Voters in the Central Valley don't like the job President Obama is doing for the nation, but apparently their dislike of his job performance is not enough to bounce him from the Oval Office.
Continue reading "Valley voters send President Obama mixed message" »
(Photo/Associated Press)
Update 4/10/12: Rick Santorum announces he is suspending his Presidential campaign. Newt Gingrich & Ron Paul are vowing to stay in the race... with both men saying they are the true conservative candidates to beat President Obama in November.
Original Post:
California Republicans want Mitt Romney to be the GOP’s Presidential nominee, but Barack Obama still wins the Golden State no matter which of the four Republican candidates he would face in the November Election. Those are the results of a new and exclusive Action News Poll conducted by Survey USA.
With two months left before the California Primary, Romney is the clear choice of more than 430 Likely Republican Primary Voters questioned for the poll. The former Massachusetts Governor has a nearly two to one lead over his closest competitor, Rick Santorum. Here are the numbers:
Romney 44%
Santorum 23%
Gingrich 12%
Paul 12%
Undecided 8%
Other 1%
Romney’s sprint to the front of the GOP pack is a big change from the last Action News Poll conducted in February by Survey USA. At that time, Romney and Santorum were in a statistical “dead heat”, but in the past sixty days, Santorum’s support has collapsed among several groups in the California GOP. Survey USA Editor Jay Leve pointed out these four examples to me:
1. Among “very conservative” voters, Santorum had led by 30 points, now trails by 9 points, an extraordinary 39-point swing to Romney.
2. Among seniors, Santorum had led by 4 points, now trails by 22 points, a 26-point swing to Romney.
3. Among residents of the Central Valley, Santorum had led by 13, now trails by 13, a 26-point swing to Romney (Romney 37%, Santorum 24%).
4. Among pro-life voters, Santorum had led by 10, now trails by 12, a 22-point swing to Romney.
After Romney’s three state primary sweep last Tuesday (4/3/12)… the Associated Press reports Romney has an insurmountable lead unless there’s a dramatic shift in the race. He’s on pace to reach the GOP nomination number of 1,144 delegates on June 5th. That’s the same day as the California Primary Election and Golden State Republicans could put Romney over the top.
Romney doesn’t fare as well in a California match-up against President Obama in the General Election. According to the Action News Poll… the President has a 2:1 lead over all four GOP candidates… with Romney the closest. Here are the results from the poll of nearly 2000 registered voters:
Obama 62%
Romney 31%
Undecided 8%
The usually conservative-leaning Central Valley also prefers President Obama in the poll… 55% to 37%... but Romney has his greatest support here. Mr. Obama gets his best support in the traditionally liberal Bay Area… 70%. Surprisingly, the number of “Tea Party” members in the poll who would vote for the President over Romney has grown since February by roughly 11%... to 41%.
I asked Survey USA’s Jay Leve if the Romney Camp can find any encouragement buried in the poll numbers. Here’s what he had to say: “The Republican candidates have been beating each other up for months, so it is not surprising that President Obama holds a commanding lead over any Republican at this point, 7 months to Election Day. Once the Republicans select a nominee, and the candidate and the Republican Party turn their fire on President Obama, the contest in California should tighten slightly. That said, there is no indication yet that California will be “in play” in 2012. At this hour, the state’s 55 critical Electoral College votes remain comfortably ‘blue’.”
The data for this latest Action News Poll conducted by Survey USA was collected between March 29th and April 2nd, 2012.
GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney is making a two-day campaign swing through the Golden State next week. Romney's trip to California is mainly to raise funds for his campaign which has spent tens of millions of dollars already for the early primaries and caucuses. Major fundraisers are planned for several locations in Southern California, the Bay Area, and Stockton. Unless a "last minute" campaign event gets scheduled, Romney will not be making a stop in Fresno or the Central Valley this time to collect any big checks. Romney has made previous fundraising trips to Fresno dating back to last summer. The former Massachusetts Governor will also be making an appearance on Jay Leno's late night TV show.
Continue reading "Romney: California Fundraisers & Protests" »
Does a prominent leader's endorsement of a political candidate sway your vote on Election Day?
Continue reading "Local Leaders Endorse Reed in District 2" »
South Valley Congressman Devin Nunes scored a big victory on Leap Day. By a vote of 246 -- to -- 175, the House passed HR 1837... the Nunes-sponsored Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act. The bill now moves to the Democrat-controlled Senate where it faces a major battle. The Obama Administration has already promised a veto if the bill makes it to the President's desk.
No third run for Congress for Jim Patterson. As I reported yesterday (2/21/12) on the ABC30 Facebook page, the former Fresno Mayor will not be a candidate for the new 16th Congressional District seat after having second thoughts about his initial decision against running. Back in November, Patterson called running in the new district against incumbent Jim Costa... a "fool's errand" and he felt the GOP had no "backbone" in supporting a candidate to go up against Costa. You can read more about Patterson's thoughts back in November at this link:
http://abc30.typepad.com/abc-30-blogs/2011/11/patterson-gop-no-backbone-to-beat-costa.html
In recent weeks, Patterson began questioning that decision made in the fall and he started re-crunching the numbers on what it would take both financially and statistically to beat Costa in the new district. In the end, family won out. Patterson told me putting his entire and extended family through another campaign and not spending time with his young grandchildren would be extremely difficult. He released this statement to Action News:
"Although my concern about the direction America is headed tells me to run, my heart tells me to honor my family, personal and professional responsibilities here at home. After a lot of thought, prayer and consultation, I have decided to follow my heart".
The Central Valley may push Rick Santorum to a victory in California's June Primary Election, but no Republican candidate is likely to beat President Barack Obama in the November General Election here in the Golden State.
Continue reading "Poll: Romney & Santorum in Dead Heat in CA" »
One of the hardest working members of the Fresno City Council wants another term serving the City. Councilman Lee Brand announced today (2/1) he plans to run for re-election for the Fresno City Council District Six seat. Brand has represented the northeast Fresno district for the past three years. He hit the ground running after taking office in January of 2009... authoring several major pieces of legislation for the City. Those measures include the Better Business Act, the Taxpayer Protection Act, and the Transparency in City Government Act.
Brand told me he expects Fresno's fiscal and budget challenges to continue into his next term... if re-elected. He says the Council will receive a mid-year budget update in a few weeks that will contain more bad news like a significant drop in property tax revenue. Brand also believes he and his fellow Council members will have to deal with a number of budget "band aid fixes" taken in the past that will need permanent solutions.
Brand released this statement with his announcement regarding the City's future:
"The past three years have been very challenging for the City. I will continue to work with the Mayor and other Council members to maintain core services and find solutions for complex issues."
The Councilman also released a large and impressive bi-partisan list of elected and community leaders who have endorsed his candidacy. The list includes all the current Council members except Blong Xiong and Mayor Swearengin. Brand told me he expects Xiong and the Mayor to endorse his re-election, but he hasn't had time to talk with them yet regarding it.
At this time, Brand appears to have no serious contenders for his job. Brand admits he was considering a run for Fresno Mayor this year, but decided against it. However, he still has his eye on the Mayor's City Hall office. He's not ruling out a campaign for Mayor in 2016.
A roar is growing louder across California and it's not the sound of hammers driving rail spikes or a bullet train rolling down the line. That roar is an increasing chorus of voices saying "No" to the state's high speed rail plan.
You can add Clint Olivier's name to the list of Republicans who considered, but now have decided against challenging Democrat Jim Costa in the new 16th Congressional District. The first term Fresno City Councilman has announced he's no longer thinking about making a run for Congress. Back in November, he formed an exploratory committee, hired a campaign consultant, and began lining up donors, but now Olivier says he's closing down the committee and will return unused funds to donors. Olivier was recently elected City Council President. Olivier is not doing media interviews regarding his withdrawal from the Congressional race, but he did make a statement in a news release.
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