Endorsements by the pair

Alicia Robinson

It looks like two of the six Republican candidates for the heavily

contended 70th Assembly District seat are going to have to share --

an endorsement, that is. Don Wagner announced last week he has

garnered an endorsement from University of California Regent Ward

Connerly, who already has endorsed Wagner opponent Marianne Zippi.

Balboa Peninsula resident Zippi announced her Connerly endorsement

in October. Reached this week, she said, “I had no idea that Ward was

endorsing more than one [candidate].”

As the main proponent of Proposition 54, Connerly was in the news

more often when Zippi’s endorsement was announced, she said. With

Proposition 54 a dead issue, she said, “I think it’s probably not

going to help Wagner all that much now.”

But Zippi is touting her newest endorsements, most notably from

1950s and 1960s entertainer Pat Boone, who has become the spokesman

for the 60 Plus Assn., a senior citizens’ advocacy group.

Also this week, Zippi announced that she is endorsed by the Los

Angeles Police Protective League and Santa Ana Police Chief Paul

Walters.

Zippi and Wagner are running against Cristi Cristich, Chuck

DeVore, Chonchol D. Gupta and Long K. Pham in the March 2 Republican

primary. All are hoping to replace Assemblyman John Campbell, who is

seeking the 35th District Senate seat.

New Majority makes its picks

Cristich and 68th Assembly District candidate Van Tran, also a

Republican, have received endorsements from the New Majority, a group

of moderate Republicans trying to shift party politics toward fiscal

issues and away from “litmus test” issues such as abortion and school

prayer.

Chris St. Hillaire, a political consultant who works with the New

Majority, said both Cristich and Tran represent opportunities to

broaden the base of the Republican party.

Can San Francisco help in Newport-Mesa?

Green Party candidates will get a boost from the near-success of

San Francisco mayoral candidate and Board of Supervisors President

Matt Gonzalez, said Tom Lash, a Green candidate for the 46th

Congressional District seat now held by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher.

A statement sent by Lash last week said other Green office seekers

will benefit from the high-profile race between Gonzalez, a Green

candidate, and Supervisor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who won with 52%

of the vote.

“People, including many Democrats, are waking up to the Green

Party message that it is the progressive party of peace and real

change for this country,” Lash said in the statement.

Unfortunately for Lash, there will be slim pickings in Orange

County, where there are more than 1.3 million registered voters, but

only 8,017 are Green Party members. Even gaining votes from the

county’s 420,000 or so Democrats wouldn’t put Greens ahead of

Republicans, who boast more than 666,000 registered voters here.