Dick Ackerman. Photo Courtesy of the FFFF Blog.
After a decade of guiding the Orange County Republican Party through sometimes tumultuous internal debates, Scott Baugh says he will step down when his current term as chairman ends in January, according to the OC Register. Baugh has been the OC GOP Chairman since 2004.
When Baugh first became the OC GOP Chairman his party’s registration in Orange County was at 48 percent. It is at 41 percent today. It was at 56 percent in 1990. The OC GOP has gone from an 18 point advantage over the Democrats in 2004 to half that today.
Today there are 578,655 registered Republican voters in Orange County as compared to 447,818 registered Democrats. An additional 321,208 voters show no party preference, according to the Orange County Voter Registrar.
Fred Whitaker
The OC Register mentioned that there are two men vying to replace Baugh next year.
Newport Beach attorney Fred Whitaker last week began an email campaign to replace Baugh in January, citing Baugh’s support and seeking letters of commitment from members of the county GOP’s governing Central Committee. Whitaker has served as the county party’s vice president, parliamentarian, and general counsel.
Dick Ackerman also said he was interested in the job. He said he would be contacting Central Committee members, donors and volunteers to gauge support for a potential candidacy. Central Committee members elect the chairman.
Ackerman seems like a giant step backwards for the OC GOP. He was involved in lobbying to sell off the Orange County Fairgrounds. He also has steadfastly endorsed RINOs including the lame Fullerton City Council members that had to be recalled a few years ago.
Whitaker is a likable fellow who serves on the Orange City Council. He is friendly however with the odious Matt Cunningham which means he may be too tight with the Curt Pringle machine.
Scott Baugh
Who else might be a good candidate to replace Baugh? Perhaps the party leaders might want to go with a real conservative but strategically choosing a woman or a minority would be interesting. Decent candidates might include:
- Irvine Councilman Jeff Lalloway
- Fountain Valley Councilman Mark McCurdy
- Former Westminster Councilman and attorney Kermit Marsh
- Lake Forest Councilman Scott Voigts
- Brenda McCune, an attorney who has run for the Yorba Linda City Council in the past
- Former Santa Ana Councilman Brett Franklin
Anyone else come to mind? The only caveat is you have to be an elected member of the OC GOP Central Committee, which really limits the pool of available candidates.
The OC GOP is at a real crossroads. If they choose the wrong person to replace Baugh we might see their party slip behind the Democrats in a few more years. They are going to have to figure out how to appeal to Democrats and DTS voters sooner rather than later.
Whoever they choose I hope the OC GOP won’t go with another lobbyist, like Baugh.
McCurdy would be a bad choice; Marsh would be a TERRIBLE choice.
Whitaker works for the same law firm as the guy who was hand-plucked by Pringle to be Anaheim’s new City Attorney – Michael Houston.
http://www.voiceofoc.org/oc_north/article_849f91b6-7bac-11e2-a6e7-001a4bcf887a.html
http://www.cumminsandwhite.com/our-lawyers/
But Ackerman? Seriously? Man, the bloom came off that rose twenty years ago. He was caught red-handed lobbying illegally and the only thing that saved his oily hide was our do-nothing DA.
Yes Whitaker is far too cozy with Pringle.
In other words, Whitaker is no good because he is too close to Pringle. Ackerman is no good because he is too close to Ackerman.
Is Ackerman even a member of the Central Committee? How can he even be considered for Chairman? Read the article linked above..Michael Houston my have a history with Pringle, but is also an old friend of Tait. And really how important is this? If you were to ask any average registered republican in Orange County they wouldn’t know or care about the “Central Committee”. It has become insider politics only. They are not relevant.
The party leaders can appoint Ackerman to a vacant post.
Is there a vacant position in his assembly district?
The party leaders can create one.
Would be interesting what district it would be? Irvine or Fullerton.
Good question! Hard to say when it comes to the slippery Ackerman.
Good question. He may take up “residence” in somebody’s rumpus room again.
LOL!
All old white guys and the one token female. As much love as I have for the OC GOP, it’s unfortunate that it has not evolved or grown.
Yes. Very pathetic.
Scott Voigts?!!!
Voigts has been caught lying and breaking promises at a neck-breaking speed. He promised to “increase law enforcement”, but he only thing he increased was the cost of law enforcement. Lake Forest is much less safe now than ever before! There have been more murders in Lake Forest since Voigts took office than in 9 other South County cities combined! And under Voigts’ mayorship the valuable Neighborhood Watch program was completely ignored and the staff position went vacant for more than a year. Murder, rape, narcotics violations, etc. all went up.
Under Scott Voigts Lake Forest lost more businesses and we now have more vacant storefronts. Projected growth in sales tax revenues for Lake Forest is only half the level for the rest of the County. We now spend less money on people/businesses in our City than 3 years ago when Scott Voigts joined the Council.