Molly Munger, a wealthy civil rights attorney, talks with reporters in Sacramento about the tax measure she’s backing.(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Wyatt Buchanan
Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Sacramento –Supporters of two ballot initiatives that would raise taxes to fund public education and other services said on Monday they will not back down from those efforts, upending Gov. Jerry Brown’s crusade to clear the November ballot of any competing tax measures.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Gov. Jerry Brown’s campaign to balance the state budget with new income and sales taxes took a double hit Monday.

Brown has been describing his temporary sales and income tax increases as necessary to protect schools and public safety. But a new report on school finance from the Legislature’s budget analyst, Mac Taylor, makes it clear that even were Brown’s taxes to be increased, his budget would continue to reduce California’s per-pupil spending. Virtually all of the school money in the package would just pay schools what the state already owes them.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sunday, February 5, 2012 – 06:00 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, February 6, 2012 – 10:55 a.m.

San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Chairman James Ramos must be wanting a seat on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors in the worst way.

Since 2010, a whopping $592,000 has been funneled to two Ramos-controlled campaign committees.

By whom you ask?

Indian gambling interests.

An amount making up 82.41% of his total campaign war-chest raised.

Read the rest of this entry »

Supervisor Neil Derry left. San Manuel Tribal Chairman James Ramos right.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Published: 05 February 2012 07:09 PM

Fun time is over in the increasingly rough race between San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry and San Manuel tribal Chairman James Ramos for the 3rd District seat.

Read the rest of this entry »

Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Created: 02/04/2012 12:16:42 AM PST

While the GOP primary battle moves full steam ahead, local political observers and Republican lawmakers agreed this week that Gov. Mitt Romney is likely to face President Barack Obama in November.

Experts and Republican lawmakers from the Inland Empire said Romney has what top contender Newt Gingrich doesn’t have electability.

Read the rest of this entry »

Smith

**Administrator’s Note: Another candidate with absolutely zero chance of winning.

Bob Smith increases 1st District candidate field to seven
February 04, 2012 12:00 PM
Natasha Lindstrom, Staff Writer

A retired sheriff’s deputy of Helendale announced his intentions Friday to run for San Bernardino County 1st District Supervisor in the June election.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mitt Romney greets supporters in Las Vegas after winning Nevada’s Republican caucuses. (Gerald Herbert, Associated Press / February 4, 2012)

By Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times

February 4, 2012, 9:33 p.m.

Reporting from Las Vegas— Mitt Romney spent years cultivating voters in Nevada, and it paid off with a commanding victory that not only pushed him closer to the GOP nomination but laid a strong marker in a state both parties will fight to carry in November.

Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/02/2012 04:25:33 PM PST

Document: Ballot Title and Summary

San Bernardino City Professional Firefighters Local 891, the union representing 126 city firefighters, has introduced a ballot initiative proposing an elected fire chief.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Created: 02/02/2012 05:36:15 PM PST

Fundraising data for Rep. David Dreier, D-San Dimas, from the last quarter of last year suggests he’s likely to retire this year, according to local political experts.

The Federal Election Commission database reports Dreier collected only $10,160 in campaign contributions in the period from October to December. The figure is paltry compared with the $207,450 received in the same period in 2003, and the $137,600 in 2009.

Read the rest of this entry »

Neil Derry left. James Ramos right.

By Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/01/2012 07:16:08 PM PST

Document: James Ramos Flier

San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry has launched an assault on the character of his major opponent, San Manuel tribal chairman James Ramos, in a campaign mailer tying Ramos to “gang members,” “drug dealers” and “killers for hire.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/01/2012 02:01:30 PM PST

The labor union representing roughly 11,000 San Bernardino County employees announced Wednesday it will support another union’s effort to reduce county supervisors’ jobs to part-time.

Read the rest of this entry »

Money & Politics | Daily Report

February 2, 2012 | Will Evans

If super political action committee dollars were votes in the Republican presidential primary, California would already have voted resoundingly for Mitt Romney.

Read the rest of this entry »

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 31 January 2012 11:22 PM

An influential union that is backing a proposed ballot measure to reduce San Bernardino County supervisors’ positions to part-time has more than a half-million dollars in its political action committee fund, according to campaign finance reports released this week.

Read the rest of this entry »

BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com

Published: 31 January 2012 05:44 PM

Candidates for contested Inland House seats raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign cash at the end of 2011 as they jockeyed for position heading into the current election year.

Read the rest of this entry »

By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

Gov. Jerry Brown is raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for his tax campaign from California Indian tribes at the same time many tribes are seeking to renegotiate lucrative gambling compacts with him.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 31, 2012 | 3:30 pm

A bill requiring more prominent disclosure of political donors stalled in the California Assembly on Tuesday.

Under the proposal, television advertisements would include three seconds of a black screen listing the top donors supporting the message. Similar disclosure would be required on print advertisements or campaign mailers.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tuesday, January 31, 2012 – 12:30 p.m.

It’s only February and the first serious blow has been leveled in the race to represent San Bernardino County’s Third Supervisorial District.

Read the rest of this entry »

Executive Editor Frank Pine
Created: 01/28/2012 06:06:04 AM PST

San Bernardino County’s Board of Supervisors asked county lawyers last week to draft language for a ballot measure that would give voters the final say on increases to pension benefits for public employees.

Supervisors Janice Rutherford, Gary Ovitt and Josie Gonzales voted yea with supervisors Brad Mitzelfelt and Neil Derry voting nay.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Would it be churlish to say that the much-ballyhooed Think Long Committee for California fell short on fortitude?

Or merely accurate?

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 30, 2012 | 7:09 pm

A state senator who is running for secretary of state is urging Gov. Jerry Brown to take over California’s beleaguered online campaign finance database, which was down for most of last month.

Read the rest of this entry »

Monday, January 30, 2012 – 10:00 a.m.

Within all of San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors candidate James Ramos’ negative baggage appears to be a glimmer of a motivating interest as to why the current millionaire chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians is seeking the county post.

The Tribal chair, who is seeking to oust Third District Supervisor Neil Derry in June, may have a personal finance cause.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 29, 2012

The California Teachers Association officially agreed Sunday to back Gov. Jerry Brown’s multibillion-dollar tax plan, which should provide the governor hefty financial support for his fall campaign.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Steven Harmon
Bay Area News Group

Posted: 01/29/2012 06:59:19 PM PST
Updated: 01/30/2012 03:20:06 AM PST

SACRAMENTO — The raging battle over the political and economic clout of labor unions is headed west to California.

The state’s powerful labor groups have anxiously witnessed union rights and benefits being gutted in Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana. Now, unions in California are girding for an all-out war over a ballot initiative that would curb their ability to raise political cash.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

When a political party achieves dominance of any government, one expects that it would use its hegemony to enact its public policy agenda.

That’s the way democracy is supposed to work.

Read the rest of this entry »

By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 – 6:57 am

Jon Fleischman, the conservative blogger, was brooding the other day on Facebook, underwhelmed by the presidential candidates he has left to choose from.

Read the rest of this entry »

George Skelton

Gingrich bristled at Romney’s L-word tag, but it’s all semantics.
By George Skelton Capitol Journal
January 30, 2012

From Sacramento

Without picking a side in the entertaining Republican presidential contest, let us stipulate that Mitt Romney was smack on target when he called Newt Gingrich an influence peddler.

A lobbyist? No, not in a legal sense. But did he lobby? Yes, in the common usage of the word.

An influence peddler? That pretty much covers it.

Read the rest of this entry »

BY ALICIA ROBINSON
STAFF WRITER
arobinson@pe.com

Published: 28 January 2012 06:31 PM

The Riverside mayor’s race could now be a six-way contest, with a little more than a month left until the candidate filing deadline.

The latest entrant is Peter Benavidez, a local nonprofit CEO and member of the city’s charter review committee, who recently took out a petition for signatures in lieu of the filing fee.

Read the rest of this entry »

Toni Momberger, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/27/2012 06:48:38 PM PST

REDLANDS – The latest Redlands resident to announce candidacy for the newly drawn 31st Congressional District wants to be clear that he does not live in a manicured part of town.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sanders
jsanders@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

A California Supreme Court ruling Friday significantly raised Democratic Party prospects of gaining the supermajority needed in the state Senate to pass tax or fee increases.

The high court decided that Senate maps drawn recently by a 14-member citizens commission will be used for this year’s legislative elections, even if a pending referendum qualifies for the ballot.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 27, 2012 | 10:19 am

A correction has been added to this post. See below for details.

The California Supreme Court, faced with a possible ballot measure to scrap newly drawn election districts, decided Friday to leave the boundaries in place for this year’s state Senate races.

Read the rest of this entry »

Friday, January 27, 2012 – 09:45 a.m.

Well we finally have it.

San Bernardino  County Board of Supervisors Chair Josie Gonzales admits she’s in it for the dough.

Read the rest of this entry »

San Bernardino County supervisors have too much to do, the chairwoman says after a union backs the idea

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 26 January 2012 09:27 PM

A proposal to reduce San Bernardino County supervisors’ positions to part-time status would leave little time for them to meet and respond to constituents’ needs, board Chairwoman Josie Gonzales said Thursday.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rep. Mary Bono Mack

BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com

Published: 26 January 2012 11:52 AM

WASHINGTON — Newt Gingrich is an “erratic” thinker who “abandoned his conservative principals” before leaving Congress, Inland Rep. Mary Bono Mack said Thursday on behalf of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 26, 2012 | 8:12 pm

Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday urged 1,500 Los Angeles political and business leaders to back his proposal for higher taxes and implored them to pressure lawmakers in Sacramento to overhaul the state’s pension system this year.

Read the rest of this entry »

POLITICS

By Shane Goldmacher
Updated: January 26, 2012 | 5:34 p.m.
January 25, 2012 | 9:30 p.m.

A sleepy race for a California Legislature seat is turning into a fractious family feud that pits a former top staffer to Buck McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the powerful House Armed Services Committee, against the congressman’s wife.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mitt Romney left. Newt Gingrich right.

By Mark Z. Barabak and Maeve Reston
January 26, 2012, 7:11 p.m.

Reporting from Jacksonville, Fla. and Miami, Fla.— Picking up where their last debate left off, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich resumed battling Thursday night over personal integrity and the tenor of their respective campaigns, each accusing the other of unfair character attacks.

Romney, clearly itching for a fight, turned an early discussion on immigration policy into an assault on Gingrich over a radio spot he ran earlier this week on Florida’s Spanish-language airwaves. Gingrich pulled the ad, which described Romney as “anti-immigrant,” after it was criticized by Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a rising national star in Latino politics who is staying neutral in the primary.

Read the rest of this entry »

San Bernardino County supervisors Brad Mitzelfelt, First District; Janice Rutherford, Second District; Neil Derry, Third District; Gary Ovitt, Fourth District; and Josie Gonzales, Fifth District (File photos)

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/25/2012 04:21:42 PM PST

A proposed initiative to make county supervisors’ jobs part-time would spell doom for residents desiring a stronger presence of government in their communities, San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Josie Gonzales said Wednesday.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 25, 2012

Less than a week after Gov. Jerry Brown claimed widespread business support for his ballot initiative to raise taxes – including donations from big healthcare and oil companies – the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and California chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business urged business groups this afternoon to resist any effort by Brown to “cajole” them.

Read the rest of this entry »

San Bernardino County supervisors Brad Mitzelfelt, First District; Janice Rutherford, Second District; Neil Derry, Third District; Gary Ovitt, Fourth District; and Josie Gonzales, Fifth District (File photos)

Joe Nelson, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Posted: 01/23/2012 03:05:32 PM PST

The president of San Bernardino County’s most powerful labor union announced Tuesday it is bankrolling an initiative to reduce county supervisors’ jobs to part-time status.

Read the rest of this entry »

Supervisor Josie Gonzales

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 24 January 2012 07:08 PM

San Bernardino County supervisors moved forward Tuesday with a proposal to require voter approval of future pension increases but face opposition from employee unions who quickly announced plans for a competing measure aimed at supervisors.

The board agreed to have county staff draft a ballot measure requiring voter approval before retirement benefits for county employees, legislative officers and elected officials could be increased. But final approval is not assured with supervisors split 3-2 on whether to consider the proposal.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 24, 2012

California voters like Gov. Jerry Brown’s idea of making high earners pay more taxes, but otherwise are of mixed minds about solving the state’s chronic budget woes, according to the Public Policy Institute of California’s latest poll on the topic.

Here are a few findings from the poll, released today:

Read the rest of this entry »

BY ALICIA ROBINSON
STAFF WRITER
arobinson@pe.com

Published: 23 January 2012 07:06 PM

“Let the next mayor’s campaign begin,” Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge declared in his final State of the City speech late last week.

Apparently the candidates listened, because a day later, the barbs began flying in what had so far been a quiet race.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

The state budget contains hundreds of specific provisions but none is bigger, more complicated, more politicized, more emotional – or more important – than the 30 or so billion dollars that it spends on K-12 education.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rep. Nancy Pelosi needs a gain of 25 House seats.

Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Washington — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is predicting that Democrats will recapture the House in November, a move that could open the possibility of the San Francisco Democrat regaining the speakership and becoming the first politician to return to that office after a defeat since Texas Democrat Sam Rayburn in 1955.

Read the rest of this entry »

Monday, January 23, 2012 – 11:00 a.m.

You gotta hand it to Leroy Hansberger these days.

Yep, the truth hurts.

The life-log county resident, and father to former County Supervisor Dennis Hansberger, has been making it known his son ran a piss-poor campaign four years ago. A campaign in an election where his son lost to Supervisor Neil Derry.

Read the rest of this entry »

Monday, January 23, 2012 – 09:30 a.m.

An anti-recall effort meant to protect certain members of the Fullerton city council flopped last week when recall backers turned in an overwhelming number of signatures to qualify a recall ballot.

The city council targets?

• Don Bankhead: 17,064 signatures
• F. Richard “Dick” Jones: 17,587 signatures
• Patrick McKinley: 17,603 signatures

Of interest is news that the anti-recall effort was mounted by a figure familiar to San Bernardino County political circles.

Read the rest of this entry »

Looming retirements, especially of the Inland area’s Rep. Jerry Lewis, could leave the region without political heft for years

BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com

Published: 22 January 2012 08:39 PM

WASHINGTON — When Inland Rep. Jerry Lewis leaves office at the end of the year, he’ll take with him one attribute that none of his potential successors can promise to replicate: seniority.

Read the rest of this entry »

Assemblyman Paul Cook, R-Yucca Valley/The Press-Enterprise

THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
Published: 22 January 2012 07:52 PM

Workin’ It

When Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. visited Riverside last week, a lot of the discussion was about the jobs created by goods movement and related construction projects such as the Magnolia Avenue underpass.

Add Laurence Parker to the job-creation list. Parker, waving an American flag and dressed as the Statue of Liberty, crashed Boxer’s presser to get a little attention for Liberty Tax Service, which has an office on Magnolia just north of the underpass. Usually he just stands in front of the office to draw the attention of drivers, much like a sign-spinner.

Read the rest of this entry »

Neil Nisperos and Benjamin Demers, Staff Writers
Created: 01/22/2012 06:22:41 PM PST

For two Rancho Cucamonga businessmen, the road to victory on Election Day in November got a tad easier in the wake of Rep. Jerry Lewis’ retirement earlier this month.

But before being able to represent the newly drawn 40th Assembly District, Republican Mike Morrell and Democrat Russ Warner will have to get past each other.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sunday, January 22, 2012 – 09:45 p.m.

San Manuel Casino boss James Ramos is doing a pretty good job of whoring himself with his Tribe’s dough.

Read the rest of this entry »

Derry

Saturday, January 21, 2012 – 06:15 p.m.

The highway funding arm of the U.S. Department of Transportation has cleared San Bernardino County Third District Supervisor Neil Derry to resume voting on federally-funded expenditures in his duties as an elected official.

The Federal Highway Administration gave Derry the green light effective Friday.

Read the rest of this entry »

Gingrich left. Romney right.

Saturday, January 21, 2012 – 06:00 p.m.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who sported a double-digit lead just ten days ago, has lost the South Carolina Presidential Primary to former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich by double-digits Saturday night.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bob Dutton, left. Gary Miller, right.

Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/19/2012 11:19:19 AM PST

The race for the 31st District got more interesting this week with state Sen. Bob Dutton officially tossing his hat in the ring.

Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, will face a field of contenders that includes Rep. Gary Miller, R-Diamond Bar; Renea Wickman, the cofounder of a nonprofit aimed at helping juvenile offenders readjust to society; Justin Kim, an attorney from Loma Linda; and Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar.

Read the rest of this entry »

By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 – 12:13 am

SAN DIEGO – Gov. Jerry Brown, campaigning for higher taxes and infrastructure spending in the state’s more conservative reaches Thursday, claimed widespread business support for his tax plan and suggested dire consequences should it fail.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rep. Gary Miller

By PE Politics
January 19, 2012 12:37 PM

Days into his campaign for a new San Bernardino County-based congressional seat, Rep. Gary Miller is touting endorsements from area electeds.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ramos

Thursday, January 19, 2012 – 03:00 p.m.

Take two for San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors candidate James Ramos.

Meaning yes, another push poll.

Read the rest of this entry »

Thursday, January 19, 2012 – 08:05 a.m.

The latest candidate to jump into the election fray is State Senator Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga).

After toying with the prospect of challenging Assemblyman Mike Morell, Dutton will now take on Rep. Gary Miller (R-Diamond Bar) for the 31st Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands).

Read the rest of this entry »

Thursday, January 19, 2012 – 07:15 a.m.

The latest results from the circus known as the Iowa Caucuses now has former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum over Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney by 34 votes.

Read the rest of this entry »

Thursday, January 19, 2012 – 06:35 a.m.

Texas Governor Rick Perry has dropped out of the race for the republican nomination for President of the United States.

Perry is expected to throw his tepid support behind former Speaker of the  House Newt Gingrich.

Expect Rick Santorum to bow out after Saturday’s South Carolina Primary.

State Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, has announced he will seek election to the 31st Congressional District.

BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com

Published: 18 January 2012 04:17 PM

SACRAMENTO — State Sen. Bob Dutton declared his candidacy Wednesday for the redrawn 31st Congressional District, setting up a June showdown with veteran Rep. Gary Miller, R-Diamond Bar.

Read the rest of this entry »

AV councilman increases 1st District candidate field to six
January 18, 2012 5:46 PM
Brooke Edwards Staggs

Apple Valley Councilman Rick Roelle announced his intentions Wednesday evening to compete for San Bernardino County 1st District Supervisor in the June election.

Read the rest of this entry »

Warner

Staff report
Created: 01/17/2012 10:11:29 AM PST

Russ Warner announced Monday he had dropped out of the race for Congressional District 31, and will instead run for State Assembly District 40 against Republican Mike Morrell.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 17, 2012 | 6:18 pm

The citizens commission that drew California’s new political maps won an important nod Tuesday from the Department of Justice, which signed off on the new congressional, legislative and Board of Equalization districts for four Northern California counties.

Read the rest of this entry »

Orme

January 16, 2012 4:27 PM
Natasha Lindstrom, Staff Writer

A former aide to 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt on Monday announced a bid to replace him in the June election.

Michael Orme, field representative for U.S. Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon and owner of Mavericks Consulting, marks the fifth candidate to join the supervisorial race since Mitzelfelt announced his run for Congress on Thursday.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 16, 2012

Gov. Jerry Brown is taking a mulligan, tripped up by a typographical error and forced to re-file his ballot initiative to raise taxes.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 16, 2012 | 4:47 pm

Gov. Jerry Brown doesn’t plan to waste any time selling his vision for California this year.

Hours after his State of the State speech Wednesday morning in Sacramento, he’s scheduled to be in Los Angeles to speak at City Hall. Then he’ll be in a private meeting with teachers at Bret Harte Elementary School in Burbank.

Read the rest of this entry »

Former U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman endorsed Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney Monday morning.

Monday, January 16, 2012 – 09:45 a.m.

GOP Presidential candidate and former U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman officially pulled the plug on his foundering campaign Monday morning.

A campaign that never really left the ground.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mitt Romney is the man to beat – but any of his rivals to emerge as a serious challenger will have a tough time playing catch-up to the front-runner’s national campaign operation. (Andy Jacobsohn, MCT / January 15, 2012)

By Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times
January 14, 2012, 7:55 p.m.

Reporting from Greenville, S.C.‬— Five Republicans are fighting mightily to deny Mitt Romney a quick coronation as the party’s presidential nominee. But if one of them emerges as his top challenger, a monumental task lies ahead: building a national campaign operation on the fly.‬

‪ Read the rest of this entry »

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 13 January 2012 09:24 PM

High Desert voters will see a crowded field seeking to replace San Bernardino County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt in the 1st District.

Read the rest of this entry »

Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/13/2012 07:42:42 PM PST

When Rep. Jerry Lewis retires, he’ll apparently have at least one admirer on the other side of the aisle.

Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino, said that they’ve had disagreements over the Dream Act and on immigration issues, but he and Lewis found common ground on many issues that pertain to the area.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 13, 2012 | 1:47 pm

By election guru Allan Hoffenblum’s reckoning, there could be a record number of open seats up for grabs in this year’s elections, including 33 of the 80 state Assembly posts.

Read the rest of this entry »

U.S. Rep. Gary Miller (R-Brea)

By Frank C. Girardot, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/13/2012 09:16:01 PM PST

Rep. Gary Miller, R-Brea, is moving on.

The longtime congressman has spent 13 years on Capitol Hill representing his hometown of Diamond Bar. And, those who live there know, Gary’s a fixture around town when he’s not in Washington.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, works the phones in this 2005 photo. Lewis, who has represented a Southern California district in Congress for more than 30 years, will not seek re-election in 2012, he announced Thursday./AP

BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com

Published: 12 January 2012 10:17 PM

U.S. Rep. Jerry Lewis, the dean of California’s House Republicans who was both celebrated and criticized for the hundreds of millions of federal dollars he sent to his Inland district, said Thursday he would retire after more than three decades in Congress.

Read the rest of this entry »

Lewis

Neil Nisperos and Joe Nelson, Staff Writers
Posted: 01/12/2012 10:24:20 AM PST

Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, announced his retirement on Thursday, after 46 years in elected office and 33 years representing San Bernardino and Riverside counties in Congress.

Read the rest of this entry »

Congressman Gary Miller

Neil Nisperos and Joe Nelson, Staff Writers
Posted: 01/12/2012 12:13:10 PM PST

Rep. Jerry Lewis’ retirement announcement on Thursday prompted a a throng of local politicians to announce their plans to run for new congressional district seats in the region.

Read the rest of this entry »