-
CA-26: Strickland Continues to Lead in Fundraising
Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks (NP) and California State Senator Tony Strickland (R)
Timm Herdt over at the Ventura County Star has the poop on the fundraising numbers – Republican California State Senator Tony Strickland leads far and away.
Strickland had a pretty good week at fundraising last week, FEC reports show.
He took in more than $70,000, most in the form of contributions from members of Congress and conservative PACs, including House Speaker John Boehner ($4,000) and Rep. Paul Ryan’s Prosperity PAC ($2,500).
Meanwhile, Democrat Julia Brownley took in slightly over $20,000, led by contributions from AFSCME ($2,500), House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer ($2,000) and $2,000 each from county Democratic clubs in the Conejo Valley, Oxnard and Ojai.
The reports show that independent Linda Parks boosted her campaign with a $10,000 contribution to the campaign from her personal funds on May 2.
Ventura County Supervisor and No Party Preference candidate, Linda Parks, has been widely outspent by Strickland and Brownley. She accepts no contributions from PACS, although an independent SuperPAC has run some ads for her.
Will Parks approach work in the new top two format?
Will Republicans “GAME” the voting system and vote for Linda Parks to eliminate the Democrat, Brownley?
Well. stay tuned…..the election is tomorrow.
-
CA-26: Republicans Vote for Linda Parks Tomorrow
Why not?
In California’s new top two election system, Ventura County voters can have either have a Far Left Democrat (Assemblywoman Julia Brownley) or a No Party Preference moderate in Ventura County Sueprvisor Linda Parks, face off with Republican Tony Strickland in November.
Brownley without hesitation will vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker and for every left-wing cause down the line.
Parks is a moderate and although more left than I would like will at least be approachable on issues. Not to say that Parks will vote more conservative, but who can be MORE left than Santa Monica resident (oh yeah Brownley just moved) Julia Brownley?
Conservative voters tomorrow have an opportunity for a two-fer. Strickland and Parks.
Tomorrow vote for Linda Parks.
-
CA-26: Will Jess Herrera Play Spoiler to Democrat Julia Brownley?
Oxnard Harbor District Commissioner Jess Herrera
Democrat Oxnard Harbor District Commissioner Jess Herrera may just deliver a top two victory to No Party Preference candidate Linda Parks.
It’s difficult to assess Herrera’s chances on Tuesday. He has a chance to perform well in Oxnard, where he has lived his entire life and has consistently been the leading vote-getter in elections for the Harbor District. In addition, he has been targeting working-class Latino voters in other areas of the district, notably Santa Paula and Fillmore. Depending on Latino turnout and how fractured the overall vote turns out to be, an upset may not be inconceivable. But at the very least, he has the potential to play the role of a spoiler, siphoning away from Brownley a share of the Democratic vote that she may need to outpoll Parks.
But, will Herrera be enough of a vote siphon to drop Julia Brownley below Linda Parks?
The Democratic Party and Democratic independent expenditure Super PACS are not taking any chances and are heavily running ads for Brownley.
Here is Herrera’s web ad:
-
CA-26 Linda Parks Moans About Democrat and Julia Brownley Attacks
This is almost laughable since Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks (of No Party Preference fame) would dish it out, if you she had the campaign cash to do so.
But, she had only enough money to run those inane cable television ads, where she says she likes “rocky road” ice cream and talks with her mouth half open.
Please…..
The Democrats have done what they have had to do and expose Parks as the unprincipled POL that she is.
But, will Parks edge out Democrat Assemblywoman Julia Brownley in next Tuesday’s election?
Hold on, it WILL be close.
-
CA-26: Handicapping Linda Parks Independent Challenge
Democratic Attack Mailer against No Party Preference candidate Linda Parks
The chances of Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks winning a top two spot in the June 5th California Primary election is not looking so good. Timm Herdt over at the Ventura County Star has the analysis.
First, lets look a the early balloting (California allows early by mail voting):
Here’s what we know, based on information compiled by Political Data Inc. and Redistricting Partners: In the 26th Congressional District, 7 percent of the ballots sent to the district’s 151,515 permanent mail-in voters have already been returned. Of them, 40 percent have come from Democrats, 45 percent from Republicans and 11 percent from nonpartisans.
Although CA-26 has a plurality of registered Democrats, the preponderance of early returned ballots, speaks to more enthusiastic voting by Republicans. And, these Republicans, are probably NOT voting for Linda Parks (who changed her registration from Republican to No Party Preference at the beginning of this campaign).
Note, also the non-partisan or Declined to State returned mail ballots are ONLY at 11%.
Herdt says that Linda Parks must capture 35 per cent of the Republican and non-partisan vote, plus 22 per cent of Democratic votes in order to beat Democrat Assemblywoman Julia Brownley for second place. I don’t see how she gets there.
With the blistering Democratic direct mail attacks on Parks and the preference for GOP primary voters to vote for one of their own, Parks will likely come in a close third to Brownley.
Republican California State Senator Tony Strickland has run a very smart race. His low-key campaign, while raining tons of campaign cash for November has been the winning strategy.
Watch your mailbox for more Democratic attacks on Parks as Brownley closes out the campaign.
-
CA-26: Democrat Super PAC Spending More for Julia Brownley
A screenshot from the first House Majority PAC television ad for Julia Brownley
Another Democrat Super PAC ad buy for Julia Brownley and one against Linda Parks
And, there will be more – how about weekly?
Linda Parks is up with a new ad on cable television as well.
-
CA-26: Democrats Continue to Pound Linda Parks
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Mailer
The Democrats (Democratic Congressional Campaign Commitee) are sliming Ventura County Supervisor and NPP (No Party Preference) Linda Parks again.
Timm Herdt over at the Ventura County Star has the ridiculousness of the mailers.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has flooded the mailboxes of Ventura County Democratic voters with another cartoonish mailer that seeks to portray independent congressional candidate Linda Parks as a tea party-style Republican extremist.
The first showed Parks’ face on campaign buttons paired with George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin. The cover of this one shows an open closet with GOP paraphernalia, including a cardboard cutout of Palin and a Bush-Cheney placard, spilling out. The implication is that Parks has been trying to keep her true political leanings in the closet. The headline says, “Republican Linda Parks has a secret…”
On the flip side it says that “Washington Republicans and Linda Parks would end Medicare as we know it” and that “a vote for Parks and the national Republicans is a vote for the Tea Pary.”
Truthful?
Not really. Linda Parks is NO conservative and is a RINO at best.
But, the Democrats are desperate and will pound Parks, trying to drive up her negatives, so that their annointed Democratic candidate, Assemblywoman Julia Brownley can win second place against favorite, Republican Tony Strickland.
I received a call from a political fact check organization the other day while I was traveling, inquiring about the first mail piece with Sarah Palin. This ad, like that one, is blatantly false and misleading – so place it in the pile with the other one and ones to come from the DCCC.
Doesn’t the DCCC remember that all of those negative mailers from Tony Strickland’s wife, Audra, backfired and made Linda Parks a sympathetic figure?
I don’t think this appraach will curry favor with Ventura County Democrats for Brownley – but then again, maybe their polling already shows this.
-
CA-26: Julia Brownley Flip Flops on Support for Israel?
Screenshot from DavidCruzThayne2012
According to the press release from fellow Democrat David Cruz Thayne:
Assemblymember Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica), a candidate in the Congressional District 26 race, asserted at a Monday night candidates’ forum: “As I said once, I’ll say it twice, and I’ll say it again, I will defend Israel and oppose nuclear proliferation…and will work hard in Congress to protect [the relationship between the United States and Israel].”
But in recorded remarks when speaking with Democratic Party activists just last month, Brownley repeatedly stated that she “would not support Israel” if it determined to use force in its attempts to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon.
“The duplicity and double-talk of career politicians like Julia Brownley on this issue should concern all voters in the district,” said Alex Thompson, campaign manager for Democratic candidate David Cruz Thayne. “She is playing the same old political games of telling different groups of voters what they want to hear instead of what she really believes. And since she has lived in Santa Monica the past 25 years, how are Ventura County voters supposed to know which is the real Julia Brownley? The voters of Ventura County deserve better.”
Here is the video:
Unless this video is widely disseminated, I see a very limited impact on this race.
In the meantime, California Assemblywoman Julia Brownley has been racking up the endorsements of national and state Democrats.
If there was ever much doubt that Assemblywoman Julia Brownley is the choice of national Democratic leaders for an open Ventura County congressional seat, recent campaign developments should have pretty much erased it.
Late last week, the House Majority PAC, which is raising and spending money to elect Democrats to Congress, began running a cable television ad supporting Brownley, a Democrat who moved from Santa Monica to Oak Park for the race. The group spent about $156,000 on the ads, which are scheduled to run for a week.
On Tuesday, California’s two U.S. senators, both Democrats, announced they were endorsing Brownley. Sen. Dianne Feinstein called Brownley “a champion for education in California.” Sen. Barbara Boxer said Brownley could be counted on “to protect California’s environment, women’s health and Medicare for our seniors, which have been under unprecedented attack by the extreme right.”
There are three other Democrats in the race—Realtor/entrepreneur/CEO Albert Maxwell Goldberg, Oxnard Harbor Commissioner Jess Herrera and independent small businessman David Cruz Thayne.
Now, all Brownley has to do is make sure that David Cruz Thayne does not siphon off enough votes from Democrats to enable NPP Linda Parks to sneak into second place.
-
CA-26: Democrat Super PAC Up With Ad for Julia Brownley
California Assemblywoman, Julia Brownley, is on air with her first cable television ad. But, it is paid by a federal Super PAC, The Democratic House Majority PAC.
Timm Herdt has the details, including the cost of the television ad buy: $140,000 for a week.
Here is the ad, embedded below:
-
CA-26: Linda Parks and Her Cable Television ONLY Campaign Strategy
Screenshot from Linda Park’s latest television ad
Timm Herdt over at the Ventura County Star interviews Linda Park’s strategist George Gorton regarding her campaign media strategy.Political strategists have historically just about all come to the same conclusion about how to campaign in Ventura County: mail, mail and more mail. So it is intriguing to see the approach that Supervisor Linda Parks of Thousand Oaks is taking in running as an independent in the 26th Congressional District. She and her consultant, George Gorton, have decided to put nearly all their resources into cable TV.
Public documents from Time Warner show that Gorton’s partner Garrett Biggs on April 5 signed a $202,200 contract to air Parks ads on Ventura County cable systems through Election Day. The current schedule shows spots slated to run nearly every day through May 13, presumably with more to be scheduled later. They are placed on a wide range of cable channels, including ESPN, the Food Network, Fox Sports, MSNBC, HGTV, the Discovery Channel and the History Network.
“It’s a pretty significant buy,” Gorton told me yesterday.
I know George Gorton from his days with Pete Wilson and his successful campaigns for U.S. Senate and California Governor. All of Gorton’s Wilson campaigns were very successful and almost all of the media was on television, broadcast and cable. So, a television only strategy is not unusual for Gorton.
And, certainly this strategy is not unusual for Linda Parks who will be campaign cash challenged as compared to Republican California State Senator Tony Strickland and Democrat California Assemblywoman Julia Brownley. A direct mail campaign to all of Ventura County potential voters would be cost prohibitive for Parks – especially since she is a NPP (No Party Preference) and cannot mail to only Republican or Democratic households with the same message.
Here is Park’s latest ad, embedded below and it features many of her supporters from City Council and Supervisor campaigns (very low production costs and value):
What is surprising to me, is not the Park’s strategy. This is the same media campaign that her mentor and my former neighbor successful Thousand Oaks City Councilwoman Jaime Zukowski used to beat an incumbent Thousand Oaks Mayor Robert Lewis over twenty years ago. What is surprising is that neither Strickland nor Brownley have responded with ANY cable television ads of their own.
Parks has been on for over two weeks and nobody has gone “on air.”
As far as internet ads are concerned, I have seen little activity thus far for Parks. She will likely do some and I will let you know when I see them appear.
And, I bet when Brownley’s and Strickland’s consultants get around to reading Herdt’s and my pieces, they may actually produce some responding or even negative television ads. At least they should, especially Brownley, if she doesn’t want to finish third to Parks or Strickland in June.
