Trump endorses Cox in California governor's race

Trump endorses Cox in California governor's race

https://media.ktvu.com/media.ktvu.co....0_640_360.jpg
POSTED: MAY 18 2018 08:56PM PDT



By JONATHAN J. COOPER
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- President Donald Trump backed San Diego businessman John Cox for California governor on Friday in an announcement that could provide a boost for Republicans hoping to have a candidate survive next month's primary.

"California finally deserves a great Governor, one who understands borders, crime and lowering taxes," Trump wrote on Twitter. "John Cox is the man - he'll be the best Governor you've ever had. I fully endorse John Cox for Governor and look forward to working with him to Make California Great Again!"

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...00m_normal.jpgDonald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump


California finally deserves a great Governor, one who understands borders, crime and lowering taxes. John Cox is the man - he’ll be the best Governor you’ve ever had. I fully endorse John Cox for Governor and look forward to working with him to Make California Great Again!

3:00 PM - May 18, 2018

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Cox is vying with Assemblyman Travis Allen, a conservative firebrand, to consolidate Republican support ahead of the June 5 primary to secure one of two slots in the November general election. Under California law all candidates will appear on the same ballot next month, and the top two finishers will advance to November regardless of party.

Cox is backed by much of California's GOP establishment, including U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, who is close with Trump.

"I am honored and deeply grateful to my President and I am looking forward to working with him to make California great again," Cox said in a statement. "Like the President, I'm businessman who knows how to get things done."

Trump's decision is a blow to Allen, a Huntington Beach Republican who has been aggressively courting Trump supporters and often points out that he's the only candidate for governor who voted for the president. Cox voted for Libertarian Gary Johnson -- a decision he now says he regrets.

Following the announcement, he declared on Twitter that Californian's deserve a governor who actually voted for Trump.

If conservative voters split between Cox and Allen two Democrats could advance to November -- an outcome Republicans fear would hurt them in down-ballot races for Congress and the Legislature, potentially compromising GOP control of the House.

The Trump endorsement distinguishes Cox in the battle for GOP voters in the primary but may be more of a liability if he makes it to the general election. Polls show Trump remains well-liked by Republican voters but is deeply unpopular with a majority of Californians.

Still, California is an overwhelmingly Democratic state and Republicans are a longshot in statewide races.

"This is the best news he could've gotten for his ambitions in June," said Thad Kousser, chair of the political science department at University of California, San Diego. "It's an endorsement that may doom him in November, but he's probably already doomed."

http://www.ktvu.com/news/trump-endor...vernors-race-1

CA. Candidates for Governor June 5, 2018 Primary

Another bad choice by Trump (IMO). What is he thinking? Why does he endorse and favor so many people that weren't there for him when he needed them, but spit in the eye of those that were?

California’s Travis Allen: GOP’s Winning Issue Is Immigration

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http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...or-640x480.jpg1 May 2018793California assemblyman and Republican gubernatorial candidate Travis Allen cast illegal immigration in the Golden State as the highest priority issue among Californians during a Monday interview with SiriusXM hosts Rebecca Mansour and Joel Pollak on Breitbart News Tonight.

Allen prioritized the fight against “sanctuary” policies across the state. “I’ve always been against this illegal sanctuary state from the very beginning,” he said. “Last year in the legislature, I put forth legislation — AB 1252 — to defund every sanctuary jurisdiction in California, and of course the Democrats killed that, so in January of this year I was on Tucker Carlson, and I hoped the White House might be watching Fox News, so I called out on national news for Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions to get out to California and to sue California, and this is exactly what they did just last month.”

Allen continued, “But the fight didn’t stop there. One of my local cities — I represent 13 cities in the legislature for Orange County — and one of my local cities, a tiny town, Los Alamitos, just 12,000 people, decided they had enough and they opted out of the legal sanctuary state, and this was really the match that lit the fire, so I began gathering signatures, first on my Facebook page and my website … and urging everyone across California to have their local cities also opt out, and this grew to their sheriffs opting out and their counties opting out.”
Allen said “sanctuary” laws are a “flagrant violation of our constitutional rights, and it’s actually putting us in danger.”

Pollak invited Allen to contrast Californians’ view of two political issues. “You’re involved in the forefront of both of these fights,” he said. “Can you tell us which has been more powerful in terms of mobilizing voters. What are voters more concerned about, the 12-cent per gallon tax on gasoline or the sanctuary state laws?”

Allen replied, “I really think the intensity is on the sanctuary state, because just understand that this is a flagrant violation of our constitutional rights, and it’s actually putting us in danger.”

Allen spoke against a 12-cent per gallon state-wide gasoline tax increase implemented in 2017. “The gas tax affects every single Californian, and the real problem with the gas is not just that that money doesn’t go to the roads and not just that Jerry Brown lied when he said there’s no new taxes without voter approval, it’s that it hits the poorest and hardest working Californians the very most,” he said. ‘The single mom that’s go to drive 30 minutes to and from work to pick up her kids from daycare and just to put food on the table. This is who it hurts the very most.”

Allen cast illegal immigration and “sanctuary” laws as top priority crises in California. “Californians for decades now have been very upset about illegal immigration, and we have every right to be,” he said. “We are on the border and there’s been a lot of illegal immigration ever since they got rid of the Bracero Program, decades ago. Now we have this illegal sanctuary state where we’re not just talking about illegal immigration. We’re not just talking about someone’s grandmother sitting on a couch. We’re talking about someone who’s come to our state illegally, is now committing crimes while they are here and now Jerry Brown and the California Democrats want to shelter them with our taxpayer dollars. You need to look no further than the Kate Steinle case … where Kate’s only crime was walking down the pier with her father in San Francisco. She was shot in the back by a guy who had been deported five times and was a seven-time felon, and the only reason he was out and walking around these streets was because of sanctuary city policies put in place by Gavin Newsom and the California Democrats.”

Allen added, “One Kate Steinle is one too many, and we’re just seeing it more and more now with the actions of Xavier Becerra who’s threatening to prosecute California businesses who comply with federal immigration authorities and Libby Schaaf who is openly aiding and abetting people who are here illegally that are committing crimes”

A poll published April 26 by the University of California Institute of Governmental Studies shows Allen behind Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) but ahead of former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in the race for California’s governorship. The poll shows Allen and his GOP opponent garnering support from 16% and 18% of likely voters, respectively.

With Villaraigosa’s support falling, Allen said California’s gubernatorial race has “turned into Gavin Newsom versus whoever the top Republican is going to be.”

Allen cast California’s illegal immigration crisis as a function of decades of Democrats’ political dominance of the state. “The California Democrats have run the state for 39 of the last 40 years where they’ve controlled both houses of the state legislature,” he said. “Jerry Brown and his father have controlled the governor’s seat for essentially 24 years of the last half century. California used to have the best schools, the best roads, the best water system, now we have among the worst schools in the nation, the second-worst roads in the nation with the worst traffic, a water system that bursts every time it seems to rain, and then you look at cities like San Francisco with 22,000 intravenous drug users. They’re opening up legalized heroin injection centers. They’ve got massive human waste so you have to know which streets you can walk on and which streets you’ve got to avoid, and kids are literally having to step over hypodermic needles on their way to elementary school.”

Allen continued, “Violent crime has risen 15.4% in the last 3 years, higher poverty rates and exploding homelessness. We now have the nation’s highest unsheltered homeless population, and people know there is something rotten in California, and it is coming out of the liberal Bay Area of San Francisco, which has been running the state now for decades. This is Jerry Brown, Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, every single one of them are coming out of San Francisco, and California is starting to look at San Francisco and say, ‘Wait a second, we don’t want California to look like Detroit. We don’t want California to look like the streets of San Francisco.’ It is time to change this, and that’s why we’re seeing such a massive push now across the state of this silent supermajority of Californians that will be silent no longer.”

Allen described his political campaign strategy as promoting “massive voter engagement” by “getting in front of as many people in California” as possible.

Allen’s five-point plan includes a voter-ID proposal to “get rid of all this voter fraud which we know is happening.”

Allen reflected on what he described as California’s decline under decades of Democrat “mismanagement.” He said, “Take back California and you’re going to make California, once again, the greatest state in the nation. Every Californian knows that it’s possible. It’s just that Republicans for decades now have not had a real leader, someone who can truly inspire Californians…. There’s one person in this race who has the ability to stand on that stage and take down Gavin Newsom and the California Democrats.”

Unlike his primary Republican competitor, Allen supported Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and continues to support the Trump administration. “I am someone that supported the president,” he said. “I’m the only person in the entire race that actually supported, voted for, and even wrote op-eds in favor of Donald Trump. The other Republican in the race voted for Gary Johnson, who was a Never Trumper in 2016. Gary Johnson thinks that open borders and legalized drugs and legalized prostitution are all great ideas. There really is only one person in the race that represents true conservative values — somebody like Ronald Reagan, not somebody Arnold Schwarzenegger — but this is what it takes, it takes inspiring Californians.”

http://www.breitbart.com/radio/2018/...s-immigration/

Newsom and Republican endorsed by Trump headed to runoff for California governor

These billionaires are setting a new spending record for a California governor's race

BY ANGELA HART
ahart@sacbee.com
May 25, 2018 12:13 PM
Updated 11 minutes ago

An outside campaign trying to catapult Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa into second place in the California governor's race has spent more money than any other independent committee supporting a gubernatorial candidate in the past two decades, according to a new analysis by MapLight, a nonprofit tracks money in politics.

The campaign is backed by billionaire charter schools supporters, including Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who have raised $17.5 million to support Villaraigosa, the former Los Angeles mayor.
Villaraigosa is trailing Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the clear frontrunner, in both fundraising and polls, and he's behind Republican John Cox in the tight race for second place.

Less than two weeks remain before voters decide who the top two vote-getters will be to advance to the November general election.

The pro-charter schools committee, called Families & Teachers for Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor 2018, has spent roughly $14.5 million, including on television advertisements and mailers, to support Villaraigosa, and another $1.1 million opposing Cox, the leading Republican in the race. Some of the advertisements have been misleading.

It's the most any independent committee, forbidden from coordinating with candidates, has spent in a California governor's race since online data became available in 2001, MapLight found. It is likely the largest amount of money spent in California history by an outside group on a candidate for governor, said Garry South, a Democratic strategist.

"I think this is definitely a record," South said. "The real question is whether it came too late. To maximize the practical value of this kind of money, it should have started two or three months ago."

Historically, only two other independent expenditure committees have come close to spending what charter schools advocates have spent on Villaraigosa.

Sacramento real estate developer Angelo Tsakopoulos in 2006 spent nearly $10 million on an outside campaign supporting former state Treasurer Phil Angelides in his unsuccessful bid for governor.

In 2010, an independent committee backed by the Service Employees International Union spent more than $8 million supporting Gov. Jerry Brown when he was running against billionaire businesswoman Meg Whitman, according to the MapLight analysis.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-...211923934.html

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MW

[SIZE=3]Another bad choice by Trump (IMO). What is he thinking? Why does he endorse and favor so many people that weren't there for him when he needed them, but spit in the eye of those that were?

---

It's a little complicated because of the way California does state races. But as I understand it, they don't think Allen can beat 2 Democrats to get on the November ballot, whereas Cox has a shot. If Cox pulls it off and gets on the ballot, that protects existing House Republican seats with good Republican turn-out. And who knows, he might win the election. There's also the claim by Cox that Allen refused to join Republicans in the California House to oppose drivers licenses for illegal aliens in California and on a floor vote voted for issuing drivers licenses to illegal aliens. Cox is running ads against Allen on that right now. There's also the gas tax repeal initiative that will be on the ballot in November and John Cox is leading that fight, he's Chairman of the Committee that's getting the signatures to get the gas tax repeal on the ballot in November and if that succeeds and it may have already gotten enough signatures to get the gas tax increase repeal on the ballot which will also increase voter turnout which will help all Republicans on the ballot including Cox.

It will be interesting to see what happens. I hope Cox does well, that's not taking anything away from Allen. Sometimes you have two good people in a race, and it boils down to who for whatever reason you think has the best chance to win.

CA. Candidates for Governor June 5, 2018 Primary

Gubernatorial Primary Election
June 5, 2018

Candidates

See also: Statistics on gubernatorial candidates, 2018

Primary candidates

https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/d/d4/Electiondot.png Akinyemi Agbede[1]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/d/d4/Electiondot.png Juan Bribiesca[2]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/d/d4/Electiondot.png Thomas Jefferson Cares[3]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/d/d4/Electiondot.png John Chiang - State Treasurer[4]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/d/d4/Electiondot.png Delaine Eastin - Former state Superintendent of Public Instruction[4]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/d/d4/Electiondot.png Robert Davidson Griffis[3]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/d/d4/Electiondot.png Albert Caesar Mezzetti[3]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/d/d4/Electiondot.png Gavin Newsom - Lieutenant Governor[4]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/d/d4/Electiondot.png Amanda Renteria[5]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/d/d4/Electiondot.png Michael Shellenberger[6]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/d/d4/Electiondot.png Klement Tinaj[7]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/d/d4/Electiondot.png Antonio Villaraigosa - Former Mayor of Los Angeles[4]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/f/fd/Ends.png Travis Allen - State Assemblyman[8]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/f/fd/Ends.png John Cox[9]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/f/fd/Ends.png Yvonne Girard[1]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/f/fd/Ends.png Peter Yuan Liu[10]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/f/fd/Ends.png Robert Newman[1]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/9..._Party_dot.pngChristopher Carlson[1]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/9..._Party_dot.pngJosh Jones[11]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/f...ialsession.png Zoltan Istvan[12]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/f...ialsession.png Nickolas Wildstar[13]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/5/50/Pink.png Gloria La Riva (Peace and Freedom Party)[14]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/a/a7/Grey.png Shubham Goel (No Party Preference)[15]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/a/a7/Grey.png Hakan "Hawk" Mikado (No Party Preference)[3]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/a/a7/Grey.png Desmond Silveira (No Party Preference)[3][16]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/a/a7/Grey.png Jeffrey Edward Taylor (No Party Preference)[3]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/a/a7/Grey.png Johnny Wattenburg (No Party Preference)[17]

Undeclared write-in
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/a/a7/Grey.png Peter Crawford-Valentino[18]Withdrew from race
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/d/d4/Electiondot.png David Asem[3][19]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/d/d4/Electiondot.png Michael Bracamontes[20]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/d/d4/Electiondot.png Ted Crisell[1][3]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/d/d4/Electiondot.png Harmesh Kumar[3][21]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/f/fd/Ends.png Daniel Amare[1][3]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/f/fd/Ends.png Stasyi Barth[3][22]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/f/fd/Ends.png Brian Domingo[3][23]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/f/fd/Ends.png David Hadley - Former state Assemblyman[24]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/f/fd/Ends.png Robert Kleinberger[3][25]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/f/fd/Ends.png George Konik[3][26]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/f/fd/Ends.png John Leslie-Brown[1][3]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/f/fd/Ends.png Jacob Morris[1][3]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/f/fd/Ends.png Doug Ose[27][28]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/f/fd/Ends.png Laura Smith[1][3]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/9..._Party_dot.pngVeronika Fimbres[29][30]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/a/a7/Grey.png Michael Bilger[3][31]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/a/a7/Grey.png Andy Blanch[3][32]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/a/a7/Grey.png David Bush[1][3]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/a/a7/Grey.png Grant Handzlik[3][33]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/a/a7/Grey.png Analila Joya[1][3]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/a/a7/Grey.png Joshua Laine[3][34]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/a/a7/Grey.png Frederic Prinz von Anhalt[3][35]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/a/a7/Grey.png Timothy Richardson[1][3]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/a/a7/Grey.png Boris Romanowsky[1][3]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/a/a7/Grey.png Hilaire Fuji Shioura[3][36]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/a/a7/Grey.png Lindsey Neil Shortland[1][3]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/a/a7/Grey.png Scot Sturtevant[1][3]
https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/a/a7/Grey.png James Tran[1][3]

https://ballotpedia.org/California_g...election,_2018

ENDORSEMENTS

Elected Officials

President Donald J. Trump
Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the House (former)
Kevin McCarthy, House Majority Leader
Ken Calvert, Congressman
Paul Cook, Congressman
Jeff Denham, Congressman
Darrell Issa, Congressman
Doug LaMalfa, Congressman
Devin Nunes, Congressman
Mimi Walters, Congresswoman
Dick Ackerman, State Senate Republican leader (former)
Joel Anderson, State Senator
Jim Nielsen, State Senator
Dan Logue, Assemblymember (former)
Dr. Alan Nakanishi, Mayor, Lodi, former Assemblymember
Bill Baber, Councilmember, La Mesa
Richard Bailey, Mayor, Coronado
Deirdre Bennett, Mayor, Colton (former)
Garry Bredefeld, Councilmember, Fresno
Craig DeLuz, Robla School District Board Member
Carl DeMaio, Councilmember, San Diego (former)
Martin Devine, Councilmember, Hanford
Greg Gandrud, Councilmember, Carpinteria (former)
Russell Johnson, Councilmember, Bakersfield (former)
Michael P. Leahy, Yuba County Supervisor, 2^nd District
Daron McDaniel, Merced County Supervisor, 3^rd District
Stephanie McKenzie, Councilmember, Marysville
Cecilia Mendez, Stockton Unified School District Board Member
Rudy Mendoza, Mayor, Woodlake
Steve Mensinge, Mayor, Costa Mesa (former)
Shellie Milne, Councilmember, Hemet (former)
Jim Price, Mayor, Atwater
Brian Raymond, Councilmember, Atwater
Rich Silverman, Councilmember, Manteca
Kirk Uhler, Placer County Supervisor, 4^th District
Michael Holtsclaw, Chair, Tehama County Republican Party
Leaders
Michael Reagan, Conservative Radio Host
Carl DeMaio, Chairman Stop the Gas Tax and Conservative Radio Host
Tony Krvaric, Chairman – Republican Party of San Diego
John & Ken Show, KFI-AM Los Angeles
Bishop Dr. Ron Allen, President, International Faith Based Coalition
Scott Baio, Actor and director
Bill Beeler, Chairman, Sutter Buttes Tea Party; Regional Director, California Impact Republicans
Sara Blicharz, Grassroots Conservative Leader
Jack Breuker, College Republicans Northern Region Vice Chair; Chico State College Republicans Chair
Suzanne M. Ching, Vice President, Delta Central Republican Women Federated (former)
Trent Carlson, Santa Clara University College Republicans Chair (former)
Althea Clark, Secretary, Fresno Evening Republican Women Federated
Joanne Dufficy, First Vice President, Programs, Marin Republican Women Federated
Nicholas S. Francois, College Republicans Capital Region Vice Chair; UC Davis College Republicans Chair
Fran Grizas, First Vice Chair, Lake San Marcos Republican Women Federated
Jason Hopkins; San Benito County Republican Central Committee, Secretary
Alina Jar, Board Member, Romanian Community Center of Sacramento
Bikrum Singh Jolly, American River College Republicans Chair
Ed Rowen, President, Placer County Republican Assembly
Emil Monda, President, Laguna Beach Republicans
Michele Monda, Secretary, Laguna Beach Republicans
Ken Payne, Founder, Sacramento Tea Party
Ourania Riddle, President, Solano Taxpayers Association (former)
Lou Sheldon, Chairman, Traditional Values Coalition
Linda Silverman, Commissioner, San Joaquin County Juvenile Justice Commission
Nancy Spitzer, El Dorado County Republican Central Committee Member
Lew Uhler, President, National Tax Limitation Committee PAC
Matthew Vitale, Vice President, UC Riverside College Republicans
Michael Y. Warder, Sr., Former Vice Chancellor, Pepperdine University
Jack Weir, President, Contra Costa Taxpayers Association
Paula Whitsell, Vice President, Chula Vista/Bonita Republican Women Federated; San Diego Republican Central Committee Executive Board Member
Ana Wilson, Second Vice President, Fresno Evening Republican Women Federated
Jeffrey Zellner, Manteca Planning Commissioner

Organizations

Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association PAC
California Impact Republicans
California ProLife Council PAC
California Republican Veterans Association
Californians for Life
Fresno County Republican Party
Sacramento County Republican Party
San Mateo County Republican Party
Merced County Republican Party

https://johncoxforgovernor.com/endorsements/

Newsom, John Cox top new California governor’s poll: Villaraigosa in trouble

San Francisco Chronicle
4 hours ago