Governor endorses Campbell

Alicia Robinson

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has shown his support for a local

legislator for the second time in less than a week, endorsing 70th

District Assemblyman John Campbell in the three-way Republican race

for the 35th District state Senate seat now held by Ross Johnson.

On Friday, the governor appeared at a Newport Beach fundraiser for

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher that raised about $300,000 for Rohrabacher’s

reelection campaign. The congressman said it was the only fundraiser

the governor has attended for the March 2 primary.

Campbell announced the Schwarzenegger endorsement on Wednesday.

It’s the governor’s first endorsement in a legislative race this

year, Campbell said. He expects it to help his campaign, but said he

won’t ask Schwarzenegger to help him raise money.

“I think his endorsement alone will help with fundraising,”

Campbell said. “Just the fact that he’s endorsed me, it will be clear

to people that I’m his choice.”

The prestigious endorsement wasn’t worrisome to 68th District

Assemblyman Ken Maddox, one of Campbell’s opponents in the primary.

“It matters very little,” Maddox said.

The announcement didn’t come as a surprise, he added.

“I totally expected it because I refused to support the governor’s

budget deficit bond proposal, and John did [support it].”

Maddox said he didn’t back Proposition 57 -- a $15-billion bond

measure on the March ballot -- because he thinks state officials

should make cuts before they resort to borrowing money.

Communications director leaves Cox’s office

After about a year as Rep. Chris Cox’s communications director in

Washington, D.C., Kate Whitman has moved on, a Cox staffer said

earlier this week.

Whitman, who has worked in the White House under George W. Bush

and the Department of Labor, reportedly left Cox’s office last week

to start her own events-planning company in New Jersey, where her

mother, Christine Todd Whitman, was once governor.

Cox’s office is still looking for a replacement for Whitman, the

staffer said.

GOP voters outnumber Democrats, party says

The Orange County Republican Party announced this week that

registered GOP voters in the county outnumber Democrats by nearly a

quarter of a million voters.

According to a press release from the local Republican party, the

county has 668,767 registered GOP voters, which exceeds Democrats’

numbers by more than 245,000 voters.

The Orange County Registrar of Voters, meanwhile, reported 668,729

Republicans, 422,941 Democrats and 1,372,612 total voters registered

as of Jan. 30. Based on those numbers, Republicans represent 48% of

registered voters in the county and Democrats represent 30% of Orange

County voters.

The GOP announcement noted its margin in the county is the

greatest anywhere in the state.

Assembly candidates go on the offensive

The fax machine was this week’s political battleground for

Republican 70th District Assembly candidates Cristi Cristich and

Chuck DeVore, who sent statements attacking each other for their

stances on President Bush’s proposed guest worker program for illegal

immigrants.

A press release dated Monday from DeVore berated Cristich for a

campaign mailer in which he said she attacked Bush to distance

herself from her past support of amnesty for illegal immigrants.

The same day, Cristich’s campaign fired back with a statement that

said DeVore was “defending the proposed federal amnesty program,

which rewards lawbreakers.”

Sen. McClintock endorses DeVore

Candidates continue to push for endorsements, hoping to boost

their campaigns in the final weeks before the March 2 election.

The latest announcements include an endorsement from Sen. Tom

McClintock of 70th District Assembly Republican candidate Chuck

DeVore and an endorsement for the Young Republicans Federated for

California of Don Wagner, who also is vying for the 70th District

seat.