into the lead in the Republican gubernatorial campaign over Richard Riordan in part by questioning his rival's conservative credentials. But while Simon has criticized Riordan on party loyalty and tax policy, he has avoided the area where the two have their greatest difference: social issues. Simon's relative silence suggests he is following the strong message that Riordan has been delivering to the GOP faithful during much of the campaign: that it must change or die. Riordan, the former mayor of Los Angeles, insists the party has to be more appealing to ...

Californians, listen up! Posted: February 28, 2002 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2002 WorldNetDaily.com As regular readers of this column know, I seldom make political endorsements. I supported no candidate for president in 2000, despite the fact that the previous administration had done its best to persecute me and my news organization in a political witch-hunt, using the Internal Revenue Service and other government agencies. And despite endorsing no one in the race and explaining why I could support neither candidate for president, my news organization is being sued for $165 million by supporters of Al Gore. Even less likely is ...

The poll is half way down on the right. I choose to go with the first option. Go Simon!!

As regular readers of this column know, I seldom make political endorsements. I supported no candidate for president in 2000, despite the fact that the previous administration had done its best to persecute me and my news organization in a political witch-hunt, using the Internal Revenue Service and other government agencies. And despite endorsing no one in the race and explaining why I could support neither candidate for president, my news organization is being sued for $165 million by supporters of Al Gore. Even less likely is it for me to venture into the murky waters of a statewide ...

TownHall.com: Conservative Columnists: Thomas SowellQUICK LINKS: HOME | NEWS | OPINION | RIGHTPAGES | CHAT | WHAT'S NEWtownhall.comThomas Sowell (back to story)February 28, 2002California republicans' choices When California Republicans vote in next Tuesday's primary, they will face a much less difficult choice for their party's nomination for governor than they had just a few weeks ago. Until recently, liberal Republican Richard Riordan, former mayor of Los Angeles, was running ahead of Democratic Governor Gray Davis in the polls, while conservative Republican candidate William Simon was trailing well behind both. This presented an all too familiar dilemma for Republican voters: ...

<p>SACRAMENTO (AP) - Businessman Bill Simon and former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan crisscrossed California trading attacks Wednesday as a new poll showed Simon the new front-runner in a race once considered Riordan's to lose.</p> <p>With the GOP gubernatorial primary five days away, a poll released Wednesday by San Francisco's Field Institute showed the conservative Simon with support from 37 percent of likely voters, the moderate Riordan with 31 percent and Secretary of State Bill Jones with 9 percent.</p>

The "experts" said it couldn't be done. Richard Riordan had a lock on the nomination, they insisted. But now conservative California businessman Bill Simon is leading in the race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. In a stunning turn of events, a poll released today by Field Institute of San Francisco shows Simon with the support of 37 percent of likely voters in Tuesday's GOP primary. Former L.A. Mayor Riordan had 31 percent, and California Secretary of State Bill Jones trailed with 9 percent. The leftist history of the Democrat-aiding Riordan, who opposes gun rights, favors homosexual rights and is pro-abortion, ...

Riordan RoundupRichard Riordan, the former mayor of Los Angeles now running for governor of California, is regarded in some quarters-the White House, for example-as the potential savior of the state's hapless Republican party. Sure, some of his views are liberal, runs the argument. But it's a liberal state, and you do what you have to. But some things you don't have to do. Last week, Riordan went to a dinner held by the Greenlining Institute, a lefty outfit that wants new taxes on the "super-rich," on cars, and on Internet sales, with the proceeds going to social programs. At the ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, February 26, 2002 New RLC TV Ad Airing In California Simon Savings and Loan Debacle Republican Leadership Council Ad Charges Bill Simon “Too Careless With Your Money” Washington, DC – The Republican Leadership Council (RLC) today began airing a new television ad in California taking GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon to task for being profligate with taxpayer funds due to his mismanagement of a failed savings and loan institution – mismanagement that resulted in a $92 million taxpayer-funded bailout, according to the Los Angeles Times. The text of the new RLC TV spot is as follows: ...

In California politics, fortunes can turn very quickly. Just ask Richard Riordan. Some saw the former L.A. mayor as the GOP's best hope of beating current governor Gray Davis. But Riordan is presently watching his lead wither away. According to a recent Los Angeles Times poll, Riordan is virtually tied with conservative candidate Bill Simon, and only a week remains before the primary. Among likely Republican primary voters, Riordan and Simon appear to be locked at 31 percent of the vote each. How could this turn of events have happened? When all is said and done, it may be ...

en Cory was elected California state controller in 1974. A Democrat, his winning slogan was &quot;the man the oil companies fear the most.&quot; A generation later, Richard Riordan's advisers chose Riordan's campaign slogan: &quot;the Republican Gray Davis fears the most.&quot; But, read on. Secretary of State Bill Jones and businessman Bill Simon are Riordan's Republican opponents in Tuesday's primary. Why does Riordan run no better against Davis than Jones or Simon? Jones has spent less than the Davis campaign's interest income. Simon has never run for office. Truth is, Davis remains vulnerable. Republicans need a warm body. Someone who ...

Energy companies say Davis is to blame for contracts By Dean Calbreath STAFF WRITER February 26, 2002 Energy companies reacted angrily yesterday after California asked federal regulators to whittle down $43 billion in long-term electricity contracts. The state's Public Utilities Commission asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to chop at least $21 billion out of the contracts, charging they were unjust and signed under duress. The power companies say that if anybody is to be faulted for the contracts it is Gov. Gray Davis, who supports the PUC complaint. They say Davis spent much of last year praising the ...

<p>GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon -- just two months ago a mere footnote in the polls -- has, for the first time, charged ahead of former front-runner Richard Riordan among likely GOP primary voters, a Field poll shows.</p> <p>With just under a week to the March 5 primary, the poll shows Simon with the support of 37 percent of likely Republican voters to 31 percent for Riordan -- a stunning surge from last month, when Simon was 33 percentage points behind the former Los Angeles mayor. Secretary of State Bill Jones polled just 9 percent support while about 23 percent of the likely Republican voters surveyed were undecided.</p>