Free Republic

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in an interview published Monday said the Republican Party is headed for the “waste bin of history.” In an interview with Politico, Newsom compared national Republicans to the GOP in California in the 1990s. California Republicans were once a force, but have seen their power disappear over the last two decades. Washington Republicans will "go the same direction — into the waste bin of history, the way Republicans of the '90s have gone. That’s exactly what will happen to this crop of national Republicans,” Newsom told Politico. Former California Gov. Pete Wilson's (R) push for...

The GOP is making a bold play for a U.S. Senate seat in reliably Democratic Oregon, where a Republican hasn’t been elected to a statewide office in more than a decade. Republicans back in Washington think they’ve found the right candidate in Monica Wehby, a children’s brain surgeon who’s raised more than $1 million and put her early opposition to President Barack Obama’s health care law at the center of her campaign. […] Wehby faces four other Republicans, most notably state Rep. Jason Conger of Bend, a lawyer who’s promoting his conservative credentials and his experience representing a district that,...

For the third time this summer, state Republican Party officials have failed to convince a big-name candidate to run for governor. Former Microsoft executive Bob Herbold said yesterday he will not run for office, after weeks of courting by the party. Two other GOP prospects — telecommunications executive John Stanton and King County Sheriff Dave Reichert — already have said they won't run. So far, the only Republican who has declared for governor is Federico Cruz, director of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. Vance has openly dismissed Cruz as a marginal candidate. The state party is now focused on wooing...

Vance easily re-elected as state GOP chairman THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SEATAC, Wash. -- Chris Vance of Auburn handily won a second two-year term as the state Republican Party chairman Saturday. He received 81 votes to party activist Rose Strong's 25 at the GOP meeting in SeaTac. Former state Rep. Phil Fortunato of Kent had planned to run but pulled out, party spokeswoman Mary Lane said Saturday. The win means Vance will be responsible for steering the state party through the 2004 presidential election. Vance has been an aggressive spokesman for the state GOP. Although Democrats hold most statewide offices and...