OC Political

A right-of-center blog covering local, statewide, and national politics

Posts Tagged ‘Mike Spence’

AD-55: Chen’s Warchest Exceeds All Opponents Combined

Posted by Chris Nguyen on May 9, 2016

Chen, Tye, Marquez, Spence, Fritchle

School District Trustee Phillip Chen (R-Diamond Bar), City Councilman Steve Tye (R-Diamond Bar), City Councilman Ray Marquez (R-Chino Hills), City Councilman Mike Spence (R-West Covina), and Social Worker Gregg Fritchle (D-Walnut)

Walnut Valley Unified School District Trustee Phillip Chen (R-Diamond Bar) dominates fundraising, spending, cash-on-hand, and even loans in the 55th Assembly District race.  Chen’s contributions, cash-on-hand, and loans each exceed that of all his opponents combined while his expenditures exceed that of his next two closest opponents combined.

At the end of 2015, Chen’s cash-on-hand was $141,556, more than 4.5 times that of his opponents combined.  Councilmen Steve Tye (R-Diamond Bar) and Mike Spence (R-West Covina) had a combined total of $31,597.  Councilman Ray Marquez (R-Chino Hills) and Social Worker Gregg Fritchle (D-Walnut) did not begin raising money until 2016.

In 2016, Chen raised $169,276, with all four of his opponents raising only a combined total of $99,461.

In expenditures, Chen spent $82,352, with all four of his opponents spending a combined total of $84,388.  Chen outspent any two of his opponents combined.  (Tye’s $44,868 surpassed the combined $39,520 spent by Spence, Marquez, and Frithcle.)

For extra measure, Chen lent his campaign $100,000, with his opponents having a combined total loan amount of $12,250.

Chen’s cash-on-hand of $228,505 nearly quadrupled his opponents’ combined total of $57,318.  Even after subtracting out unpaid bills and loans, Chen’s $115,695 is nearly triple his opponents’ combined total of $39,410.

Chen has significant resources available to him to deliver his message to the voters while Spence has enough money remaining for 1-2 mailers, with the other candidates struggling to fund even one mailer.   Chen, Tye, and Fritchle were all defeated by then-Councilwoman Ling-Ling Chang (R-Diamond Bar) in 2014.  However, with Chang not seeking re-election to the Assembly (opting instead to run for the Senate), this allowed the other three to again contest the seat just two years later, joined by Spence and Marquez.

Here’s the complete run-down:

Candidate 2015
Cash-On-Hand		 2016
Contributions		 Candidate
Loans		 Unpaid
Bills		 Expenditures Cash on Hand
(COH)		 COH Minus
Unpaid Bills		 COH Minus
Unpaid Bills
& Loans
Chen $141,556 $169,276 $100,000 $12,810 $82,352 $228,505 $215,695 $115,695
Tye $24,041 $33,841 $1,250 $5,658 $44,868 $13,044 $7,386 $6,136
Marquez $0 $36,627 $0 $0 $26,745 $9,882 $9,882 $9,882
Spence $7,556 $26,924 $1,000 $0 $11,813 $23,667 $23,667 $22,667
Fritchle $0 $2,069 $10,000 $0 $962 $10,725 $10,725 $725
Notes: Figures may be off by one dollar due to rounding.

 

Posted in 55th Assembly District | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

AD-55: Chen Outraises Opponents Combined

Posted by Chris Nguyen on February 4, 2016

In the 55th Assembly District race, Walnut Valley Unified School District Trustee Philip Chen raised more in three days in the race than all of his opponents raised combined for the entire race so far.

Chen reported $141,556 cash on hand, but $100,000 of that was a loan.  Diamond Bar Councilman Steve Tye reported $26,029 cash on hand across three accounts.  Chino Hills Councilman Ray Marquez reported $3,950 cash on hand.  West Covina Councilman Mike Spence did not file an electronic campaign finance report, so we know he had raised less than $25,000.  The sole Democrat in the race, Social Worker Gregg Fritchle, does not have an open account.

Chen’s $41,555 in contributions were all received in the last three days of the reporting period: December 28-December 31.  Tye’s $33,194 in contributions all came in during the last three months of the reporting period, covering October 1-December 31.  Marquez’s $3,950 in contributions came in during the last four weeks of the reporting period: December 5-December 31.

Interestingly, there were no transfers from any of these officeholders’ prior accounts.  Of course, it could be because Chen’s school board account and Tye’s City Council account have negligible balances, as do their 2014 Assembly accounts.  Marquez had closed his City Council account.

Chen and Tye have significant debt from their 2014 Assembly accounts, demonstrating that both are willing to spend their own money in the 2016 race.  In their 2014 Assembly accounts, Chen owes himself $100,399 while Tye owes himself $57,600.

For visual learners:

Candidate 6/30/15
Cash Balance
 Contributions Loans Unpaid
Bills		 Expenditures Cash on Hand
(COH)		 COH Minus
Unpaid Bills		 COH Minus
Unpaid Bills and Loans
Chen for Assembly $0 $41,555 $100,000 $3,350 $0 $141,555 $138,205 $38,205
Chen for School Board $622 $0 $100,399 $0 $0 $622 $622 ($99,777)
Tye for Assembly 2016 $0 $33,195 $1,250 $8,420 $10,404 $24,041 $15,621 $14,371
Tye for Assembly 2014 $1,441 $0 $57,600 $5,624 $377 $1,064 ($4,560) ($62,160)
Tye for City Council $983 $0 $0 $0 $60 $923 $923 $923
Marquez for Assembly $0 $3,950 $0 $0 $0 $3,950 $3,950 $3,950
Notes: Figures may be off by one dollar due to rounding.

 

In fairness to

Posted in 55th Assembly District | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

California Republican Party Adopts County-Centric Endorsement Procedure for Primary Elections

Posted by Chris Nguyen on October 6, 2013

CAGOPThis morning, delegates at the California Republican Party (CRP) Convention in Anaheim voted to adopt the County-centric endorsement procedure for primary elections proposed by Mike Spence and Deborah Wilder, with the adoption of amendments incorporating portions of the Adam Abrahms procedure.  (See the original proposals in OC Political’s Friday report on the convention.)  These endorsement procedures apply to partisan offices (i.e. federal and state offices, but not local offices).

Under the new rules, for races for the U.S. House of Representatives, the State Senate, and the State Assembly, any Republican who is the sole Republican on the ballot is automatically endorsed by the California Republican Party, but if there is more than one Republican on the ballot, the following will apply:

  1. With at least five days’ notice, a meeting will be held with all Republican candidates in the affected race will appear before a County Central Committee, and that County Central Committee will vote to endorse a candidate by a 2/3 vote.
  2. If each County Central Committee that has at least 5% of the registered Republicans who can vote on a race endorses the same candidate, then the State Board of Directors may be a 2/3 vote endorse that candidate on behalf of the California Republican Party.  Any one County Central Committee that has at least 5% of the registered Republicans who can vote on the race may issue a veto by making an explicit 2/3 vote of “No Endorsement” in that race.

At the urging of Board of Equalization Member George Runner, the above procedure was applied to Board of Equalization endorsements except the endorsement votes from County Central Committees representing 95% of registered Republicans in the BOE district (instead of County Central Committee that has at least 5% of the registered Republicans who can vote on that race since in vast BOE districts, there are numerous County Central Committee that do not have at least 5% of the registered Republicans since there are dozens of counties in many BOE seats).

Jon Fleischman’s proposal to adopt a fusion of CRP delegates and County Central Committee members vote on endorsing statewide candidates was tabled.

In other convention news, Tony Krvaric of San Diego was re-elected to a two-year term as Vice Chair for the South Region (Orange, San Diego, and Imperial Counties).  Adam Abrahms of Santa Monica was re-elected as Vice Chair for Los Angeles County, and Adele Harrison of Temecula was re-elected Vice Chair for the Inland Empire (Riverside, San Bernardino, Inyo, and Mono Counties), .

Aaron Ginn of San Francisco defeated Liz Kolstad of Fresno for the Associate Representative position, also a two-year term. This position is unique among Board of Director positions, as only the Associate Delegates can vote for this position.  All other positions are elected by the regular Delegates.  (For those less familiar with the state party structure, Associate Delegates are effectively alternates to the voting members.  While there are specific formulas for the number of Delegates that can exist, there is no limit on the number of Associate Delegates.)

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California Republican Party Convention in Anaheim Begins Today, Continues Through Sunday

Posted by Chris Nguyen on October 4, 2013

CAGOPThe California Republican Party’s Fall 2013 Convention begins in Anaheim at 8:30 AM today at the Hilton and continues through Sunday.

The party will hold elections for two-year terms three of the eight Regional Vice Chair positions (the other five were elected at the Spring convention).  The Vice Chair for the South region (Orange, San Diego, and Imperial Counties), Tony Krvaric of San Diego, was elected in 2011 and is now up for election, as is the Vice Chair for Los Angeles County, Adam Abrahms of Santa Monica, and the Vice Chair for the Inland Empire (Riverside, San Bernardino, Inyo, and Mono Counties), Adele Harrison of Temecula.

The Associate Representative position is also up for election, with Aaron Ginn of San Francisco and Liz Kolstad of Fresno seeking the position. This position is unique among Board of Director positions, as only the Associate Delegates can vote for this position.  All other positions are elected by the regular Delegates.  (For those less familiar with the state party structure, Associate Delegates are effectively alternates to the voting members.  While there are specific formulas for the number of Delegates that can exist, there is no limit on the number of Associate Delegates.)

The headline speaker of the convention will be Saturday’s dinner speaker, Texas Governor Rick Perry.

The more significant headline out of the convention is that earlier this week, Chairman Jim Brulte announced that the CRP’s seven-figure debt had been wiped out.  This is all the more impressive since Brulte, who was elected Chairman earlier this year, began his debt retirement drive just six months ago.

The most controversial item on the convention agenda will be the three competing proposals on how to handle CRP endorsements in a post-Prop 14 world.  A temporary arrangement was made for the 2012 elections, but that procedure expires before the 2014 election, so delegates will be implementing a permanent procedure going forward.

The three proposals are named for their authors:

  • Mike Spence and Deborah Wilder propose that in any primary where there is more than one Republican, the state party will only endorse if 2/3 of the Board of Directors votes to do so after a request is made for the state party endorsement by the Chairman of each affected County Central Committee and only if each affected County Central Committee (by a 2/3 vote) has endorsed the same candidate.  Spence and Wilder also propose that any Republican who is the sole Republican on the ballot is automatically endorsed.  Spence and Wilder’s proposal does permit the CRP Board of Directors (by a 2/3 vote) and each affected County Central Committee (by a 2/3 vote in each County) to adopt an endorsement procedure in a district wherein every Republican registered to vote in the district (including overseas military personnel) can vote on the endorsement.
  • Jon Fleischman proposes that endorsements be made by all voting delegates of the State Party and all County Central Committee members present at the state party convention in the Spring before the primary will vote to endorse a candidate, provided that “60% + 1” of those present and voting vote to endorse that candidate.  There will be no more than three rounds of balloting, and the candidate with the lowest number of votes will be dropped from the first round and again from the second round.  Should no candidate achieve “60% + 1” in the third round, there is no endorsement.  Unlike all other state delegate votes, there will be no proxy voting allowed (similarly, proxy voting is moot in the Spence/Wilder and Abrahms proposals since County Central Committees do not have proxy voting nor does the State Board of Directors).
  • Adam Abrahms proposes that in any primary where there is more than one Republican, the state party will only endorse if 2/3 of the Board of Directors votes to do so, provided that the Board of Directors may not endorse any candidate whose opponent has been endorsed by at least one affected County Central Committee.  He also proposes that a majority of any affected County Central Committee may vote to preemptively veto a state party endorsement, no later than five days before a state party endorsement meeting.  Abrahms also proposes that any Republican who is the sole Republican on the ballot is automatically endorsed.  He also defines an affected County Central Committee is one where at least 5% of the precincts in the district are in that county.

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California Republican Party Endorses Positions on November Ballot Measures

Posted by Chris Nguyen on August 12, 2012

Just moments ago, the California Republican Party approved the following endorsements of the measures on the November ballot.

  • No on 30 – Temporary Taxes to Fund Education. Guaranteed Local Public Safety Funding. (Governor Jerry Brown Tax Increase)
  • Yes on 31 – State Budget. State and Local Government. (Pay as you go)
  • Yes on 32 – Political Contributions by Payroll Deduction. Contributions to Candidates. (Stop Special Interest Money)
  • Yes on 33 – Auto Insurance Companies. Prices Based on Driver’s History of Insurance Coverage.
  • No on 34 – Elimination of Death Penalty.
  • Yes on 35 – Human Trafficking. Penalties
  • No on 36 – Three Strikes Law. Repeat Felony Offenders. Penalties.
  • No on 37 – Genetically Engineered Foods. Labeling.
  • No on 38 – Tax to Fund Education and Early Childhood Programs. (Molly Munger Tax Increase)
  • No on 39 – Tax Treatment for Multistate Businesses. Clean Energy Corporate Subsidies. (Tom Steyer Tax Measure)
  • Yes on 40 – Redistricting State Senate Districts.

The party had previously taken the positions above for Props 30, 32, 33, and 38. The other seven measures are new endorsements.

On Prop 31, Tom Hudson spoke in opposition to the measure, expressing concern that the measure would never permit a tax cut ever again. Jon Fleischman spoke in favor of Prop 31, expressing support for its requirement that budget bills must be in print for 72 hours before any votes can occur (making it more difficult to pass last-minute tax increases). Fleischman also noted the top opponents to Prop 31 were labor unions, like SEIU and AFSCME. The party delegates voted in favor of Prop 31.

On Prop 40, Initiatives Committee Chairman Mike Spence stated a parliamentary ruling determined that while the party had previously voted to support the petition circulation to qualify Prop 40 for the ballot, the party had not voted on the measure itself.

Tom Hudson spoke urging the delegates to endorse a position of “No on Prop 40” (i.e. support the referendum, reinforcing the position on the circulation), saying voters should overturn the lines because the Supreme Court had previously drawn excellent lines the last two times they did it in the 1970s and 1990s.

Senator Mimi Walters, who obtained and provided the bulk of the funding to qualify Prop 40 for the ballot, spoke urging the delegates to endorse a position of “Yes on Prop 40” (i.e. oppose the referendum, leaving the lines in place), saying voters should not overturn the lines because the Senate seats up in 2014 are more favorable to Republicans, enabling the GOP to pick up two Senate seats in 2014. She stated she had qualified the referendum in hopes that the courts would stay the lines in the 2012 election pending the outcome of the referendum. The courts refused. She indicated the lines made it so that the Senate seats up in 2012 are more favorable to Democrats, allowing them to pick up 2-3 seats.

The party delegates voted with the position proposed by Walters, voting in favor of Prop 40 (i.e. leaving the lines in place by opposing the referendum).

The positions on all the other ballot measures passed without discussion.

Posted in California, Republican Central Committee | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

 
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