Wednesday, May 23, 2012 – 09:45 a.m.

More independent money is continuing to flow into the race to represent the 8th Congressional District this week.

The Spirit of Democracy America PAC threw another expenditure of $16,655 in support of Assembly Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley).

The committees second expenditure this week.

The Jobs Opportunity and Freedom PAC also spent another $23,115 in support of County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt (R-Wrightwood).

Ramos

Wednesday, May 23, 2012 – 09:30 a.m.

It sure looks as if San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Tribal Member and San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors candidate James Ramos’ campaign is pulling out all the stops in the final days running up to the June 5 primary.

Ramos is seeking to unseat Supervisor Neil Derry in the three-way contest.

Defense Department employee Jim Bagley is the third candidate.

Polls, in both Derry and Ramos camps, indicate Ramos may be in for some level of embarrassment in two weeks.

What level remains to be seen.

But weak support for Ramos in the low thirty-percent area won’t cut it in any way.

One thing is for sure. Ramos will be the first candidate, since bill former Assessor Bill Postmus, to spend upwards of $1 million in a primary contest, place second, and possibly face a runoff at best.

Postmus was successful in his bid.

But Ramos has many demographic factors working against him.

The largest of which is partisan party registration.

Ramos has been frantically trying to appeal to republican voters to throw Derry out.

A move that’s not working.

First. Republican registration dwarfs democrat by large 13% in the Third District.

Second. Ramos’ preferential tax treatment, because of his soverign tribal status, pisses people off.

Third. Ramos has no clue as to what a county supervisor does.

The latest sign of desperation in Ramos land?

Ramos had a information tent at Cal State – San Bernardino on Tuesday.

Not that there are really any votes to garner at the college campus. But I guess it makes for a good waste of time.

The message from the likely-paid Ramos representatives?

Neil Derry is a convicted felon!

Yep! That was the big message being conveyed to class go-er’s.

Desperate times do require desperate measures.

BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com

Published: 22 May 2012 06:56 PM

A high-stakes showdown with national implications is brewing in the San Bernardino Valley, where six candidates are vying to represent California’s newly drawn 31st Congressional District.

No House race in the country on the regular 2012 election schedule has attracted more outside spending than the 31st, which stretches from Redlands to Rancho Cucamonga and includes San Bernardino, Loma Linda, Grand Terrace, Colton and parts of Fontana and Rialto. Special interests have pumped more than $900,000 into the race.

Democratic Party leaders in Washington see the seat as key in their quest to win back control of the House, and Republicans say they are resolved to stop them.

“It’s a must-win for Democrats,” said David Wasserman, an analyst specializing in House races for the Cook Political Report. “It’s not as critical a hold for Republicans, but they’d like to keep it.”

Two Republicans are running for the seat: Rep. Gary Miller, R-Diamond Bar, and state Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga. On the Democratic side, there are four candidates: Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar, Loma Linda attorney Justin Kim, nonprofit founder Renea Wickman and retired educator Rita Ramirez-Dean.

Under California’s new primary system, the top two vote-getters will advance past the June 5 primary, regardless of their party affiliation.

THE NARRATIVE

Reps. Joe Baca and Jerry Lewis, who together have represented the San Bernardino Valley for more than a decade, both reside in the 31st district. But neither is running for re-election there.

After California’s redistricting commission drew new political lines last summer, Baca, D-Rialto, opted to run in the adjacent and more solidly Democratic 35th district. In January, Lewis, R-Redlands, announced plans to step away from politics at the end of the year.

Lewis’ departure created an opening for Miller, whose home district had been redrawn. He quickly jumped into the race, saying he planned to move to Rancho Cucamonga anyway.

Dutton, who will be termed out of the state Senate, also announced a bid for the seat, creating an intra-GOP tussle. Dutton has the advantage of living in the district, and voters there are used to seeing his name on the ballot.

Miller, meanwhile, has a large fundraising advantage and won endorsements from both the National Republican Congressional Committee and the state Republican Party, thanks in part to his status as an incumbent.

Both candidates have also received support from Super-PACs and other outside groups that have injected large sums of money into the race. While state and federal law sets limits on contributions to candidates, Super-PACs are allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts through independent expenditures.

The National Realtors Association has spent more than $700,000 on TV ads, polling, consulting and other services in support of Miller through its congressional fund and political action committee. A Super-PAC known as Inland Taxpayers for Jobs has spent more than $50,000 in support of Dutton.

To read entire story, click here.

Kristina Hernandez, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/22/2012 08:55:18 PM PDT

MENTONE – The economy and possible tax increases under Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration were two hot topics Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro addressed Tuesday night at the Mill Creek Cattle Co.

The talk was part of the party’s bus stop tour to address voters in other counties throughout the state and answer their questions and concerns about government on a state and local level.

Del Beccaro was joined on stage by KTIE 590 personalities Lou Desmond and Heidi Harris as the discussion was broadcast simultaneously on the station.

The chairman started the discussion by addressing the two proposed tax increases on the June 5 ballot. He believes that the current job market has caused such a huge budget deficit because there are no jobs available to those who could be paying taxes or sales taxes the state desperately needs.

“We have so many people not working and they’re not part of the system anymore,” he said. “So we have these deficits because Jerry Brown does not have an idea to bring back jobs to California.”

Del Beccaro blamed over-taxing and over-regulation from the state government why the demand for jobs will not return to the state. Another factor is that, home values which have been “destroyed.”

Del Beccaro said it was important for him to leave Sacramento and travel the state to hear from concerned voters whose voices are not being heard up north and he was tired of hearing the voices of only politicians. Many in the audience shook their heads in agreement.

Terry Klenske, owner of Dalton Trucking, addressed Del Beccaro and the audience by answering questions about his business, and jobs that have been affected.

He purchased the company in 1977 as a hobby with three trucks on his fleet. Today, he has 250 employees and 140 trucks.

He talked about how the passing of Assembly Bill 32 hurt his business when regulations were put in place regulating cement manufacturing.

To read entire story, click here.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012 – 08:30 a.m.

Another Super-PAC committee has weighed in on the hotly-contested 8th Congressional District.

This time the beneficiary is Assemblyman Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley).

The Spirit of Democracy America PAC has reported to the Federal Election Commission that it has spent $17,137 for campaign literature mailings supporting Cook.

The consultant handling the production is Temple McNally Associates, Inc.

The only other candidate in the race to receive outside help is San Bernardino County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt.

Four months after a California assemblyman was cited and released for carrying a gun into an airport, the Assembly passed legislation today that would require offenders to be taken into custody in such situations.

Democratic Assemblywoman Norma Torres said her Assembly Bill 2182 did not stem from the January incident involving Republican Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, which occurred at an Ontario airport on the first day of this year’s legislative session.

“This issue is about protecting the public,” Torres said of her bill.

With Republicans opposed, the Assembly voted 46-25 to approve Torres’ bill. Donnelly voted no on the bill but did not speak during floor debate today. AB 2182 now goes to the Senate.

Peace officers currently make the decision to take an offender into custody or to issue a citation based on an evaluation of risk to the public, such as prior criminal record and whether the suspect is a gang member.

To read entire story, click here.

THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
Published: 20 May 2012 07:52 PM

You know that old political joke, “Vote early, vote often”?

Yeah, Riverside City Councilman Mike Gardner’s heard it. And he’s been hearing it more lately, after his first mailer in his mayoral campaign assured people their vote counts … on June 4. (The election is June 5.)

“That’s a typo,” was the age-old explanation Gardner gave when reached Wednesday. “I signed off on (the mailer) and didn’t see it.”

He’s been kidded by a few people, he said, but hey, these things happen — there’s even another minor typo/grammatical error in the mailer.

And actually, as Gardner pointed out, it is possible to vote early — and many people are. In Riverside, 48,308 voters have been issued mail ballots for this election, according to assistant county registrar Rebecca Spencer — that’s 40 percent of the 118,473 registered voters. (As of May 16, the registrar has received 315 ballots back.)

Early voting also will be offered from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 1-3 at the Galleria at Tyler in Riverside. Gardner said he’ll send out at least one more mailer before the election. Which is June 5, by the way.

BALLOT STATEMENTS CHANGED

Some San Bernardino County candidates have had their ballot statements toned down in order to comply with state election law.

County Registrar of Voters Michael Scarpello said his office has been strict about enforcing a provision of the law that does not allow candidates to make disparaging comments about other candidates in their ballot statements. Under election law, ballot statements are supposed to include only information about a candidate’s own background and qualifications, he said.

Fourteen candidates, including those running for three congressional seats, three Assembly seats and the 1st District supervisorial race, had parts of their statements edited to remove such references.

All of the candidates were informed of the changes before the voter guides were sent out earlier this month. They were not allowed to make any changes themselves.

“None of the candidates were happy about it, but every candidate understood our position and appreciated the consistency of our position,” Scarpello said.

To read entire column, click here.

Published: 20 May 2012 05:38 PM

In San Bernardino County’s safely Democratic 47th Assembly District, Joe Baca Jr. wants to return to the job he held for a single term several years ago.

And in the county’s safely Republican 33rd Assembly District, Assemblyman Tim Donnelly is trying to avoid becoming a one-term lawmaker himself.

Opposing Baca Jr. and Donnelly are a mix of elected officials, business owners and others running on the June 5 ballot. The districts’ strong partisan leanings and new, top-two primary system make it possible that the November elections will be a repeat of the primary campaigns.

The redrawn 47th Assembly District closely resembles the current 62nd Assembly District and includes Rialto, Colton, Fontana and part of San Bernardino. The new district, though, picks up Grand Terrace, drops the area around San Bernardino International Airport and reaches north to Devore.

Baca Jr., the son of Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto, represented the 62nd from 2004 through 2006, when he lost the Democratic primary for state Senate. He successfully ran later that year for the Rialto City Council, where he still serves.

In his candidate questionnaire for The Press-Enterprise, Baca Jr. said his top priorities as a lawmaker would be to encourage the creation of jobs through repealing “overly burdensome” regulations, increasing funding for community colleges, and approving public-works projects.

Newspaper publisher Cheryl Brown, of Rialto, a fellow Democrat, is Baca’s main rival. Brown is backed by the lawmakers who represented the area in the Assembly before and after Baca Jr.: John Longville and Assemblywoman Wilmer Amina Carter, D-Rialto.

Fixing the state’s chronically imbalanced budget is paramount, Brown said in her candidate questionnaire for The Press-Enterprise. She said she also wants to attract businesses and improve education and health care in the district.

Also running for the 47th are two Republicans, Thelma E. Beach, of Grand Terrace, a retiree, and Jeane Ensley, of Rialto, a retired fraud investigator.

To read entire story, click here.

Neil.Nisperos and Benjamin Demers, Staff Writers
Created: 05/20/2012 07:05:00 AM PDT

Donna Lowe will have her work cut out for her if she wants to represent the newly redrawn 41st Assembly District.

The Claremont resident and Tea Party supporter will be going up against three well-connected and better-funded Democrats – Pasadena Councilman Chris Holden, South Pasadena Mayor Michael Cacciotti and businesswoman Victoria Rusnak.

Lowe will also have to make sure GOP voters don’t cast ballots for Republican Ed Colton, who has experience as a business executive.

Lowe said the way to garner those votes is by bringing attention to the state’s economic business climate.

“People are moving out of the state, it is simply because of California’s insatiable thirst for spending and not being able to curtail its spending even during these hard economic times,” Lowe said.

“What we need to concentrate on doing is repealing a lot of the business regulations that make it unstable for businesses to relocate or start here.”

Lowe is an information technology manager for Safenet, Inc. She is the founder of the Claremont Conservatives Tea Party and a former Mountain View Republican Club board member. She has the support of the state GOP and lawmakers such as Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Hesperia.

The 41st Assembly District includes Upland, Claremont, La Verne and San Dimas as well as much of the southern San Gabriel Mountains and into Pasadena. Democrats hold a 43 percent to 34 percent edge over Republicans among registered voters.

The strong Democratic district, though, won’t be the only hurdle facing Lowe.

In a campaign finance report for January to March, Lowe had about $15,000 in her war chest. It put her available campaign contributions well behind the three Democrats.

At the conclusion of the January to March period, Cacciotti had about $46,000 and Holden had about $97,000.

Those figures though were no match to money that Rusnak had in hand – $232,000.

In recent weeks, residents in the 41st Assembly District have seen their mailboxes peppered by advertisements touting Rusnak. The Rusnak name will ring a bell with any car-conscientious voter in the region. She is the chief operating officer and president of the Pasadena-based Rusnak Auto Group.

While running as a Democrat, Rusnak’s campaign is also touting an anti-Sacramento sentiment. Her ads have splashed phrases such as “Results. Not Politics” and “Spending alone won’t improve our schools. We need to spend smarter.”

“I’m running because I think our state is in crisis. We need people from the private sector to participate in the Legislative process and bring a sense of reality to Sacramento,” Rusnak said.

Rusnak, a former environmental attorney, said she would not vote for any government program that does not have a previously identified revenue source.

The Democratic-dominated Legislature may be pleased if they see Holden make his way up north. The former mayor of Pasadena is the choice of the Democratic Party as well as the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.

Holden’s campaign has highlighted his work in supporting the expansion of the Metro Gold Line to Pasadena. The work, his campaign says, has created jobs and helped businesses.

The Gold Line will expand into more cities in the foothills in coming years. For Holden, the foothills isn’t quite far enough. The commercial real estate consultant wants to see the line go all the way to LA/Ontario International Airport.

“I think one of the important projects we can continue to support is the completion of the Goldline out to Ontario airport,” Holden said. “It goes beyond a regional transportation project. It becomes a real job stimulator for the region.”

To read entire story, click here.

Sacramento– Gov. Jerry Brown’s latest budget proposal attempts to close a formidable $15.7 billion deficit, but the real debate at the Capitol in the next few weeks probably will be over how to cut just a fraction of the big amount.

That’s because about $2 billion in the governor’s budget represents permanent reductions in spending on state welfare, child care and other programs that Democratic leaders in the Senate and Assembly have pledged to protect.

Brown’s other budget proposals might be more controversial with the Legislature if the state weren’t facing such a large shortfall. Those include one-time solutions such as his proposal to seize almost $300 million from the national mortgage settlement that Attorney General Kamala Harris hoped to use to help distressed mortgage payers stay in their homes.

Some of Brown’s other reductions, like delaying the repayment of some loans, won’t cause a stir at all. The Legislature, which can pass a budget by a majority vote, has just under four weeks to approve a spending plan to cover the deficit by the June 15 deadline.

The scope of the dilemma faced by Democratic lawmakers and the governor was reflected in comments made by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, last week as he sought to reframe the situation by comparing it with the huge deficits of the past several years.

“I’m going to stop referring to this as a crisis,” Steinberg said. “It’s a problem.”

Not that the haggling on the relatively small permanent cuts will be easy. Both Brown and Steinberg predicted difficult negotiations, though Steinberg said, “I’m not looking for a big public fight here.”
4 touchy proposals

There are four main proposals over which Democrats and the governor are most likely to butt heads.

Those include proposed cuts to CalWORKS, the state’s welfare-to-work program; cuts to Cal Grants, which provides financial aid for low-income college students; reductions in state support for child care; and reductions to the In-Home Supportive Services program for the blind, elderly and disabled.

Brown has proposed $1.85 billion in reductions to those programs, including:

– An $880 million cut to CalWORKS by reducing from four years to two years the amount of time adults can receive welfare payments if they do not meet specific requirements for work activities.

– A $292 million cut to Cal Grants by increasing the minimum grade point average for students to qualify and reducing grants for students attending private or for-profit colleges and universities.

– A $425.5 million cut in the funding the state gives families to subsidize child care expenses, resulting in the loss of 29,600 child care slots.

– A $224.5 million cut to In-Home Supportive Services through a 7 percent reduction in hours for providers and by eliminating some services for people who are in a shared living arrangement.

To read entire story, click here.

BY JIM MILLER AND BEN GOAD
STAFF WRITERS
jmiller@pe.com | bgoad@pe.com

Published: 19 May 2012 06:16 PM

Fueled by new political boundaries and court rulings, campaign committees representing special interests have revved up spending this election cycle, and much of that largesse is focused on Inland Southern California candidates.

Independent expenditures committees, known nationally as super-PACs, have been a fixture of legislative and statewide elections in California since 2001. The Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision brought the same type of unlimited spending to federal contests, from president to Congress.

While state and federal law sets limits on contributions to candidates, super-PACs are allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money through independent expenditures. Super-PACs are prohibited from coordinating their efforts with candidates or their campaigns.

As of Friday, May 18, independent groups’ spending this year in California congressional and state contests totals at least $5.5 million, according to government filings. That’s on top of millions of dollars that state and federal candidates have poured into races from their own campaign coffers.

Last year’s redistricting process created several competitive congressional, state Senate and Assembly districts in the region that are drawing big money from special interests.

Through mid-Friday, San Bernardino County’s 31st Congressional District had more than $818,000 in super-PAC spending, the most of any House race in the nation in the regular 2012 election cycle, according to federal records.

The spending was dominated by the National Association of Realtors, which has shelled out more than $709,000 to support the candidacy of Rep. Gary Miller. The money went for polling, consulting, mailers and advertising.

Scott Reiter, the group’s political director, pointed to Miller’s background in real estate and development and record as an advocate for housing in Congress, where he serves on the Financial Services Committee and has worked to protect the mortgage interest tax deduction and tax credits for homebuyers.

“He’s a longtime supporter of homeownership, and he’s got a tough race so we wanted to help,” Reiter said.

Miller, R-Diamond Bar, is running in a new district representing much of the San Bernardino Valley. The five other candidates include state Sen. Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, and Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar, a Democrat.

With at least three serious candidates competing for two spots in the general election, Reiter said the group, which usually focuses on November, thought it best to help Miller in his primary race. The fact that the group’s spending put the 31st above the other 434 congressional districts in terms of outside money is probably just a temporary situation, he said.

“I just think it’s a matter of timing,” Reiter said. “I would suspect you’ll be seeing a lot more from other groups very shortly.”

Other independent groups have spent money to help Dutton and Aguilar.

“Me and some friends of Bob Dutton wanted to help out … beyond what the law says we can give directly to candidates,” said former Inland lawmaker Bill Leonard, who helped organize the pro-Dutton Inland Empire Taxpayers for Jobs.

The group has spent about $50,000, records show. The money has come from several Inland donors, including Dutton’s father, Ted.

Leonard said the super-PAC was conceived as a way to help Dutton hold his own against Miller, a seven-term incumbent whose campaign committee had $1.2 million in cash on hand as of March 30.

“That was our hope and expectation a few months ago. But I didn’t expect the large amounts of Washington-interest money coming in. We’re kind of being swamped,” he said.

A super-PAC called Restoring Our Community has given more than $60,000 to Aguilar’s campaign. The identities of the donors have not been reported.

The only super-PAC spending on Inland congressional races outside the 31st took place in the High Desert’s 8th Congressional District, where the Jobs Opportunity and Freedom Political Action Committee has spent more than $30,000 on behalf of San Bernardino County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, a Republican.

SENATE CONTEST

In Riverside County, a vaguely named independent expenditure committee with unclear sources of money has injected itself into the 31st Senate District race.

To read entire story, click here.

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

Election 2012

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/19/2012 06:01:36 PM PDT

Things don’t appear to be slowing down one bit in the contentious race for San Bernardino County’s 3rd District supervisorial seat in the June 5 primary election.

Outspoken incumbent Neil Derry has sharply criticized one of his two opponents, former San Manuel tribal Chairman James Ramos, saying Ramos doesn’t have the political background to serve a constituency of roughly 407,000 people.

Jim Bagley, a former Twentynine Palms councilman and three-time mayor, is the third candidate in the primary race.

The geographically diverse district includes parts of the San Bernardino Valley, the San Bernardino Mountains and the High Desert. Redistricting based on new Census figures has expanded the district to include the Morongo Basin and the cities of Twentynine Palms and Barstow.

Derry doesn’t believe Ramos, whom he calls a “liberal Democrat,” is a good fit in a district with a heavy conservative base.

“If you don’t have the right message and the right background, it doesn’t matter how much you spend. I fit the district well. Mr. Ramos does not,” Derry said. “Ramos has no municipal government experience.

“His only experience is being chairman of the San Manual Band of Mission Indians and serving on the (San Bernardino Community College District) board, and that’s it. He has no land use experience.”

Ramos’ camp has criticized Derry, saying Derry has not led by example and arguing he campaigned for supervisor in 2008 on a platform of government transparency and ethics, but was charged by the state Attorney General’s Office last year with three felonies for allegedly laundering a $5,000 campaign contribution from a Highland developer.

Derry pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor for failing to report the contribution and prosecutors dropped the felonies, allowing Derry to retain his seat on the Board of Supervisors.

Derry denies doing anything wrong, and said he pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor to put the matter behind him so he could get back to serving the citizens he represents.

Ramos announced his candidacy for supervisor the day after prosecutors announced that Derry had been charged.

“I believe if the voters want to stop the corruption in San Bernardino County, they’re going to have to start choosing people who are basically ethical in their very nature, and that is James Ramos,” said Betsy Starbuck, Ramos’ campaign manager and the county’s former assistant auditor-controller-recorder.

Mudslinging aside, Ramos’ wealth from income generated by San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino has allowed him to spend generously on his campaign, which makes the 3rd District supervisorial race unique.

To read entire story, click here.

Saturday, May 19, 2012 – 11:00 a.m.

USPS delivery of campaign mail improves

Something must have happened at the USPS earlier this week.

The delivery of campaign mail changed from roughly five to six days to a much improved time frame of two to three days.

Hotly contested congressional races likely caused the change in mindset.

Facebook IPO not so hot after all

The long awaited initial stock offering of Facebook was a flop Friday. The shares had to be support by the offerings underwriters to keep the price from falling below the initial sale price of $38.

The weak reception is not a good sign for markets going forward.

Some candidates mustering up campaign mail in CD 8

8th Congressional District candidates Phil Liberatore, Brad Mitzelfelt, Ryan McEachron and Paul Cook have managed to get out campaign mail in the race to head to Washington D.C.

Nothing from the remainder of the vast field of candidates.

Cook might want to have a word with his consultant though.

His mail is being addressed to individual voters instead of households. A much costlier approach.

Outgoing Congressman Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) left. Former San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Chairman James Ramos right.

Friday, May 18, 2012 – 10:00 a.m.

The sauce pan is simmering in the race for San Bernardino County Third District Supervisor.

The three-way race consisting of Supervisor Neil Derry, Former Twenty-Nine Palms City Councilman Jim Bagley and Former San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Chairman James Ramos is heating up heading into the home stretch to the June 5th primary.

If no candidate receives fifty percent, the top two contenders will face a November runoff.

Four years ago Congressman Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands), District Attorney Michael Ramos and then-Sheriff Gary Penrod all recorded radio spots and automated dialer messages supporting Supervisor Dennis Hansberger, a republican.

The result? Hansberger lost to Derry, who is also a republican.

Lewis was reportedly bitter over his friend Hansberger’s loss and has been privately disparaging Derry, non-stop, since his election to the board.

Well it looks as if Third District voters are being treated to more of the same.

However this time the support is being bestowed upon Ramos, a lifelong democrat.

Automated dialer calls with a message from, the republican-in-name-only, Lewis have started peppering republican voters.

Somehow someone, likely Lewis, must feel he has sway with voters.

An arrogant assumption to make.

But it appears republicans are growing irritated as they learn Lewis is backing a democrat.

As many voters can recall. This is the same Jerry Lewis who;

• Spent his entire campaign war chest defending himself from an FBI probe into earmarks and influence peddling.
• Couldn’t regain the chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee after republicans took control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010.
• Led the charge in accelerating the growth in U.S. debt, by way of out of control spending under his previous appropriations chairmanship.
• Is retiring because of uncertainty surrounding his reelection potential.

And now Lewis is trying to shove a democrat down the throats of republicans.

The House leadership must be glad to see this guy leave.

But you never know. Lewis may be looking for a job at the casino.

Another bottle of scotch sounds more appropriate right about now.

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (AP Photo/The Wilmington News-Journal, Suchat Pederson)

BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com

Published: 17 May 2012 01:23 PM

Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney is planning a fundraising stop in Riverside next month, according to Republicans close to the campaign.

The former Massachusetts governor has penciled in an event on the afternoon of June 1 at the Victoria Club, though details about the event or his visit have not yet been finalized. Romney’s campaign has not publicly announced a California trip.

To read entire story, click here.

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

A political committee that Service Employees International Union California created to support moderate Republican candidates for the Legislature reported its first expenditure of the 2012 election Wednesday, dropping more than $15,000 on mail pieces opposing Republican Assemblyman Tim Donnelly’s bid for re-election.

Donnelly, a conservative first-term assemblyman known for his vocal opposition to illegal immigration, is facing Republican Bill Jahn, the mayor of Big Bear, and Democrat John Coffey on the June 5 ballot in the 33rd Assembly District.

To read entire story, click here.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 – 10:30 a.m.

The National Association of Realtors is approaching the $750,000 mark in its independent expenditure campaign supporting Congressman Gary Miller (R-Diamond Bar) according to current filings with the Federal Election Commission.

Both of the Association’s Super-PAC committees, the National Association of Realtors Congressional Fund and National Association of Realtors Political Action Committee, have collectively deployed the money.

Sources say the Realtors association will spend upwards of $1 million for Miller.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 – 04:50 p.m.

Here is some news reverberating across the transom this week.

Brown wants portion of Harris foreclosure settlement

You gotta love it.

California Governor Jerry Brown, in an effort to cobble together more money to blow, wants to steal hundreds of millions of dollars meant to help distressed homeowners. The dough, a part of a national foreclosure settlement obtained by Attorney General Kamala Harris, is meant for distressed homeowners.

Harris has objected to Brown’s position.

And Brown appears as if he could care less.

One can only image what Harris is saying behind closed doors.

Issa endorses Cook

Stop the presses!

Congressman Darrel Issa (R-Vista) has endorsed Assemblyman Paul Cook in his quest to represent the 8th Congressional District.

Now this nod is definitely a scale tipper.

Laugh out loud.

CD 8 -  The Marine factor?

The battle of the Marines.

Yes, in the full out war in the 8th Congressional District, Assemblyman Paul Cook, a retired Marine colonel, and San Bernardino County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, a former Marine Non-Commissioned Officer, are pressing those credentials hard.

The latest mailers has Cook displaying his medals, while Mitzelfelt is in full dress uniform.

It was Cook’s ballot title of Retired Marine Colonel that swept him into the 65th Assembly District six years ago.

A title now unavailable to him this go around.

U.S. Postal Service slow with campaign mail deluge

The U.S. Postal Service is struggling to deliver campaign mail this go around.

The combination of heavily contested races along with San Bernardino County’s new rocket scientist registrar of voters has buried mail carriers.

Registrar Michael Scarpello decided to hold off on the early mailing of sample ballots this year.

Scarpello decided voters were irresponsible in keeping the pamphlet available.

This year the sample ballots were mailed at virtually the same time as actual absentee ballots.

The only addressee’s receiving political mail in a timely manner?

Voters using P.O. Boxes!

Assemblyman Tim Donnelly (Anne Cusack/LA Times)

Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/13/2012 01:52:32 PM PDT

A flap over a gun has provided fodder for Assemblyman Tim Donnelly’s opponents in a battle for the hearts and minds of voters in the 33rd Assembly District.

For his opponents in the June 5 primary election, Donnelly’s arrest for carrying a loaded gun into an airport was a vital lapse in judgment.

For Donnelly, R-Hesperia, it’s an overblown incident that clouds the real issues he says he stands for – smaller and more efficient government, with an unwavering anti-illegal-immigration stand.

At stake in the election is the right to represent voters in an area that includes Victorville, Apple Valley, Hesperia, parts of San Bernardino and Redlands, Barstow, Baker, Crestline, Lake Arrowhead, Highland and Newberry Springs.

If no one wins a majority of votes in the primary, the top two finishers, no matter what party, will face each other in the November election.

Donnelly’s opponents are quick to bring up two areas they see as vulnerable – what they say is a lack of legislative productivity and the now-infamous incident in which he was caught with a loaded handgun in his bag at L.A./Ontario International Airport in January.

Fellow Republican Bill Jahn, the mayor of Big Bear Lake, and Democrat John Coffey, an educator for special-needs students in Barstow Unified School District, pulled no punches against Donnelly, a tea party conservative and anti-illegal immigration activist.

“Everything he touches is dead on arrival because he’s pretty much well alienated both sides of the aisle,” said Jahn, a construction developer who has served on a number of local agency boards. “During my trips up to Sacramento, talking to different folks, I pretty much confirm that to be the case.”

Jahn’s campaign website provides several articles about Donnelly’s run-in with the law. Jahn said he believes the assemblyman received special treatment because, unusually, he was let go easily without arrest.

“I don’t care who you are,” Jahn said in a recent interview. “We’re not above the law, and we should all be playing by the same rules. …

“I’m a responsible gun owner, but you can bet your boots I know where my gun is. I know if it’s loaded. I know if I’m going carry it around I’d better have a concealed weapons permit, and I expect my assemblyman to do the same thing.”

Coffey, a lifelong Democrat and a former board member for the Newberry Springs Community Services District, said voters are tired of what he called the lack of legislative success from Donnelly, but he also called into question Donnelly’s judgment over the gun flap.

“I think it shows an appalling lack of judgment, and it’s indicative of irresponsibility,” Coffey said. “The man has children at home and he doesn’t know where loaded guns are at all times. I believe it gives the general public and voters cause for concern.”

In recent months, Donnelly pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges related to the gun incident and led a signature-gathering effort to repeal the Dream Act, which provides public funds to help illegal immigrants go to college.

Donnelly, who has been apologetic over the gun incident, isn’t shy about bringing it up. He says most people who have spoken to him about the gun incident have been supportive.

“The thing at the airport got blown up into a massive story way out of proportion to anything that made any sense,” Donnelly said. “The media knew they could sell papers, and my political opponents were pushing for it.”

On the matter of legislative success, Donnelly said it would be better if lawmakers passed fewer laws, and called attention to what he called his effectiveness as a voice on immigration and budget issues on the popular “John and Ken” radio show and “The Daily Show.”

“If you ask if I have been effective and if you measure it by whether or not I’ve taken the message that I went there to take and have done everything I could to leverage it with the media and talk about real issues, then I would say, yes absolutely,” said Donnelly, who is for shrinking state government. “I’ve been most effective in the state of California at trying to use the bully pulpit in our direction.”

Jahn painted himself as a lawmaker who is able to work across political parties in order to “get budgets in line” and reverse unemployment.

“I’ll be the first guy to tell you I’m a conservative, and I’m not going to vote to raise taxes, and there are other conservative principles that I’m not going to bend on,” Jahn said, “but there’s a whole lot of other stuff that can get done by both sides without either side compromising their principles.”

While Jahn aims to protect Proposition 13, the 1978 voter- approved measure limiting property taxes, Coffey said he would introduce legislation to curtail or eliminate commercial property from the measure’s protection.

“My best guess is this would generate $5 billion or $6 billion to exclude commercial property not occupied by the owner,” Coffey said.

Voter registration in the 33rd Assembly District is 33 percent Democratic and 41 percent Republican.

Reach Neil via email, call him at 909-483-9356, or find him on Twitter @InlandGov.

Read more: http://www.sbsun.com/ci_20615476/educator-mayor-challenge-donnelly-33rd-assembly-district-race#ixzz1urWaBuNN

In the first broad test of California’s new “top-two” election system, many candidates in heated races for Congress and the state Legislature have been campaigning earlier, spending more money and downplaying their party affiliation as they try to widen their appeal.

Gone are the party primaries, except in the presidential race. Now all state candidates appear on a single ballot. Only those who come in first or second on June 5 will move on to the November general election, in which no write-in or other added candidates will be allowed.

The new rules, approved by California voters in 2010, further empower voters who don’t belong to a political party — already the fastest-growing category in California, accounting for more than 21% of the state’s registration.

For the first time, some ballots for 53 congressional, 20 state Senate and 80 Assembly seats include unaffiliated candidates. Among the 36 who list themselves with “no party preference” are two congressional candidates who recently ditched their party ties: Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks and former Assemblyman Anthony Adams of Hesperia, both previously Republicans.

Along with the new voting districts drawn last year by a citizens commission rather than by lawmakers protecting their own seats, the fresh election rules have prompted many campaigns to rewrite their playbooks.

“What the open primary has done is reshuffle the strategic deck,” said Democratic strategist Richie Ross. “The timing and the manner in which you communicate have got to be adjusted.”

Going negative on opponents during the primary could come back to haunt a candidate if it alienates voters needed to win the November runoff, Ross said. Candidates are no longer assured of getting to November by courting only voters in their own party. And races in some districts that used to be all but over in the primary will probably remain competitive through the fall.

“It’s very complicated, very new, and everybody’s going to learn a lot about how this is going to work,” said Richard Temple, a GOP consultant. His clients this year include Nathan Mintz, one of two Republicans and a Democrat running for a “swing” Assembly seat in the South Bay’s 66th District that could be won by either major party in the fall.

The other Republican in the race is businessman Craig Huey, who already has sent out at least one mail advertisement introducing himself to voters and knocking the Democrat, Al Muratsuchi, a Torrance school board member and deputy state attorney general. Given the nearly even registration of the two parties in the district, local politics watchers view Muratsuchi as the probable winner of one runoff spot. Mintz and Huey have to compete for GOP voters while also wooing independents and third-party voters.

Those voters can be unpredictable. Moreover, unless there is a contested presidential race or a controversial ballot measure or two to stir their interest, most unaffiliated voters typically do not turn out in big numbers for primary elections. Temple and others think that will change dramatically once independents understand their new power, but it could take at least one or two election cycles to sink in.

Democratic consultant Mike Shimpock, who is overseeing Muratsuchi’s bid and that of several others, said the new rules present a new challenge in deciding when and where to spend campaign money. That is especially true in districts that are strongly Democratic — like many in the Los Angeles area — or heavily Republican.

Previously, a candidate who matched a district’s lopsided registration had only to worry about winning the party primary and would campaign hardest, and spend the most, for that purpose before coasting to victory in the runoff. Now, with the possibility that two members of the dominant party could square off in November, those strategic choices are trickier, Shimpock said.

To read entire story, click here.

BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com

Published: 11 May 2012 10:04 PM

Michael Fine, Riverside Unified School District’s deputy superintendent for business services, can tick off the hard numbers of what four years of recession-era state budgets have meant for his 42,000-student district.

The district has lost $110 million and confronts an annual $20 million gap between revenue and spending. The school year, which spanned 180 instructional days before the recession, is now 176 days.

There are 187 fewer teachers and other certificated personnel, an 8 percent reduction, and all staff has had at least five days of furloughs. Class sizes have gone from 20 students to 26 in kindergarten through third grade, he said.

“We have gone so far the wrong way on this, in my opinion,” Fine said.

California’s economic struggles have lasted longer than many officials expected. In Sacramento, the budget tumult of recent years has had another result: widely differing interpretations of the statewide impact of the downturn’s toll on state programs used by tens of millions.

Both parties agree that cuts have been made. But Democrats and Republicans are billions of dollars apart in their assessments of how much the state has reduced actual spending.

A thicket of fund shifts, borrowing, payment deferrals and fluctuating federal aid that have defined recent budgets hamper comparisons of spending changes from one year to the next.

“There have been cuts, no doubt,” said deputy legislative analyst Jason Sisney of the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office. “The truth is it’s almost impossible to track spending apples to apples. It really just shows how complicated the budget has become.”

The debate will continue after Gov. Jerry Brown releases a revised version of his January budget plan Monday that is likely to project a significantly larger deficit through June 2013.

And in the coming months, Brown, fellow Democrats and allied groups will try to persuade voters weary of the state’s budget problems that they should approve temporary sales and income taxes to help schools and other state programs, or else face midyear trigger cuts.

LAWMAKERS DIFFER

State Sen. Bill Emmerson, R-Hemet, the top Republican on the Senate budget panel, said Democrats exaggerate the scope of spending reductions to justify a need for more revenue.

Many so-called cuts, Emmerson said, have actually been backfilled by money from other state funds, the federal government, or by money from deferring payments to schools, among other steps. Some have been blocked by the courts or otherwise never took effect.

“When my Democratic colleagues talk about the general fund being reduced by $40 billion, those aren’t the numbers I see,” Emmerson said. “If you look at total general fund spending, that has not decreased. If you look at specific programs, that has ratcheted down.”

To read entire story, click here.

Friday, May 11, 2012 – 10:00 a.m.

It was a bright, sunny and hot Thursday afternoon in the city of Highland, California.

When sightings of a campaign sign crew emerged.

Yes. A sign crew out at 3:30 p.m.

A sign crew out putting up and repairing the, oddly-constructed, wood framed signs is of no significance.

But who was a part of the sign crew and what candidate signs were being placed is.

Placing and repairing signs for State Assemblyman and 8th Congressional District candidate Paul Cook and Former San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Chairman and Board of Supervisors candidate James Ramos, was none other than Jim Foster and Jim Rissmiller.

Both men, who held the position of chief of staff for Former County Supervisor Dennis Hansberger, consider themselves staunch conservative republicans.

In this case, Cook is the republican, but Ramos is a life-long democrat.

Something both men probably have to hold their noses to stomach.

That’s of course unless there’s tribal or campaign dough involved.

Rissmiler, a retired California Department of Forestry Fire Captain, has been a part-time analyst for the city of Highland, while Foster leases billboards under the name Mentone Investments.

And yes, Foster’s old red pickup truck still runs.

Indeed! The word is spelled R-E-V-E-N-G-E………….

Thursday, May 10, 2012 – 04:30 p.m.

Mayor Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands) has pick up some desperately needed campaign help in his quest to represent the 31st Congressional District.

Aguilar just received over $48,000 in independent expenditure help from the Restoring Our Community PAC.

The expenditure was reported to the Federal Election Commission today.

Aguilar is running against West Valley republicans Gary Miller (R-Diamond Bar) and Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga).

It’s expected more than $2 million will be in play for Miller, inclusive of his own campaign war chest.

It’s still most likely Aguilar will make the November runoff against Miller.

Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs

BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com

Published: 09 May 2012 06:54 PM

WASHINGTON — Inland Rep. Mary Bono Mack is leading the formation of a new congressional caucus intended to raise the stature of female GOP lawmakers and bring a greater woman’s touch to the party more commonly associated with men.

This week’s launch of the Women’s Policy Committee comes as Democrats attempt to paint Republicans as engaging in a “war on women” through their positions on issues ranging from health care to disparate pay for men and women.

Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, said she began work on the committee long before the recent party squabbling. While she hopes it would help counter criticism of the GOP, the group doesn’t intend to limit its purview to women’s issues, she said.

The group’s mission statement, adopted during its inaugural meeting Tuesday, includes references to the central tenets of Republican ideology: less government, lower taxes and personal freedom.

“I don’t know that there’s a separate set of men’s issues and women’s issues,” Bono Mack said. “We care about the same issues, but I think women relate to things differently, view things differently.”

By banding together, GOP women in the House can take a larger hand in guiding the party’s policy agenda, she said.

Just 74 of 435 House members are women, according to a recent report issued by the Congressional Research Service. Of those women, less than a third — 24 — are Republican. And few of them are well known nationally, Bono Mack noted.

“When people think of women Republicans, they think of Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachman,” she said, adding that their profiles were raised as a result of their involvement in presidential politics. “We need to put some of our (congressional) women forward.”

To read entire story, click here.

State Senator Bob Dutton left. Congressman Gary Miller right.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012 – 02:30 p.m.

Big money is starting to flow in the race to represent the 31st Congressional District.

Two major Super-PAC’s weighed in heavily for Congressman Gary Miller (R-Diamond Bar) Wednesday afternoon, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

The National Association of Realtors Political Action Committee reported expending $396,300 for consulting and TV advertising.

The National Association of Realtors Congressional Fund reported spending $37,300 for consulting, Internet ads and logistics.

The new expenditures bring the total for the Congressional Fund to $173,300.

The current total of independent expenditures in support of Miller is now at $569,600.

Miller’s primary opponent, State Senator Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga), is benefiting from a local PAC calling itself Inland Empire Taxpayers for Jobs.

The new PAC is currently spending $55,000 it has received to support Dutton. The PAC’s funding is primarily from Ted Dutton, the candidate’s father.

State Senator Bob Dutton, candidate for CD 31, is the beneficiary of a super-pac created by his Father Ted Dutton.

By PE Politics
May 8, 2012 9:29 AM

Newly posted Federal Election Commission reports show more than $21,400 in spending in support of State Sen. Bob Dutton, who is vying to represent California’s 31st Congressional District.

The money came from a group called Inland Empire Taxpayers for Jobs, a so-called SuperPac allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money through independent expenditures.

The group had raised $55,000 as of the end of last month, according to FEC records. Of that, $15,000 came from Ted Dutton (Bob’s father), while another $10,000 came from Urban Advisors, Inc. (owned by the elder Dutton.) The committee also received $25,000 from Prime Healthcare Services of Ontario and Burrtec Waste Industries, Inc. of Fontana gave $5,000.

Dutton Sr., and principals in Prime Healthcare and Burrtec have been generous to Sen. Dutton before, giving tens of thousands of dollars to his state campaigns.

The money spent by the SuperPac on behalf of the Rancho Cucamonga Republican paid for Design, Printing, Mailing and Postage, according to the FEC.

To read entire story, click here.

By PE Politics
May 8, 2012 11:52 AM

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has submitted to the California Secretary of State a list of delegates he hopes to be seated at this summer’s Republican National Convention in Tampa.

Inland Reps. Mary Bono Mack and Darrell Issa, both early Romney backers, are among the list of 172 potential delegates, as are former San Bernardino County Supervisor Clifford Young, Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren and a host of others. The list was posted today on FlashReport, a conservative politics blog.

The final list of delegates hinges on the outcome of next month’s primary. To have all of his delegates seated, Romney has to win the most votes in each of California’s 53 congressional districts.

Here are the names submitted for Inland Southern California’s seven new congressional districts (as drawn last summer by the state’s Citizens Redistricting Commission.)

Congressional District # 8 (Yucaipa, High Desert, SB Mountains)
DELEGATES
 Richard Brimhall
 Todd Graham
 Chad Mayes

To read entire story, click here.

In Session
By Ben Pershing
Published: May 7, 2012

Rep. Mary Bono Mack is all over the map.

In Washington, the longtime Republican lawmaker from California is an increasingly prominent player on the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, while also trying to be a voice for two constituencies — moderates and women — that she believes don’t always receive the requisite attention within the House Republican Conference.

In Palm Springs, she is facing a spirited reelection challenge. In Florida, she’s the wife of a Senate candidate. And on the national stage, she’s a high-profile surrogate for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney’s presidential bid. Oh, and in Northern Virginia, she’s a first-time grandmother.

So how can she possibly divide her time so many ways?

“For every working mom, there’s a working balance, a very delicate balance to strike,” Bono Mack said in an interview last week. That can mean not seeing her husband for long stretches. Or it can mean turning down a “Meet the Press” appearance so she can spend time with her family, as was the case recently.

Bono Mack’s willingness to speak for and about women is part of what made the Romney campaign recently push her to the forefront, when the presumed Republican nominee was being attacked for having an unclear position on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

“Women in the Obama economy are facing hardships of historical proportions,” Bono Mack said in response, prompting Democrats to note that she had joined nearly all her fellow Republicans in voting against the Lilly Ledbetter measure in 2009.

But Bono Mack doesn’t necessarily see herself as a top voice on “women’s issues.”

“The strange thing about me is that I don’t believe there is a separate set of ‘women’s issues.’ I’m one who believes women care about the same issues men do,” Bono Mack said, although she did allow that women “relate differently to candidates” than men do.

In January, Bono Mack was summoned by the Romney campaign to serve as a surrogate against former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), with whom both she and her late husband, Rep. Sonny Bono (R-Calif.).

She and her husband, Florida Rep. Connie Mack (R) — who is running for the Senate — and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) trailed Gingrich in Florida to remind reporters of his turbulent speakership and dubbed him an unreliable leader. At some stops, the lawmakers got into much-publicized spats with Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond.

Asked whether she enjoyed such sparring, Bono Mack confessed, “No, I didn’t. . . . It was a little bit difficult and R.C. kind of played the guilt trip on me,” because she had been friends with Gingrich.

Back on Capitol Hill, Bono Mack recently helped found the Women’s Policy Committee, which she hopes will serve as a lobbying force within the Republican Conference.

“When our leadership makes a puzzling decision . . . I want to have the opportunity for us to come together as a group of women to discuss with leadership how things can be better done,” Bono Mack said.

To read entire story, click here.

Monday, May 7, 2012 – 10:30 a.m.

Former Massachusetts Governor and apparent Republican Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney is displaying strength in three newly-released polls this morning.

A Politico/George Washington University/Battleground Poll gives Romney a 48%-47% lead over President Barack Obama.

Rasmussen Tracking gives Romney a 47%-45% lead.

And Gallup Tracking shows Romney with a 46%-45% edge.

This is the first time a series of polls has given Romney an ever-so-slight edge.

Two older polls by Democracy Corps and Fox News show both Romney and Obama tied at 47% and 46% respectively.

It should be noted that Romney has opened up a double-digit lead with independents.

THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
Published: 06 May 2012 07:26 PM

When it comes to Internet prominence, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie stands out as a potential running mate for Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

So says a survey by PeekYou, a company specializing in online people searches. PeekYou recently ranked possible GOP vice presidential candidates based on how often they’re mentioned on the Web, the amount of Web content they generate, their participation in social networks and other factors.

The candidates were ranked 1 to 10, with Christie scoring highest. Coming in second was former presidential candidate Rick Santorum.

The other candidates, in order of finish, were: ex-Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty; U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin; Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal; Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.

Sarah Palin, the GOP’s veep nominee in 2008, didn’t make the cut.

CAMPAIGN AID

Speaking of Romney, the former Massachusetts governor lost a key strategist last week, when Richard Grenell stepped down from his post as the campaign’s foreign policy spokesman on what was supposed to be his first day on the job.

Grenell, who is gay, came under criticism from some conservatives, who felt he was too outspoken in his support for same-sex marriage. He blamed his departure on the “hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues” swirling about the presidential race.

Romney’s loss would appear to be Inland Rep. Mary Bono Mack’s gain. The Palm Springs Republican announced via Twitter that Grenell “is coming back to his home in Palm Springs & has offered to help with my campaign,” before adding, “That’s terrific.”

Marc Troast, Bono Mack’s campaign manager, said Grenell will not have an official role with the campaign, but rather has offered to lend his support as a volunteer. Troast said the campaign isn’t worried about the criticism that led to Grenell’s resignation from the Romney camp, and pointed to his years of experience as a communications strategist, including a stretch in the George W. Bush administration.

“He’s a conservative, leading voice on foreign policy,” Troast said.

Inland newshounds might also remember Grenell as a spokesman for developer Jeff Burum, who is now facing criminal charges as part of San Bernardino County’s ongoing corruption scandal.

POKER SPLITS TRIBES

An influential tribal group that includes several Inland Southern California members recently poured some cold water on state Senate legislation that would legalize online poker and, perhaps, more games in the future.

To read entire story, click here.