Yesterday I received fundraising emails from both Abel Maldonado and Tim Donnelly both seeking funds for their gubernatorial campaigns. I didn’t receive an email from Governor Jerry Brown for his re-election campaign … but I have received gubernatorial fundraising emails from him in the past, so it’s just a matter of time.
Maldonado’s pitch asked donors “to support a Californian who will defend your basic right.” Maldonado, of course, is that referenced Californian. The email was complaining about the governor signing a bill “that will allow him to meet in closed-door sessions with city or county elected officials.”
Donnelly’s pitch was straight forward: California needs a change in leadership. “To return California to greatness, we need new leadership willing to take our state in a dramatically new direction. The old ways are broken. The politics of the past have failed to solve today’s problems. As for me, I refuse to stand on the sidelines in the hope that somebody else will rise to answer the call of duty.”
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Congressman John Campbell (R-Irvine) surprised a lot of people yesterday when he announced he would not seek re-election in 2014. Had the Romney-Ryan ticket won last November it probably would have been a different story. Campbell was in line to Chair the House Budget Committee if Ryan moved on to the vice-presidency. The post would have been a good fit for Campbell, who has focused his career in Congress (and in the California legislature as well) on fiscal and budget issues.
Last year, Campbell taught a class at Pepperdine University the same time I conducted my class and we combined the two classes on occasion. I hope to see him around this fall, as well.
In the meantime, a mad scramble for the seat he occupies in Orange County is in the offing with his departure. Jon Fleischman has more on that in Flashreport.