Winners and Losers
March 5, 2004
As usual, the
election on March 2nd produced its share of winners and losers around
Fresno County. Without getting into the obvious, here is an insider's
opinion of what went on:
The
Big Winners
State
Senator Chuck Poochigian was a huge winner Tuesday night. He rarely
endorses candidates in local campaigns, but he endorsed (Lincoln Club
endorsed) candidate Mike Villines in the Assembly 29 GOP primary and
undecided voters appeared to trust his good name and judgment. Chuck had
much to gain and much to lose depending on the outcome of the race, and
now he has gained a trusted ally in AD 29 for the first time since he gave
up the Assembly seat himself to run for the Senate in 1998.
Alan Autry
comes out a big winner Tuesday night. He spent zero money on his re
election, and garnered over 70% of the vote. He also will be the
beneficiary of a much friendlier City Council due to (Lincoln Club
endorsed) Larry Westerlund's victory over Brad Castillo. Westerlund now
forms a de facto coalition with District 2 Councilman Brian Calhoun and
District 6 Councilman Jerry Duncan on pro business and pro taxpayer
matters that come before the City Council.
Direct
mail came out on top Tuesday, easily defeating TV as a new force in
local elections. While we were all biting our nails watching Chris Mathys
TV ads during absentee voting, Mike Villines campaign calmly chased
absentee voters with mail. The result - Villines won the battle of
absentee voting rather decisively.
The
Lincoln Club. We endorsed in three local races and had a hand in
three victories. Our independent expenditure (thanks to Tal Cloud,
Political Director) against Brad Castillo made a real difference in a
close campaign. There will be much more of that to come.
and she held
up well, retaining a solid majority Republican Committee members committed
to her chairmanship.
The
Big Losers
Steve
Samuelian's swan song couldn't have come at a better time. He gave
back door help to Mike Briggs in the Assembly 29 race and tried to take
over the Fresno County Republican Central Committee and miserably failed
on both accounts. He diverted campaign donations designed to pay off his
campaign debt into setting up phony political action committees designed
only to do his bidding. Make no mistake about it - Central Valley Right
to Life and the Central Valley Taxpayers PAC are both about as phony as a
$3 bill. Don't trust a thing you see from either group. We haven't seen
the last of his irritating political games, but it's been all downhill for
him in the last year and the bleeding still hasn't stopped.
Former
Assemblyman and City Councilman Mike Briggs political career ended
Tuesday. His three straight horrendous State budget votes and short lived
adventure on the Democrats payroll after he gave up his Assembly seat the
first time in a losing bid for Congress were too much to overcome. Had he
stayed out of the fray for a few years he might have had a chance to run
again for a local office but I think his time has passed. He ran his
Assembly campaign with one theme, which essentially was "I'll get more
State money for the Valley". Well, one of the reasons why we are such a
mess in Sacramento is that all 80 members of the State Assembly are trying
to do the same thing.
The Fresno
Bee. The endorsement of Lisa Quigley over Jim Costa in the Demo
primary for Congressional District 20 was just unbelievable. The voters
here in the valley soundly rejected their endorsed positions on
Proposition 56, 57, 58, Congressional 20, Assembly 29, City Council 4,
City Council 2 and the Democrat Presidential primary. Clearly, their
endorsement process carries little weight with voters, other than obvious
recommendations like Bill Jones for US Senate.
Henry
Perea, Sr. His failure to get protégé Brad Castillo reelected and his
own failure to avoid a runoff with Sal Quintero in the Supervisor 3 race
spell big trouble for Henry. My bet is that he goes down hard in
November, really hard.
The
Central Valley Veterans PAC threw in for Steve Samuelian first, and
then Mike Briggs. They paid for a recorded phone call designed to elect
Steve Samuelian's Republican Central Committee slate and were soundly
defeated. Their credibility with local Republicans is seriously damaged
and they have much fence mending to do with the local GOP.
Clovis
Councilman Nathan Magsig, after getting out of the AD 29 race,
endorsed former boss Mike Briggs and gave $2,000 late to his
campaign. Enough said.
Special Mention
Political
"Huh?" award goes to Mayor Alan Autry. After endorsing Mike Villines
for State Assembly Autry promptly allowed Mike Briggs to use his name and
photo in several mail pieces at the end of the campaign. As always, Mayor
Autry's major strength and major weakness is the same issue - he rarely
thinks a situation through politically and sometimes it gets him in
trouble. While no one believe it will put a strain in his relationship
with incoming Assemblyman Villines, the good Mayor needs to add a word to
his vocabulary. NO! Rumor has it now that he is headlining a fundraising
lunch for Steve Samuelian to help Samuelian pay off his campaign debt. Of
course, Samuelian will use the money to prop up the dark army.
http://www.valleyunderground.com/cartoon.php?id=14
The Class
Act goes to Chris Mathys. He put his own money up to run for office,
and when he lost, he took it like a man. He has reached out to Mike
Villines and offered to help in his November election. While many of us
disagreed with his tactics during the campaign, people often reveal their
character in how they absorb a loss. In this case, he clearly exhibited
grace and humility.
Well, I may
have missed a few here and there. One thing is for sure, it is GREAT to
have this primary behind us!
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