Torrance Mayor George Chen and Coucilman Jon Kaji lost bigly in Election 2026
Torrance Mayor George Chen has lost his re-election bid.
So has Councilman Jon Kaji.
Looking back at their votes and their commitment to the values they had campaigned on, it's no surprise they lost.
Consider this very disappointing outcome.
This was four years ago, and revealed that the conservative-leaning Torrance city council majority that so many had worked hard to elect was turning on its base.
Here's the eblast from the South Bay NRA following a key gun decision before the city council:
Good Day Everyone,
Unfortunately, the subject line of this emails sums it all up.
Last night, many of our members attended the Torrance City Council meeting regarding the business permit for Red Rifle LTD. Many anti-gunners attempted to voice their opinions behind a wall of false pretenses. Many of our patriots voiced support for free enterprise, education, training, and the Second Amendment. But alas, the majority of the city council members voted to deny Red Rifle a business permit in Old Torrance. The meeting did not end until after midnight. We will spell out the meeting in more detail later.
In the meantime, we ask that you take a moments and send an email of support and appreciation to the ONE council member that voted in support of Red Rifle.
Please send your message of APPRECIATION to council member Aurelio Mattucci : AMattucci@TorranceCA.Gov
Here is how the vote unfolded last night.
And one quick footnote. Some of your expressed your excitement earlier this year when George Chen won the mayoral seat in Torrance. You may want to have a second look at that.
James Ma
President
NRA Members' Council
South Bay - Los Angeles
A gun store is a legitimate business.
The city council at this time had four Republicans (including Sellout Sharon Kalani and Dishonest Mike Griffiths), and one supposedly conservative-leaning independent.
Only Aurelio Mattucci voted the correct way. He voted for the store.
There is nothing wrong with a legitimate business setting up shop in the city, and the gun store was not just legitimate, but essential, considering all that had transpired across the country during the "mostly peaceful" George Floyd protests in 2020.
Chen was the biggest disappointment for many, since his supporters had viewed him as a partner with Councilman Mattucci on many issues.
At the CRA Christmas Party later that year, one resident confronted (now former) Mayor Chen about voting against the gun store, and he sheepishly replied: "This is what the voters wanted."
What kind of answer is that?!
More people are killed every year by car accidents than by guns (once you factor out the suicides and the self-defense actions). Should we stop opening businesses because parents fear that their children will get killed crossing the road?
Early on, George Chen was already disappointing the conservative base that had rallied hard to elect him.
Kaji, as well.
It's no surprise that they faced quite a backlash, and from all sides in Election 2026.
BREAKING NEWS! With only 265 ballots left to count, yet maintaining a 290-vote advantage, Torrance City Councilman Aurelio Mattucci has been confirmed as our NEXT CITY TREASURER!
CONGRATULATIONS, AURELIO!
Let us all SAY HIS NAME!
This win is momentous and monumental for me.
Aurelio Mattucci has been the only outspoken conservative on the Torrance City Council.
He consistently opposed tax increases.
He boldly spoke out against the Pride Resolution.
He has repeatedly stood up for law enforcement and local businesses, even pressing for the city to reject the COVID-19 lockdown orders.
He was the only councilman to vote for the gun store, when the Torrance Planning Commission had rejected its application.
And for me, where it gets really personal, he was the only city councilman who stood up for me and rejected the effort to disqualify me when I sought an appointment to the city council in 2022.
That took real courage. Aurelio had barely won re-election in 2022, and his opponent, Jean Adelsman, had the support of the entire political establishment, Republican and Democrat. Creepy Pat Furey resorted to smear Councilman, now Treasurer-Elect Mattucci as "MAGAtucci."
Well, MAGAtucci won!
This victory is particularly gratifying for me, as well, because former city councilman Mike Griffiths loses.
And loses big.
And loses a second time.
Griffiths is one of the most arrogant, dishonest politicians in Torrance. He has lied to me, he has lied to other residents, and he treats everyday people with such disdain. In 2022, when I asked him to simply support a Resolution against George Gascon two years ago, he laughed me off and dismissed the proposal. When I asked him to support certain candidates, he just lectured me with such disdain.
Someone like that has no business representing our city.
His arrogance was particularly legendary when he insisted on announcing that he was "the most experienced city councilman" on the dias during Mayor Chen's tenure. Repeatedly, we had to hear about how he had served longer than anyone else on that dais.
And what difference did it make?
He voted against the gun store. He voted for tax increases. He was OK with the Pride Resolution. This guy was another flabby liberal trying to fit in with the political class. He was one of the wannabe city elites, and the people said "No, Thank You."
This victory is also particularly vindicating because Aurelio didn't send out any mailers. I got one mailer from the Griffiths camp, which included endorsements from Flabby RINO sellout Frank Scotto and Heidi Ashcraft. Those kinds of endorsements would never have moved me, and most voters didn't care, either.
Aurelio is outspoken, rough around the edges, and committed to doing what is best for the city. I am glad he speaks his mind, and he is not afraid to fight for everyone else's freedom of speech, too. We need more people like Treasurer-Elect Mattucci, who will fight for what residents need and want, keep his promises, stand up for what is right, and keep fighting even if everyone else on the city council or in city government is pushing back.
SAY HIS NAME! Aurelio Mattucci is our next City Treasurer!
RNC Statement on House Democrats Voting to Defund Law Enforcement
Washington, D.C. – Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Joe Gruters released the following statement after 211 House Democrats voted against critical funding for federal law enforcement:
“House Democrats’ main constituency is illegal immigrants and criminals,” said Chairman Gruters. “Democrats have now voted dozens of times against funding ICE, Border Patrol, and DHS, repeatedly siding with open borders over law and order. While President Trump and Republicans secure the border and enforce our laws, Democrats continue to obstruct the very agencies who protect Americans.”
Background:
House Democrats voted against legislation providing critical funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
More than $38 billion for ICE
More than $26 billion for Customs and Border Protection
Senate and House Democrats have now voted 37 times against border security.
Well, a major takeover has taken the Torrance City Council.
Sellout Sharon Kalani is besting Mayor George Chen. David Kartsontis pushed out John Kaji in a blowout, and Asam Sheikh has held on to his seat without any problems. Betty Lieu, the wife of Lying (pun intended) Congressman Ted Lieu, won her seat outright, as well. Many Republicans were frustrated with the two Republican candidates i that race, hoping that Harry Ward would drop out, since he was the weaker of the two, with less money and less support. Ultimately, it didn't matter. Michelle Brooks was my preferred candidate, but even if she had gotten Harry's votes, Lyin' Betty still would have won.
This is quite a turnaround. Unprecedented, to put it mildly. If my history is correct, this is the third time in the history of Torrance that an incumbent mayor lost his seat. First, there was the famous controversial Albert Isen ("There are no negroes in Torrance". Then there is Dan Walker, who recently passed away.
And now George Chen has joined that list.
Clearly, there was a lot more anger in the city than I was aware of. For me, I didn't think there was enough outrage, because I didn't see "Recall George Chen" signs throughout the city, the way I had seen them 20 years ago when Frank Scotto challenged and replaced Dan Walker.
But here we are today.
Every major interest on the left and right, if you can call Frank Scotto and his Republican ilk right, wanted to get rid of George.
But I have to say that some unforced errors in the George Chen camp could have been fixed if he had tried.
I think it was noteworthy and noble of George to reject the pride resolution. A lot of residents didn't want it, and the city council chambers were filled with people opposing the resolution in 2024.
It's another pride resolution that was the problem. George Chen became very proud, arrogant, and unapproachable.
I remember speaking to two very well-connected conservative activists in the city, and they both shared deep frustrations with George Chen. And I have to say that I share them.
George took away our public comment! Initially, any member of the public would have 3 minutes to address the city council during general public comment, and then they would have 3 minutes to speak on each agenda item as they saw fit. Initially, I had tolerated the limit on public comment because the Black Lives Matter hate group was still disrupting City Council meetings. When they would start screaming and yelling and shouting "Say his name!" the city council would move into closed session and wait for the BLM activists to burn out and go home.
Finally, they quit. But George didn't give us our time back! I complained about this issue many times. Sharon Kalani made this a campaign issue, and she even contacted me about it during the campaign season. I contacted one of George Chen's campaign managers, and I told him that George needed to fix this. It would be a real shame for him to have done all the work he did, only to lose his seat.
He didn't listen to me.
Something else that was particularly disturbing was George's insistence on installing automatic ticketing cameras. Red light cameras, speeding cameras, automated ticketing programs for parking violations. All of this was sprung on us at the Coast Christian Center campaign event in February 2026.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Chen was open to this proposal, and he was supposed to be a conservative! Not only that, but over the last few weeks, as I've been making noise about this issue, even liberal Torrance residents are just as outraged. This would have been an easy win if George had shut the whole thing down.
Last of all, it was very painful to reflect that he and John Kaji threw me under the bus when I applied for the Open City council seat in 2022. Yes, I had a prior conviction, and I had submitted all the information about it when I applied for the city council seat in 2021. When I got my record expunged, the lawyers told me I didn't have to declare it. They gave me bad legal advice, but vile interests in the city and on the city council took advantage of this unintended mistake.
On the day in question, I was disqualified in front of everybody. It was very painful at the time. It was particularly painful because I had worked very hard to help George and John get elected to City Council, and the way they repaid me was to throw me under the bus. And to do it publicly. And that shows no courage in standing up to the city council members or to the city staff, because I presume that the city attorney had been leading them along to just get rid of me.
I know that a lot of people didn't want me on the city council, and I accept that. I've made a choice that I just will stand for what I believe in, and recognize that I'm just not going to be to everyone's liking. But to have two of the three people on that dais throw me under the bus was just sad.
George made excuses about it when I confronted him 2 years later. John Kaji strung me along, claimed that he was working on fixing the problem, but he never did. In fact, he just hid behind the city attorney, who put all the blame on me.
Finally, in January this year, I confronted the city council for their abusive practice.
It was shameful what they did to me, and I put them to shame for what they did to me. I called them out by name, but abstain from mentioning Jeremy gerson, Bridget Lewis, and certainly Aurelio Mattucci, because Aurelio was the only one who had voted against disqualifying me.
I was surprised at the amount of support I received for that speech. I didn't know if anyone even cared!
And now I fast forward back to that Coast Christian Center debate event. I have not shared this story, because I didn't know if it would have been appropriate, but now I think is a good time. As always, leaving the event, I saw David Kartsonia, the candidate running against John Kaji. Out of nowhere, unprompted by me, David said to me: "Arthur, you gave a great speech at the last city council meeting. And you're right. You were badly treated, and that shouldn't have happened to you."
That meant the world to me. David wasn't going to get anything out of me, so he had no reason to say that to me unless he chose to. And he did. He showed real character that evening.
And with that said, I'm happy to say that I'm glad he got elected. I'm glad that John Kaji lost. He deserved to lose. All the stuff that I've recently learned about him, including real estate dealings and the fact that he pretty much carpetbagged into the district, all hurt him. I support him then, but when I saw how little a connection he had to the district, I can see why voters gave him the heave-ho.
The Team Torrance PAC made unforced errors, as well. I received a flyer promoting George Chen, and it said Team Torrance as the sender. But their address was located in Santa Ana, California! Why would someone in Orange County be sending out mailers for a Torrance City Council race? It makes no sense! The pack could have purchased a dummy office, set up a Torrance mailing address, and sent out the flyers that way!
Betty Lieu was guaranteed to win, since she was the highest vote-getter in the 2018 school board election. She has gathered a lot of support (I don't know how or why, but there it is). With that fact, I presumed that the pride resolution would probably get shoved down our throats. Now I guess it's pretty much a done deal. Then again, I see that a lot of corporate interests and a lot of cities are dialing down on the pride nonsense and taking down the flags. Perhaps the same kind of worn-out lack of interest will pervade Torrance as well.
All in all, I'm not all that sad about the city council elections.
If Aurelio holds on and becomes the next city treasurer, that will be the ultimate vindication. I think it's important that people who actually respect the needs of others, serve the city, get things done, our rewarded with election to higher office. We'll see what happens!
You can have the right resume, an excellent pedigree, a
great record of accomplishment, and you still don’t get elected. Politics isn’t
fair. Oftentimes, it isn’t moral. The outcomes come and go depending on the
place, time, candidate, or the other opponent making one more mistake than the
winner.
Sometimes, though, a candidate doesn’t make any mistakes.
Public sentiment drifts in a different direction.
I still remember the student council election for my senior
year. A young lady, beautiful in spirit and form, let’s call her Patty, had
served on the student council for our class for three years in a row. She did
the hard work when no one was looking. She fundraised for the class programs.
She attended the high school sports events. She was a good student, too.
When the race for senior class president rolled out, she was
the lead contender. Then stepped in a relative nobody named Jenny. She was a
nice girl, someone I had known from elementary school. She was quiet and
unassuming, and she had never done anything major on campus. Never participated
in extracurricular activities. Never worked for any school cause. Come student
council election day, Jenny won the Senior Class President. Patty quietly
rushed to the student library (where I was studying at the time), and she just
sobbed: “It’s not fair!” and crashed into her friend’s arms.
All her work meant nothing to the rest of the student body. Her
pain still sticks out in my memory, and it underscores clearly how politics
isn’t fair.
At the end of it all, campaigning is an amoral quest to get
the most votes. Sadly, sometimes the contenders lie, cheat, and steal to win.
Even setting aside outright fraud, elections can turn up winners who don’t
deserve the win on many levels.
That’s a lesson I wasn’t happy to relearn following last
week’s California primary.
From the moment he announced, I supported Riverside County
Sheriff Chad Bianco for governor.
He was already an effective elected executive. He had served
thirty-three years in law enforcement, having defeated a corrupt incumbent to lead
one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the country.
He made national news when he revolted against California
Governor Gavin Newsom’s lockdown orders and mask mandates in 2020. Most elected
officials were biding their time, wondering when the worst of the lockdown
madness would blow over.
Bianco didn’t wait. He told the Riverside County Board of
Supervisors plainly that he would not enforce those mandates. No one was going
to jail for refusing to wear a mask or choosing to keep his business open.
In early January 2021, I attended a “Stop the Steal” rally
in Murietta, and I enjoyed visiting the department stores and eating at the
local restaurants—and without having to wear a mask or show proof of
vaccination. I live in Los Angeles County, and the most I could get away with
was not wearing a mask outside. Businesses and government buildings insisted on
the mask, even when I voted in the recall to get rid of Newsom in August 2021
(which crashed and burned, by a worse margin than expected).
Sheriff Bianco set the standard for resistance to medical
tyranny. He set the standard that other sheriffs would follow, even the
Democratic Sheriff of Los Angeles County Alex Villanueva, who announced in
July, 2021 his refusal to enforce the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors’
reinstatement of the indoor mask mandate.
For years, I have been fighting illegal immigration at the
local and state levels in California. Many of the city council and county
supervisor meetings I attended had to do with immigration: partner with ICE,
work with the federal government, reject California’s sanctuary state policies.
The health freedom fight replaced my activism against illegal
immigration. Rallies and protests erupted across Los Angeles and Orange
Counties. More Californians found out that they can—they must—reject COVID-19
tyranny.
And Bianco represented that courage, a red-blooded American
sheriff in a blue state standing strong for the United States Constitution.
And not just for health freedom.
Bianco bucked the gun-control trends of the Golden State,
setting up a one-stop shop for concealed carry weapons permitting. While most
sheriffs rarely issued CCWs to law-abiding citizens, Riverside County boasted
60,000 permits. That’s a tsunami of Second Amendment support compared to other
more conservative counties like Orange, Placer, or San Bernardino counties!
That’s leadership, and you cannot manufacture that.
Bianco worked with federal law enforcement to deport as many
illegals as possible from county jails. He didn’t send deputies to accompany
ICE raids (that is illegal under SB 54), but Bianco did everything he could
within the law to ensure a safer county.
I have many friends in Riverside County, and they love their
sheriff. They came out in droves to support him in two elections for the top
law enforcement job. Democrats, Independents, and Republicans supported him,
too.
Sheriff Bianco didn’t sit on the sidelines when it came to
parents' rights in education. He endorsed conservative candidates, including
outspoken mama bear Sonja Shaw—who is in the running for the State
Superintendent of Schools this fall.
Bianco is pro-life, pro-family, unafraid to share his
Christian faith in public. He also openly endorsed President Trump in 2024,
declaring half-jokingly: “It’s time to elect a felon for the White House.”
February 2025, Bianco announced his bid for governor. I
thought he was a shoo-in for the general election.
Then Steve Hilton launched for governor two months later.
Hilton had never been elected to office. He served as a
campaign strategist for the UK Conservative Party under David Cameron for two
years. He dragged the center-right party to the left on abortion, LGBT issues,
climate change, and guns.
He was a Fox News anchor who advocated for lockdowns during
the first months of the COVID-19 outbreak. He talked about asset reparations
for black Americans. On “The Young Turks,” he openly admitted that he was to
the left of socialist US Senator Bernie Sanders on economic issues.
This guy was no conservative, and he had admitted that he
was not a Republican at one time, too!
Conservative activists in California were not impressed. We
gathered at the California Republican Assembly convention in February 2026, and
during the endorsement process, Bianco was far ahead of the other Republican
challengers. In the end, Bianco received the endorsement with 71% of the vote
compared to 29% for Hilton.
It was a shut-out!
Then came Easter 2026—and President Trump issued his
endorsement for Steve Hilton.
Despite an incredible resume and record of accomplishment,
Bianco lost traction. Hilton surged ahead and backed Bianco into fourth place.
His supporters believed that the polls were wrong and that Trump’s endorsement
wouldn’t matter come election day. We were wrong, and Hilton won.
The sheriff had leadership experience, skill, and an
enviable record. Yet the news commentator had the anti-establishment (?) Trump
endorsement, and voters went along.
It’s not fair. I don’t think it’s right, and I think it
jeopardizes an otherwise winnable governor’s race for November. Will some
Democrats and Independent voters look past Hilton’s Trump endorsement and his
tenure on Fox News to elect him governor? I doubt it.
Kansas MassResistance activist takes over pro-LGBT Library Board meeting with poster of obscene page from LGBT book for teens.
Forced arrogant officials to face the truth.
Triggers big change: No “Pride Month” displays this year in that leftist library!
How one activist can make a difference!
(Caution: Obscene image below.)
June 8, 2026
A library employee addresses the Library Board while standing next to our MassResistance activist's blow-up of a page from "Gender Queer."
This is another story of what one fearless and principled activist can do!
Kathy is a MassResistance activist in Topeka, Kansas. She’s also an attorney who has done First Amendment work. She was an English major in college and reads widely. And she’s interested in where her tax money goes.
Clearly, the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library has been using taxpayer funds to push radicalism and obscenity. The library’s close tie to the far-left American Library Association (ALA) helps support that extremism. (The library CEO, who attends Library Board meetings, “is recognized as a leader, spokesperson and presenter within the American Library Association” according to her bio.)
But Kathy has had enough of that radicalism and is confronting it – and forcing changes!
Last year: The library’s “Racial Justice Book Club”
As we reported a year ago, last June Kathy single-handedly forced the library to dismantle its ALA-inspired “Racial Justice Book Club.” Kathy joined the book club, and she soon discovered it was really a front for promoting radical anti-American propaganda and blatant racism. So she took matters into her own hands! She forced the organizers to face their lies and inconsistencies – and the club stopped meeting.
This year: The obscene books need to go!
Many Topeka citizens are upset with the library’s collection of obscene and pornographic LGBT books for children and teenagers. But Kathy has been willing to publicly and persistently confront that problem.
The ten members of the Board are not elected by the people. They are all appointed – seven by the city and three by the county. As a result, they have been arrogant and unresponsive to the public. They don’t post videos of their meetings (or even their public Zoom meetings).
The ten-member Topeka and Shawnee County Library Board.
But that hasn’t stopped Kathy!
The Library Board meets once a month. Kathy has been attending between seven to nine meetings a year, and consistently speaks up about the bad books and what’s in them. Her involvement clearly bothered the Board, but they’ve tried their best to ignore her.
At one point Kathy met briefly with one of the board members who said that she was upset that Kathy had held up some pictures from a book. “There were kids there who shouldn’t have seen that,” she told Kathy. She didn’t explain why the books are in the library for kids to check out.
On May 21, 2026, Kathy attended the monthly library board meeting with a blow-up poster of one of the more disgusting pages from one of the library’s offerings, Gender Queer. When the was called on to speak, she brought it up to the front and placed it near the podium.
This is a page from the book that Kathy decided the Library Board and their friends needed to see as clearly as possible!
Two employees of the library (left) and the president of the Friends of the Library (right) try to ignore the obvious while they're speaking.
The board chairman asked Kathy to turn the poster toward the wall, then got upset that she refused to do so. After Kathy was done speaking, she left the poster near the podium and stayed nearby to keep it there. The chairman backed down, and the poster remained there through the rest of the meeting.
This certainly got their attention. It appeared that all Board members were perturbed at the big poster displaying their library’s choice of a perverted LGBT book.
That book is just the tip of the iceberg of what’s on the shelves, as Kathy has been telling them – and which they should already know.
And now a big change: No Pride Month displays this year in the library!
On June 6, Kathy contacted us again. It certainly appears her efforts helped cause a big change!
It’s already a week into “Gay Pride Month,” she said, and there are no Pride displays in the library, and not even a hint of Drag Queen shows! The library’s events calendar for June shows no LGBT-related events at all.
“This is the first year with no Pride garbage. It’s an achievement!” she said.
Kathy plans to make good use of this momentum. There should be no pornography targeting children and teenagers there. She will continue to push hard on the Library Board and the city and county officials who appointed them. She’s also working with state legislators on a bill to ban public funding for ALA dues and curtail funding to libraries with pornographic books.
Final thoughts
Just one activist who’s unafraid (very important!), principled, and persistent can do great things! Imagine what a dozen could do. Or fifty.
There’s another important lesson here. In today’s politicized atmosphere, the Left is adept at using intimidation to cultivate fear among conservatives. If you act afraid of those people, it plays right into their hands and they’ll take full advantage. But as Kathy and so many others have found out, if you stand up to them, they become paper tigers.
Let’s join together and take back our libraries, schools, and other public spaces!
Please help us continue to do our uncompromising work!
