Equalization Race Features Mistakes and Sex Scandal
The June 2010 primary election for District 2’s seat on the Board of Equalization may be nine months away, but the race is already heating up as candidates fight for endorsements and some struggle to maintain their pace. There are four candidates in the race at this point, including Board Member Bill Leonard’s Chief Deputy Barbara Alby, State Senator Roy Ashburn, Former Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi and State Senator George Runner. Based solely on money raised, slate mailers and sheer number of endorsements so far, two candidates have separated themselves from the others, Nakanishi and Runner.
The two have been competing for the endorsements of California’s political leaders, one of the largest prizes being Senate Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth. There was a precarious situation last week, when according to Jim Miller of the Riverside Press-Enterprise, Nakanishi sent out a press release claiming to have been endorsed by Hollingsworth. Then a few hours later having to send out a clarification that Hollingsworth had signed off on the endorsement several months ago, before the field had been established and Hollingsworth had been named minority leader. To add to the mishandling of the endorsement, when all was said and done, Hollingsworth actually decided to endorse Runner. To which Runner said, “I am honored that Senate Republican Leader Hollingsworth…endorsed my candidacy for Board of Equalization.”
It is interesting to note that the public affairs agency Johnson Clark was handling the messaging for Nakanishi’s campaign until Wayne Johnson and Tim Clark decided to form separate agencies. The buzz around the capitol is that when the split occurred, Nakanishi opted to stay with the younger Tim Clark, but after mishandling the Hollingsworth endorsement, it would seem Nakanishi chose the wrong side of Johnson Clark. In fact the rumor now is that sometime between that incident on August 11 and this week, Nakanishi shifted his campaign to the control of Wayne Johnson.
It is never good for the stability or tone of a campaign to have inconsistency of this nature, having to send out a clarification press release only hours after the initial one certainly shows that someone dropped the ball, but things get worse for Nakanishi’s campaign. Campaign team member Mike Richman has recently been tied to the corruption/drug/sex scandal of County Assessor Bill Postmus in San Bernardino. Richman is even being sued by the County in San Bernardino for his role in the scandal.
Hopefully, Nakanishi will not have anymore hiccups in his campaign, or this two-horse race will quickly become a one-man show.
The ups and downs of this long campaign raise an interesting question though, with Hollingsworth having given his endorsement to two worthy candidates, who would he actually vote for in an election?
***UPDATE*** According to Tom Hudson, Treasurer of the Alby campaign, Hollingsworth has endorsed Alby as well. We await word from the Ashburn camp to see if Hollingsworth also thinks Ashburn is the best candidate for the Board of Equalization. Continue to check for updates as we seek to determine who the Senate Republican Leader ACTUALLY supports for the Board of Equalization.
Don’t discount Barbara Alby as a candidate. She is a fierce campaigner with a political base in the largest county in the district. She holds the coveted title of Chief Deputy to the current Board member, who has endorsed her, and she has an inside knowledge of the Board of Equalization that none of the other candidates can match. I am biased, of course, since I serve as her Treasurer, but I think she is in a very strong position in this primary. She may be behind in the “early money” race at this point, but the district contains well over 9 million constituents, so a few thousand dollars are not likely to affect the outcome.
Nick. Your posting missed the mark on several points. First, there was no mishandling of the Hollingsworth endorsement. The Senator has endorsed both Alan Nakanishi and George Runner. Second, Wayne Johnson and I have always jointly worked on the Nakanishi effort. Wayne is a close friend and associate, and you’ll see us working side by side on several projects for 2010. Finally, there has been no switch in leadership on the Nakanishi race. But, you are right in one area. I am younger than Wayne — a fact that just can’t be changed.
Interesting that Tim seems to be carefully parsing his response to this: “Wayne is a close friend and associate, and you’ll see us working side by side on several projects for 2010. Finally, there has been no switch in leadership on the Nakanishi race.”
Tim, please answer these questions: Who is the leadership on the Nakanishi race? You may be “working side by side” on this, but who is it that is the lead? Who is getting paid by Nakanishi? On each of these questions: is the answer to these questions today the same answer that would have been true a month ago?
As a postscript, I should add that Senate Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth has endorsed Barbara Alby as well. The fact that he was willing to co-endorse Barbara Alby even after endorsing his Senate colleague, George Runner, says a great deal about Barbara Alby and her qualifications in this race. Don’t count her out!
I am confused, who is ‘not’ endorsed by Dennis Hollingsworth? I thought – don’t get me wrong – but I thought if you endorsed an individual, that you endorsed an individual. If this report is true (and I have every reason to believe that it is), maybe the Senate Leader should push ‘reset’ and start over. I am confused…