Category Archive

Although the official announcement won’t take place until later this week, SD Rostra confirmed today that former Assemblyman and 2012 San Diego mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher is returning to the Republican Party. Fletcher caused a stir by leaving the GOP and registering non-partisan during last year’s mayoral contest, after failing to win the party’s endorsement in the race. Many political …

Sam Adams was the blogger of his day. The King of England didn’t understand him either. Read it and (fill in the blank)… http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/government/article_811f11a8-7d12-11e2-b71e-001a4bcf887a.html Here too is the Matt Hall’s Storify compilation of the reaction… http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/feb/22/jan-caldwell-fuzzy-slippers-media-credentials/

Many in political and government circles in San Diego and throughout California knew Jim Schmidt as a tireless community advocate.  He was also one of the nicest gentlemen you could ever hope to meet, even while pointedly telling you the way things should be — or how much more efficient government was when Ronald Reagan was Governor. In case you …

I’ve laughed in the past at those so willing to defend the late Michael Jackson based solely in their seemingly blind belief that he was too talented to have any “issues” … or at least any poor judgment. They would put him on a pedestal, perhaps not wanting the worst to be true. It’s clear that I, admittedly, have done …

Pop Quiz:  What candidate received the most votes ever in a single City of San Diego election? Poli-hacks will no doubt mull that one based on a myriad of details, such as growth over time in population (and thus voters), turnout, popularity of the candidate, and whether it was during a primary with multiple candidates or, say, a two-candidate runoff …

Finally, the results have been tallied up in our General Election Contest (here are the questions) … and we have some winners! I know you’ve been waiting breathlessly, now six weeks after election day.  My only excuse is that I knew we’d have a tie-breaker.  With many entrants guessing to a hundredth of a percent on the difference in the …

It’s that time again, peeps! Show us your political prognosticating prowess. The contest all the poli-hacks have been awaiting. At least that’s what some tell me, even if they don’t admit it to anyone else. As a reminder, Christine Moore won the primary contest, in the most competitive finish yet. She hasn’t yet collected on the meal, but we haven’t …

A short response to the little Rostra debate over Tony Krvaric’s reaction to the recent Tom Shepard news… Commenter ‘D. Morton’ says, “Only through a combination of naivete and delusions of grandeur could someone actually believe that it is both possible and the ‘JOB’ of 60+ people in a hotel banquet room in Rancho Bernardo to define a Republican.” To change the …

In the last several hours, I’ve seen just as many web “accusations” that the movie theatre shooter is a Tea Partier as I’ve seen “claims” he is part of the Occupy movement. On Twitter, I referred to those pushing such irrelevance as idiots. Although my now relative calmness may not change the reality of that description, I’ll attempt a bit …

The results have been tallied for our little Election Contest (see the questions here), with about 45 participants.  I’m pleased to say it was the most competitive contest yet.  Maybe the questions were too easy. I’ll remember that next time.  But, we do have some winners. First, some stats — since the type of ner … uhhh, I mean wonks …

Tuesday, June 19 — After yesterday’s update from the Registrar… SCOTT SHERMAN 15542 50.16% MAT KOSTRINSKY 12447 40.17% RIK HAUPTFELD 1791 5.78% NATHAN E. JOHNSON 1207 3.90%   As of yesterday morning, 112 ballots were left to count. The race was over a week ago, per the below, but this confirms the current numbers. Tuesday, June 12 — after 5 …

(Originally posted a couple of weeks ago.) It’s that time. Make your picks. Pick your seats. Will your picks be seated? The rules: Read the questions closely.  No tricks, just read the durn questions. Send guesses to info@sdrostra.com ONLY.  The Rostra peeps are assisting on this, so don’t send to my email.  Do NOT post your answers here (you know …

A “Memorable” Weekend for Some Candidates by Barry Jantz While readying its public system in advance of primary election night, the San Diego County Registrar of Voters released test election “results” on its website this weekend for every race in San Diego County, although in actuality no such real data can be released until the polls close at 8:00 p.m. …

Tony Krvaric, Bob Filner and T.J. Zane enjoying the Taxpayers Association dinner. Note Congressman Filner’s campaign button.

Jarl Turner of Turner Consulting provided a heads up that County Supervisorial candidate Carl Hilliard recently donated $100,000 of personal funds to his campaign coffers, thus triggering the ability for his competitors to exceed the usual maximum limit of $500 from individual donors. The Registrar of Voters office confirms the information, indicating a $100,000 donation from Hilliard to his campaign …

If the mayoral candidates were cars, what kinds would they be and why? For the background on a similar question, read this article by Chris Cillizza in The Washington Post’s “The Fix”… If President Obama was a car, what kind of car would he be? “If President Obama was a a car, what kind of car would he be and …

Following news reports over the weekend of an FBI search of her home and former business, Jillian Hanson-Cox has resigned effective immediately from her position as an El Cajon City Councilmember, it was just confirmed to me. Not knowing the details of the reason for the investigation, I can still personally say I am saddened by this news.  I know …

Former Assemblyman George Plescia (R) today took out papers to seek the 39th Senate District seat, setting up what could be a classic matchup against Assemblyman Marty Block (D).  I have a call into Plescia for a comment. Here is some prior Rostra coverage of the seat and its registration numbers by Jim Sills.

Some key points on the question of whether elected officials are in violation of any laws when supporting campaign related issues… Let’s start with a “given.”  In no circumstance can or should public resources be used for political campaign activity. That goes for both elected officials and their staff members while they are engaged on the public dime.  Let’s hope …