Free Republic

GOP Rep. Elton Gallegly announced today that he won't run for re-election in 2012, clearing the way for a possible congressional bid by state Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Moorpark. Gallegly, 67, told Politico in a statement today that he will end his 25-year run in Congress instead of seeking another term. The state's new political maps had left him with the option of running against fellow GOP Rep. Buck McKeon or seeking the newly drawn 26th Congressional District, a competitive Ventura County seat with a Democratic registration edge. Strickland, who has been widely expected to jump in the 26th Congressional District...

Lost amidst all insider bickering, Haley Barbour question-dodging, press-banning and John Bolton sabre-rattling at the weekend California Republican convention was a bit of history: The party elected its first openly gay board member. And we didn't see a hoot of protest about it. "Well, openly gay," quipped Gregory Gandrud, who just took his seat on the 23-member board. The 50-year-old Carpinteria (Santa Barbara County) resident is a longtime party activist, and Capinteria council member from 2002-2006. So about being "the first" -- a caveat: The California Log Cabin Republicans believe he is the first California Republican Party board member. Gandrud...

California has 12% of America’s population. The results of the upcoming election will determine the future not only of the state, but likely the nation as well. The race for governor, between Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown, could not be more meaningful or illustrate a larger study in contrasts. Most people believe that Carly Fiorina’s attempt to unseat far-left Senator Barbara Boxer is the second most important election, but in fact, it’s not. The race for State Controller, the state’s chief financial officer, will be the key to success for Whitman when she becomes our Governor. In 2006, John Chiang...

Late last night, Hannah-Beth Jackson conceded to Tony Strickland in the hotly contested race for California’s 19th State Senate District. That ends more than three weeks of waiting for the remaining votes to roll in. Some are still to be counted, but Strickland leads by about 900 votes, and Jackson is conceding a victory is now mathematically impossible. This marks the conclusion of the state’s most expensive legislative race in history — costing more than $10 million — and also one of the closest ever. In the November 26 email to the media and her supporters, Jackson’s campaign team explained,...

Strickland Shoots Ahead In 19th District Race Written by Jon Dell Thursday, 13 November 2008 State Senate contests still undecided, but numbers starting to favor Tony Strickland. In one of the closest contests in recent election history, new results indicate that Tony Strickland has now moved ahead of Hannah-Beth Jackson in the race for the 19th District State Senate seat. Included in the District are portions of Santa Clarita, Santa Barbara and Ventura. At the close of election night, only 108 votes separated Hannah-Beth Jackson from Tony Strickland. Now, 9 days later, Strickland holds a 1,560 vote lead. The change...

Republican Tony Strickland took an 840-vote lead over Democrat Hannah-Beth Jackson in the oh-so-close balloting in the 19th Senate District on Thursday, the first day of what could be a month-long process to determine the winner of the most expensive political contest in Ventura County history. Strickland emerged with a lead after Ventura County election officials counted 11,294 mail-in-ballots that hadn’t been received in time to process before Election Day. His 948-vote net gain allowed him to leapfrog ahead of Jackson, who led by 108 votes after election night. The votes counted Thursday were exceptionally rich for Strickland. He was...

LOS ANGELES - Democrat John Garamendi won a close race for lieutenant governor, as Republicans faltered in their efforts to win statewide offices and gain power in Sacramento. Garamendi, who currently serves as insurance commissioner, edged out conservative Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock, an anti-tax ideologue, in Tuesday's election. Democrats also won races for California attorney general, treasurer and controller. "The conclusion to be drawn here is that California is still a true progressive state even though it has a nominally Republican governor," Garamendi said. With 93 percent of precincts reporting, Democratic state Sen. Debra Bowen had a slim lead...

A group of Indian gambling tribes has bought nearly $1 million in television time for the Republican candidate for state controller with two weeks to go in a close contest. Tony Strickland, a former member of the state Assembly known for being outspoken on his conservative views, received the boost Monday from Team 2006, an independent campaign committee formed by six Southern California gambling tribes that have been seeking to expand their operations. The committee had raised more than $9 million, according to disclosure reports filed Tuesday. The large contribution drew immediate criticism from Strickland's Democratic opponent, John Chiang, a...

TWO relatively young Southern Californians, Democrat John Chiang and Republican Tony Strickland, are vying to succeed Steve Westly as state controller. Chiang, 44, has a bachelor's degree in finance and a law degree. He has served on the State Board of Equalization the past eight years and previously had been a tax law specialist for the IRS and an attorney in the controller's office under Gov. Gray Davis. Strickland is only 36, but already has served six years in the Assembly, where he forged a reputation as a fiscal watchdog. He has a bachelor's degree in political science; counts our...

Controller Candidates To Debate Live On CBS5.com * Watch LIVE At 2 p.m. (today)* (CBS 5 / The Chronicle) SAN FRANCISCO The San Francisco Chronicle Editorial board will host a 60-minute debate between state Controller candidates John Chiang (Democrat) and Tony Strickland (Republican) today at 2 p.m. at the CBS 5 studios in San Francisco. The debate will be presented via Live streaming video here on CBS5.com and is the second of several Chronicle Editorial board candidate debates that will be offered via live and tape streams here on CBS5.com.

Both men running for state controller in the November election have years of government experience -- one as an outspoken legislator and the other primarily in lower-profile roles. Republican Tony Strickland, of Moorpark, made his mark during three terms as a conservative member of the Assembly. No stranger to confrontation and controversy, he once filed a lawsuit against then-Gov. Gray Davis to get him to reveal the terms of state energy contracts. Meanwhile, Democrat John Chiang, of Torrance, has served two terms as an elected member of the state Board of Equalization. Before that, he accumulated experience in the trenches...

Click Here To Watch Debate (CBS 5 / The Chronicle) SAN FRANCISCO--The San Francisco Chronicle Editorial board hosted a 60-minute debate between attorney general candidates Jerry Brown and Chuck Poochigian on Thursday afternoon at the CBS 5 studios in San Francisco. This was the first debate between the two candidates, and is the only one currently scheduled. The debate is presented via streaming video here on CBS5.com and is the first of several Chronicle Editorial board candidate debates that will be offered via live and tape streams here on CBS5.com. Other upcoming debates will include: Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2...

Those of you who choose to read the FlashReport over the weekends will recall on Sunday morning I pleaded for the Governor to start campaigning on behalf of our down ticket Republican candidates after another major poll put his re-election at almost certain. Well, San Jose State just released another poll's results with Schwarzenegger in a double digit lead. McClintock is leading Garamendi by one point in a recently released LA Times poll and the action superstar (as much as it might pain me, a conservative, to say) could have a solidifying effect on this race. The Sacramento Bee has...

A $37-billion package of proposed public works bonds that has strong bipartisan support in Sacramento is in some peril among voters, along with ballot measures dealing with alternative energy and a cigarette tax, according to a new Los Angeles Times poll. The vast majority of likely voters knew too little about the infrastructure bonds — backed by both Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislators — to express an opinion. After poll respondents were read a ballot summary of each measure, none of the items generated much enthusiasm. Only two eked out a bare majority: those on housing and disaster...

SAN DIEGO - Californians electing a new controller in November will choose between an unknown technocrat and an ambitious political insider to be responsible for monitoring the state's finances. Democrat John Chiang, who is hoping to succeed failed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Westly as controller, is a tax lawyer campaigning to be ''hired'' as the state's chief financial officer. By contrast, Tony Strickland, a Republican former state assemblyman with close ties to conservative hero Tom McClintock -- a candidate for lieutenant governor -- is running as a fiscal watchdog committed to rooting out wasteful government spending. ''Basically, Chiang sees this...

July 24, 2006 Tony Strickland Jumps to Early Lead over John Chiang (Sacramento) – Former Assemblyman Tony Strickland begins the race for Controller with a 3-point lead over his Democratic opponent John Chiang, according to a recent California statewide survey by Public Opinion Strategies. In an initial ballot test, Strickland receives 26% of the vote, while Chiang receives 23%. More importantly, Strickland’s lead grows to an impressive 8 point advantage among high propensity “likely voters” at 31% for Strickland and 23% for Chiang. “California voters understand that the Controller is the taxpayers’ watchdog,” said Strickland Campaign Manager Paul Hegyi. “These...

Silicon Valley Young Republican Federated Location: Sanborn Skyline County Park 16001 Sanborn Rd, saratoga, CA View Map When: Saturday, August 12, 5:00pm Phone: Svyrfc-408 243 4761 Greetings: The Silicon Valley Young Republicans Federated would like to invite everyone to attend our event to help raise money for the troops on august 12th. We are co-sponsering this event with the California Republican Assembly unit in santa clara county. We would feel honored if you can attend or if you can not attend you can donate. SVYRF Club Socials SVYRFC Annual BBQ Location: Sanborn Skyline County Park, Saratoga When: August 12, 2006...

Maldonado loses Controller race Strickland unofficial winner of Republican primaryLeslie Griffy and Larissa Van Beurden-Doust With 100 percent of precincts reporting, State Sen. Abel Maldonado has lost to Tony Strickland for the Republican nominaton for state controller. Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, received 37 percent of the vote compared to more than 40 percent for Strickland. They had been in an even tighter race last night. "We knew that this race was going to be very, very close," Maldonado said Tuesday night. "Obviously, we'd love to be on top. I'm proud of the campaign we ran." Local Republican leaders said Maldonado's decision...

Strickland Files “Public Documents” Request for Reiner Documents “The public has a right to know how their money is being spent” (Sacramento) – Taxpayer Advocate Tony Strickland has filed a request pursuant to the California Public Records Act for all documents surrounding the decision of a California commission to funnel millions in public funds into a television advertising campaign that may have been designed to boost an initiative petition being circulated by a member of the commission. The Sacramento Bee broke the story in December, with a more recent Los Angeles Times story highlighting the fact that more than $23...

Governor Must Immediately Replace Reiner Strickland: “Controller needs to freeze Reiner funding and conduct immediate accountability audit” Sacramento, CA– Taxpayer Advocate Tony Strickland today called upon Governor Schwarzenegger to “immediately replace Rob Reiner on the First 5 California Children and Families Commission. His term has expired and nothing prevents the Governor from selecting an appointee who will restore the transparency and credibility to taxpayers when it comes to how government spends their tax dollars.” The firestorm of controversy has continued unabated since a Los Angeles Times story on Monday exposed a series of abuses orchestrated by Reiner and a small...