California Tea Party Chairman’s Report on CRP Convention

By Peggy

Friend,

Each CRP Convention has its own story, and each convention I feel it important to share with you my takeaways to keep you informed about the goings-on of your party. Below you will find my Chairman’s Convention Report. I encourage you to read it, and give me your feedback. Are you happy with this convention’s results? Truth is, I’m not – and I think the Party made major blunders this spring. As we move into the Presidential Election, there may not be another CRP Convention, but there is plenty of work for California Conservatives.

Let’s unite and push our vision forward!

Randall Jordan, Chairman
Tea Party California Caucus

TPCC Chairman’s Report on California Republican Party Convention:

California Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte always says that politics is all about optics, or about how it looks, more than what it actually means:

Here are the optics of the just-completed Republican Convention:

1.By having all three GOP candidates for President, Sen. Ted Cruz, Mr. Donald Trump and Governor Kasich, along with potential Vice President Carly Fiorina, speaking at the convention gave California is first chance to be important for the first time in fifty-two years. Things changed quickly by Tuesday, but that energy was everywhere in Burlingame.

2.The CRP took positions to harm California workers and benefit unions.

3.The CRP supported an $18 billion in debt by supporting an education construction bond, sponsored by unions and construction special interests, without fixing our broken curriculum, student safety, or freeing students and parents to pursue quality education through school choice.

4.The CRP passed a bylaw amendment that allows only some County Supervisors to run for CRP Board, but excluded others based on an arbitrary population limit.

5.About 38% of the votes cast at the convention were from members not present, but were carried by proxy.

6.The CRP held a poorly attended forum for the U.S. Senate candidates AFTER the convention ended. So instead of 1,000 people observing a debate for the highest state office on the ballot, only a couple dozen die-hards.

The Convention was an exciting show for those involved in the presidential race. Kasich, Trump, Cruz and Fiorina all spoke and had meetings during the long weekend. But the CRP leadership obviously was not concerned about winning the U.S. Senate race, or even making sure we have a Republican on the November ballot.

Once Party leadership called the Convention closed, they then convened a Senate Candidates Forum. No less than ten GOP candidates were there to speak to an audience the L.A. Times noted was a few dozen, instead of being allowed to speak to the full convention. Do not be surprised, as the Times speculated, if NO Republican is on the November ballot for the U.S. Senate from California, another victim of Prop 14 and the CRP refusal to work for its repeal.

Here are some of the other results of the convention.

1.The leadership has decided that it no longer needs a Vice Chair in the midst of a primary and General Election. With the election of the current Vice Chair as National Committee Woman, the Vice Chair position is open and it appears there will be no rush to fill this position. The date the office will vacate is sometime in July, when Dhillon takes office as National Committeewoman. It will remain vacant in the heat of a critical election cycle, though maybe this public notice will have leadership rethink this plan.

2.A special interest bylaw amendment was passed, by a close margin, to allow a County Supervisor of a County under 700,000 to run for the CRP Board. Huh? This seemingly arbitrary number is a special interest effort to allow current Assemblywoman Kristen Olsen as Vice Chair February of next year, if and when she wins her election to become a Stanislaus County Supervisor. This denies a Fresno County Supervisor the right to run, along with other large counties. Why? And what happens when her county grows to over 700,000? Is she off the Board?

3.For the first time in memory, the California Republican Party came out in favor of an $18 billion School Construction Bond initiative (that’s $9 billion in principal and $9 billion in interest). Even though the Tea Party on the floor made the argument that pretty buildings do not create quality education.

The Tea Party California Caucus believes that ending union ownership of the schools, providing school choice to determine curriculum instead of Common Core, that providing safety in the schools instead of “Restorative Justice”, must be done before wasting money on paying off unions and special interest construction firms (this bond measure is not sponsored by educators, it is sponsored by unions and construction companies). Plus, based on State law, the CRP agreed to a bond where ONLY union workers are allowed to work on these projects, while those that refuse to join a union must pay the cost of the bond without the equal right to work.

1.The CRP did pass a resolution opposing the passage of the $1.7 billion TAX on health insurance. But they would not allow noting that it was Republicans in the legislature that gave the votes for this tax increase.

1.Over the past few conventions votes had been divided 700-300, with the Establishment controlling the floor, mainly through a proxy effort. At this convention on two key votes, it was much closer, about 100 votes apart.

The good news is that the Tea Party California Caucus held a very well attended dinner of Conservatives and Tea Party members with Star Parker as our main speaker. We also held TWO standing room only conferences at the Convention.

Dr. Gina Loudon, Conservative commentator and media spokesperson for the Conservative cause, spoke on the future of conservative politics and where we are today.

In the morning the TPCC held a forum on the Second Amendment, lead by Sam Paredes of Gun Owners of California and Tim Donnelly as one of the panelists.

As we get closer to the June 7 primary, ask the candidates for legislative office if they support the $18 billion construction bond for education before fixing the system? Ask them if they would have voted for the $1.7 billion health insurance tax? Then vote accordingly.

Randall Jordan, Chairman
Tea Party California Caucus