Settling in to Sacramento

Alex Coolman

For John Campbell, the hard part is just beginning.

The 45-year-old Republican auto dealer who recently captured the 70th

Assembly District seat didn’t have much trouble getting elected; his

platform of lowering taxes, protecting the environment and encouraging

high-tech business was an easy sell with his conservative constituents.

But bringing those same positions to a Democrat-dominated Capitol, he

knows, means he’s asking for trouble.

Republicans “don’t have a lot of real power” in Sacramento, he said in

a telephone interview. “If [Democrats] get too crazy, then there’s some

things we can do,” such as pushing for referendums. “Other than that, all

we can do is talk with them and negotiate with them.”

Some of the issues that probably made Campbell most attractive as a

candidate -- such as his emphasis on income tax reform -- stand, by his

own admission, an extremely slim chance of seeing the light of day in the

Assembly.

Campbell has argued that the state’s income tax system is cumbersome,

and he ran for office on the position that a radically simpler and less

bureaucratic approach on taxation should be adopted.

But does he think that position will be difficult to sell at the

Capitol?

“It certainly will,” he said.

On at least some of his core positions, Campbell said, he thinks he’ll

be able to reach consensus. He wants to emphasize environmental

protection, for example, and thinks Democrats do too.

His support for keeping technology firms free from bureaucratic

restrictions also may be greeted well from the left, he said.

“The high-tech industries have not aligned themselves with one party

or another,” so legislation relating to the businesses may not be as

partisan as debates over issues such as education or labor tend to be, he

added.

The trick, Campbell said, will be to get something done without

watering down his conservative convictions too much. On tax reform, for

example, he worries that all the changes Democrats may be willing to pass

are “mild reforms that make the process simpler but that don’t save

anybody any money.”

In some cases, he thinks it’s probably better to lose with ideals

intact than to muddle toward a more wishy-washy outcome.

“You will see me put up some bills that I know will not even get

through committee,” he said. “I think part of our duty as the minority is

to put up things knowing that they’ll get shot out of the sky, and to use

that to explain what we would do if we were in charge.”

For now, these challenges remain distant. Campbell is spending his

days not worrying about bills but about getting furniture for his new

digs in Sacramento.

“I bought a house,” Campbell said. “In fact, I’m standing there now.

“Relative to Orange County, and especially to the Newport Beach and

Irvine area, stuff up here is really cheap.”