With a month to go before the June primary, the California Republican Party gathers in San Diego today for its 2018 convention, to rally the faithful and endorse candidates. (California Democrats met in February at the same spot, where an ideological fracture was on display, despite — or perhaps because of — the party’s utter domination of state politics.) Here are some key issues to watch for at the GOP confab, which lasts until Sunday. The Capitol Alert Twitter account will have updates throughout the weekend.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!- Gubernatorial endorsement: Thanks to a rule change, the California Republican Party could for the first time this year back a candidate in the governor’s race before the primary. Party officials were hoping to avoid a repeat of the embarrassing 2016 scenario when no GOP hopeful made the runoff for U.S. Senate; now, they are facing the prospect of a similar outcome, with even more dire consequences. The good news is that a recent poll showed the major Republican contenders, Assemblyman Travis Allen and businessman John Cox, surging into a tight battle for second place. That should only amp up the stakes as they battle for delegates’ support before the Sunday vote. Reaching the 60 percent threshold necessary for the endorsement will be tough, but it could provide a significant boost for either Allen, whose fundraising has been unable to keep pace with Cox’s deep pockets, or Cox, who has not been embraced by party activists with the same fervor as Allen.
- Rhetoric: With Democrats across the country fired up this year to take on President Donald Trump, California Republicans are looking to rile up their own voters and avoid a blue wave in the November midterm election. Efforts are underway to qualify an initiative that would overturn the gas tax increase passed last year by Sacramento Democrats, while city and county officials across the state have been fanning a growing backlash to the “sanctuary state” law that limits the ability of California law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. What issues offer the most red meat for the delegates? …
There’s a California Republican Party Convention?
Why!