Chen campaign a blueprint? + Senate Republicans lay out agenda + CalGEM protest
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Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
DOES THE CHEN CAMPAIGN OFFER A BLUEPRINT FOR FUTURE CAGOP CAMPAIGNS?
Republican Lanhee Chen lost his 2022 race for state controller, but it’s likely that California voters haven’t seen the last of him.
Chen, who lectured at Stanford University and served as 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s policy director, released a campaign memo Wednesday with some promising data points. For instance, he was not only California’s top Republican voter getter (nearly 4.8 million) but led all statewide GOP candidates in the country.
That includes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (4.6 million votes) and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (4.4 million votes).
The Chen campaign also pointed out that he not only won purple San Luis Obispo County (the first Republican statewide candidate to do so since 2014), but had strong margins of support in Orange, Fresno, Riverside and San Bernardino counties as well. He also was competitive in hotly contested congressional and state legislative districts.
Could Chen be the cure for what ails the California Republican Party? He seems to think so.
“The bottom line is that Republicans can be competitive across California, but it requires the right candidate, with the right message and a significant resource advantage,” according to a statement from his campaign.
As a candidate, Chen was quick to promote his fiscally conservative bonafides, but generally shied away from culture war issues. He maintained that he supports a person’s right to get an abortion, though he had reservations about Proposition 1, the ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.
Chen’s campaign pledged that it work with California GOP Chair Jessica Millan Patterson to find more electorally viable candidates to run statewide and in key parts of California, such as Los Angeles County.
But will he run again?
Chen isn’t saying, for now. But his email blast offers a clue.
“Lanhee will remain an active voice in the conversation about the future of our state and will keep you updated on opportunities to work together,” it said.
CALIFORNIA SENATE REPUBLICANS PROVIDE THEIR VISION FOR 2023
Via Lindsey Holden...
A gas tax suspension, better water storage and tougher crime policies are among California Republicans’ top priorities heading into the state budget cycle.
And a Democratic supermajority willing to work with GOP legislators is also near the top of the list.
California Senate Republicans on Tuesday laid out their financial suggestions following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget rollout earlier in this month.
The governor presented a $297 billion budget that includes a $22.5 billion deficit. The Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates the gap is closer to $24 billion and could grow if national economic conditions produce a recession.
In a letter to Newsom, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood and Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, R-Santee, and other Republican lawmakers presented their economic agenda, including:
Suspending the state’s gas tax and backfilling the lost revenue with money from other areas, such as the funding for California’s much-maligned high-speed rail project.
Expanding California’s water storage system, which GOP lawmakers have been pushing in the wake of historic storms and flooding around the state.
Tougher penalties for those convicted of drug crimes and theft, as well as fewer prison closures.
More mental health resources for communities to address homelessness.
When asked how Republicans plan to address gun violence following this month’s mass shootings, Jones put the onus on Democrats to work with their GOP colleagues.
“It’s too long been ‘the Democrat way or the highway,’” Jones said at a news conference. “They have not made a commitment to work with us in a bipartisan manner to come up with solutions for these issues...”
PROTESTERS TARGET CALGEM, CALL ON NEWSOM TO END ‘REVOLVING DOOR’ WITH OIL INDUSTRY
Fresh off the recent resignation of Uduak-Joe Ntuk as head of the California Geologic Energy Management Division, or CalGEM, protesters are set to gather outside the division’s Sacramento office Thursday to call for an end to the “revolving door” between CalGEM and the oil industry.
Prior to working for the state, Ntuk served as the Director of Petroleum Administration for Los Angeles and an engineer at Chevron. Before Ntuk’s sudden resignation, CalGEM issued a multitude of oil and gas drilling permits ahead of the Jan. 1 effective date of a state law banning new wells within 3,200 feet of homes, hospitals and schools.
Protesters with the Last Chance Alliance want to see Ntuk’s replacement be someone with a public health and legal background.
“Governor Newsom will appoint his replacement and has the opportunity to get this rogue agency back on track and follow through on his commitment to end fossil fuel extraction. This is a critical moment that will shape California’s climate future,” according to a post advertising the protest.
The organziation expects dozens of protesters to gather at FDR Park before heading to the CalGEM headquarters, where they will put on street theater to protest the oil industry’s involvement with the agency.
The protest starts at noon.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“People were just gunned down at a dance club and their workplace — and THIS is your response. I look forward to the day your trash organization is obsolete.”
- Gov. Gavin Newsom, responding to a NRA tweet accusing him of hypocrisy, via Twitter.
Best of The Bee:
A state lawmaker has reintroduced a bill, dubbed the California Mandela Act, to restrict the use of solitary confinement by jails and prisons, via Andrew Sheeler.
The former executive officer of the California Air Resources Board received almost $500,000 in added pay last year — the vast majority for unused leave — when he left the agency, via Stephen Hobbs.
In a bid to crack down on distracted driving, a California lawmaker has introduced a bill to ban young people from talking on the phone while behind the wheel — even if they are using a hands-free device, via Andrew Sheeler.
Assemblyman Josh Hoover, R-Folsom, has introduced legislation that would prohibit homeless encampments within 500 feet of schools, daycare centers, parks, and libraries, via Jenavieve Hatch.
Federal regulators on Tuesday rejected a request from PG&E that would have eased the utility company’s efforts to keep operating California’s last nuclear power plant longer, via Mackenzie Shuman.
California voters will have the last word on whether the state can create a council to set wages and working conditions for more than half-a-million fast-food workers, via Maya Miller.
Too often, the death of a homeless person passes without notice. A California lawmaker has proposed a bill that would empower county governments to take notice, and to better coordinate the services they offer to local homeless populations, Andrew Sheeler.