A conservative Latino’s view on politics.
The battle in the governor’s race, between John Cox and Travis Allen to represent the Republican Party and be one of the top-two in the “jungle primary,” is dividing us. Allen voters embellish Cox’s flaws, while purposely ignoring Allen’s and are creating an irreparable wedge if one of them advances. Allen’s rhetoric is also casting conservatives in a negative light.
When this campaign began, I had no idea who I would vote for. After criticizing Cox, he reached out to me, so I had briefly spoken to him before meeting him and I met both in person, at a conservative convention in the summer of 2017.
Allen, as usual, was late to the event but more impressive and I liked what I heard but something kept nagging at me. It was like listening to a used car salesman. In speaking with him, I eventually asked him about California’s own “George Soros,” a man called Charles Munger Jr. and I didn’t like what I heard. He told me he’s taken Munger dollars and would do so again.
This and other issues – sexual harassment, President Trump’s endorsement, CAGOP convention behavior, his supporters, etc., slowly began to show me who Travis Allen is. An opportunist who’s willing to say and do anything, to advance to the November ballot.
DeMaio’s Gas Tax Repeal, not Travis Allen’s – heading to the ballot
When the gas tax bill passed, former San Diego City Councilman, local radio host and organizer of the Gas Tax Repeal Initiative, Carl DeMaio sprang into action. What most don’t realize – especially Allen’s supporters – is DeMaio’s game plan. DeMaio strategically gathered support from the Republican Party, state Senate Republicans, donors and support of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. This was a massive statewide undertaking, needing millions of dollars – well thought out and successful.
- Phase one: get District 29 Senator Josh Newman on the ballot for recall.
- Phase two: get the gas tax repeal initiative on the November (not June) ballot.
DeMaio and company spoke to the Allen camp and Allen decided to do his own initiative without the support or funding to succeed. He knew his repeal effort would fail but his goal was to grab headlines and endear himself to “Trump conservatives.” There was no real effort to gather signatures and even worse; Allen’s been creating the perception – when he can – DeMaio’s successful gas tax repeal effort is his.
This angers me. I put together a gas tax repeal signature gathering event in Valley Center to support DeMaio. It turned out, Allen was taking away from it by denigrating DeMaio’s repeal effort to hype his own, while campaigning for governor.
All we’re hearing out of Allen is “pajama boy” crying on the courts ruining it for him – a convenient excuse. His supporters scream and demand to know why DeMaio or Cox didn’t jump on board with Allen’s repeal, but I can answer that. Why go with a loser plan? Since then, all Allen does is scream, his repeal was first – a repeal that failed.
Meanwhile, DeMaio’s repeal effort’s surpassed everyone’s expectations, including Governor Jerry Brown, who condemns it. That makes Allen’s jumbled, babbling statement to the San Diego Union-Tribune (SDUT) a perplexing lie. Allen told the SDUT editorial board, “DeMaio is entirely irrelevant and yet again is… not only is DeMaio irrelevant…”
It’s DeMaio’s repeal that turned in nearly 1 million signatures, not Allen’s. In fact, Allen didn’t submit one signature by his January deadline. It’s DeMaio’s initiative that’s heading to the November ballot, not Allen’s but it’s DeMaio who’s “irrelevant?”
Allen’s also portraying Cox as “jumping on the bandwagon,” but Cox has been a key player on DeMaio’s team for months. His donation helped pay for everything from signs, to lawyers, to commercials and it’s still not enough for the battle ahead. That’s where Allen’s unforgivable thievery comes in.
Fair Political Practices Commission (FFPC) investigating Travis Allen
“My intent was really the gas tax, because I don’t think that it is generally good for the state. It’s not probusiness at all. It’s not even pro poor people.” ~ Ken Casey, the $300K donor to Allen’s failed gas tax repeal on Allen using his donation for his gubernatorial campaign.
Allen’s now under investigation with the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). Intermingling money like this is illegal and this complaint has teeth, but don’t expect any action during the election cycle. Once it’s over, the FPPC will move forward. Travis Allen did this because he’s broke and didn’t get the Republican Party endorsement.
The other portion of the complaint deals with switching his Assembly social media and website accounts to his gubernatorial candidate accounts. Because Assembly accounts may use tax dollars, it creates legal issues with candidate accounts. Allen conveniently claims a simple mistake, but can we afford to vote for someone who never takes responsibility? Travis Allen reminds us of Barrack Hussein Obama – refusing to be held accountable.
This article originally appeared in the Valley Roadrunner, May 25 (print), 2017.