Former Mayor Frank Scotto Announces Official Bid for State Assembly

Former Torrance Mayor Frank Scotto announced his bid for State Assembly about one month ago.

Yet only today did I finally get my hands on the press release he had issued.

Really.

His time to run was in 2014.

That year, he had the momentum at his back, since he was wrapping up his popular tenure as mayor of Torrance.

Now he's running for state assembly, four years later?

What do you think?

July 20, 2017

Contact: Frank Scotto

Frank@FrankScotto.com

(310) 678-1379

Former Torrance Mayor Frank Scotto Announces Candidacy for Assembly

Leadership With Integrity
 

Torrance, California - Today, Former Torrance Mayor, Frank Scotto (R-Torrance) announced his candidacy for California State Assembly in the 66th District. Scotto has called Torrance home for the past 60 years. He comes from a background of service, like his time spent in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. After leaving the Army at the Rank of Sergeant, Frank opened local gasoline service stations. In 1975, Scotto started his own tow truck company, Frank Scotto Towing, which provides emergency services to a number of local emergency automobile assistance programs like the Freeway Service Patrol, California Highway Patrol, and the Automobile Club of Southern California.

Scotto continued his public service in Torrance during two decades serving as a Civil Service Commissioner, City Council Member, Mayor Pro-tem, and most recently Mayor. Scotto has a history as a forward thinker and a reformer. He was integral in bringing economic development projects to Torrance like the Toyota Sports Complex while also encouraging conservation by leading the charge to plant 1,000 trees among the community.

Ahead of his announcement, Scotto said, "I am extremely grateful for the outpouring of support I have received. I vow to be a strong voice for South Bay Residents in Sacramento and bring home the support and services that we need."

Frank Scotto, former Mayor of Torrance
Candidate for State Assembly

“In talking with the people of this community, the message I keep hearing is one of being ignored. I was encouraged to run because of a lack of leadership in Sacramento, and we are not getting our fair share of the tax benefits. Sacramento politicians continue to tax the hardest working families while raising the price of everything from a gallon of gas to the food at the grocery store. If I am elected, I promise to fight to improve our quality of life."

“Frank Scotto understands the voice of his constituents and his neighbors,” states Heidi Ann Ashcraft Torrance City Councilwomen. “I have known Frank for 35 years, and he has proven time and time again to be a hard-working small business owner who is dedicated to his community."

The 66th Assembly District includes the South Bay of Los Angeles County and Torrance, Redondo Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes, Manhattan Beach, Gardena, Los Angeles, Hermosa Beach, Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Lomita, Palos Verdes Estates, and West Carson.

Paid for by Frank Scotto for Assembly 2018
FPPC# Pending
1112 I Street, Ste. 110
Sacramento, CA 95814

FINALLY! David Hadley Drops Out of Governor's Race (What Will He Do With the Money He Raised?)

It's about time!

I wrote two emails to David Hadley for jumping into the Governor's race.

What was he thinking?

Did he really think that he had a chance?!

No way.

Here are the comments I sent to him.

Bye everyone!

From my first email:

I do not support your bid for governor.

Then I sent him this email:

I am glad that you were my assemblyman for one term and the State Assembly.

I'm very disappointed that you're choosing to run for governor. You are not a fit for that office. You served only one term in the State Assembly. I do not like that you didn't help me and the Ceach Cities Republicans when the corrupt Central Committee was attacking us.

I will always commend the successes that you accomplished in the State Assembly. School choice for military families and civil asset forfeiture reform were wonderful accomplishments. I still thank you for making those reforms happen.

Now for the tough love.

If you really care about setting the state of California on a proper course you would take a hint and drop this foolish bid for governor.

And I am well aware that it's Charles Munger who is floating this bid for governor. This is just controlled failure. I want to see controlled success.

Please drop out. And you have my full permission to print this letter to send it to your superiors, your campaign managers,  anybody who's working on your staff. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Arthur Schaper

President of the Ceach Cities Republicans

Well, Hadley dropped out.

Finally!

Here is the write-up in the Los Angeles Times:

Republican David Hadley drops out ofCalifornia governor's race two weeks after entering

Former GOP state lawmaker David Hadley announced Wednesday he is dropping out of the gubernatorial race two weeks after he jumped in.

In an email to supporters, Hadley said he concluded that he could not win the race despite receiving encouragement since announcing his candidacy.

“No matter how much preparation you put in, there are certain things you cannot learn until you step into the arena,” he wrote. “What I have learned since I announced my candidacy has led me to conclude that I cannot responsibly ask donors, endorsers, volunteers, supporters or my family to invest in this campaign right now…. We would not have the time and resources to make the case we need to make to all California voters.”

Addition--there is no way that he can make the case for this bid. None.

Hadley, 52, is a social moderate and fiscal conservative who some thought had the potential to galvanize the GOP establishment in next year’s gubernatorial race. The former assemblyman from Manhattan Beach, who was the third Republican to enter the race, said he had won the endorsement of a majority of the state’s GOP legislators and would have raised more than $1 million in July.

"Galvanize the GOP Establishment." Now that's an oxymoron if I ever read one!

Hadley wrote that a factor in his decision was the possibility that because of the state’s top-two voting system, more GOP gubernatorial candidates would increase the likelihood that two Democrats would face off in the general election — a repeat of what happened in the state's 2016 U.S. Senate contest.

“I am not prepared to increase the likelihood of that outcome by pressing on in a crowded field,” he wrote, adding that all donations would be refunded and that all of his endorsers were free to back other candidates.

The two remaining candidates in the field are businessman John Cox and Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach).

I am leaning toward Allen at this time. No official endorsements at this time, however.

Cox, who has poured $3 million into his own bid, on Monday announced that he would contribute an additional dollar for every dollar donated to Hadley’s campaign, up to $1 million, in July.

Hadley did not mention Cox’s announcement in his email to supporters, which caught his own donors and party insiders off guard Wednesday evening.

I am not surprised, however.

He did address Cox and Allen, urging them to avoid focusing on tumult in Washington and focus on California’s needs. He also urged them to drop out if they could not run a race that has a chance of winning — an uphill battle in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by 19 points in voter registration.

Final Reflection

This is another victory for me because it's another defeat for the RINO-led LA County GOP Central Committee, specifically the 66th AD with Janice Webb as chair.

She has another failure on her record, indicating that she needs to go!

WHAT? Daid Hadley dropped out!
Thwarted again!!

Did you know that David Hadley raked in a pretty good haul during his two week bid for Governor?

Check it out:

(Click on image for larger view)

What will happen to all that money, I wonder?

What indeed?

Let's just be glad that Hadley has dropped out, and more wannabe candidates take a hint and go away.

Election 2016: What California Republicans Need to Learn ...

Steve Greenhut

In my view, Hadley was the toughest loss. He is thoughtful and effective — a principled limited-government guy who was able to work with liberal Democrats to accomplish some meaningful things. That sounds improbable, but his co-authorship of an important bill reforming the state’s abusive asset-forfeiture laws was a key to its passage. Frankly, Hadley fit the model I’ve often touted — offer principled libertarian-oriented candidates who can do a good job explaining our issues to the public. Never mind about that idea. -- Stephen Greenhut, "California GOP’s Final Death Throes"

Hadley voted against every single tax increase.

He put together an incredible fundraising machine based on voluntary donations instead of forced unionism and coerced dues.

He talked to and reached out to every section of the South Bay.

There was not one event sponsored by city representatives that Hadley would not miss.

And yet ... he lost.

No wonder Greenhut was crushed about Hadley's loss.

And yet, he writes earlier in his article:

No one was surprised that Assemblyman David Hadley of Torrance lost his seat. The 66th Assembly District in the Los Angeles South Bay area has an 8-point Democratic advantage. That makes it more Republican than other districts in Los Angeles County, but it’s still tough sledding.

The slant turned into a 10 point advantage. When the district was first carved out by the Citizens Commission, however, it was only a D+3 advantage, and Republican statewide candidates Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman carried the district (although by a slim margin, and they eventually lost their bids for office).

Registration is down for Republicans, and the investment to improve this stark disadvantage needs to be fixed. Power brokers and major donors seemed content to allow a Pro-Business and a Pro-Labor faction fight for power in Sacramento, regardless of political parties. Prop 14 has not helped.

Add to this mess a fawning, corrupt media with left-leaning intentions--still-- plus endorsements from Governor Jerry Brown and President Barack Obama, and the forces were just to great for the Republican incumbent.

When Hadley was elected in 2014, it was the first time a Republican won that seat in 16 years. “Republicans across California sent a clear message that with the right candidate that matches the district and the right team behind them, Republicans are more than competitive,” GOP consultant Mitch Zak told the Daily Breeze. “And Republican philosophies and ideologies are alive and well in California.”

It amazes me how often writers and reporters get this information messed up.

The last assemblyman to represent the greater South Bay (Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Torrance, etc) was 1992.

Former Palos Verdes mayor Steve Kuykendall would win election to the state assembly in a district that covered the Palos Verdes Peninsula, San Pedro, and parts of Long Beach. He later ran for Congress and won in 1998. Then lost that re-election bid in 2000.

The moral of this short foray into Congressional history? Greater factors are at play in the South Bay, where the aerospace base has gone away, while wealthy, liberal-leaning interests have invaded pushing pet Big Green projects. Add to that the power of the labor unions and the rising liberal sentiment of illegal immigration and its enablers, and a perfect Democratic storm emerges.

About California Republican ideologies ....

Hadley voted for SB 10, allowing illegal aliens to purchase health insurance on the Obamacare exchanges. That was the worst vote he cast (worst than the assisted suicide vote, was intellectually consistent with his libertarian credentials). A number of well-connected and active Republicans refused to support him after other votes, too.

A California Republican Party which dabbles in amnesty and unionism will not last long. Where is the integrity? Where is the trust and consistency?

This is crucial. A vision and a consensus are necessary if the opposition wants to succeed.

Now, about Hadley's grassroots vision, which I applaud ...

The South Bay One Hundred in 2014 gave way to the South Bay 300. Residents, citizens, supporters throughout the South Bay. This forum would serve as the endorsement body to ensure one Republican candidate would compete for a seat. Hadley's long-term goal with this extended network? Counterbalance the public sector unions.

Election 2016, and Hadley still lost. The truth is that a South Bay 1000, with each member contributing $500, would never overcome the labor unions' unfair, unconstitutional fundraising advantage. What's $500,000 when labor unions will pour in ten times--twenty times--that amount of money if needed? They can draw on massive funds to make that happen.

Then add voter fraud, voter apathy, Prop 14, and mismanaged State GOP priorities, and Hadley lost.

It's a sad lesson to learn that the hardest working elected official can go unnoticed or rejected just because of party label, or because special interests drown a district in big money. The same fate has fallen on incumbents from local office who seek higher office across the country, too. How many incumbents were kicked out after 30 years of "service" in the state capital or Washington DC, too?

RPLAC Has Not Responded to Omar Navarro's Complaint About AD-66 Chair's By-Laws Violation--Why?

November 21, 2016.

The AD-66 Central Committee met in another location, without informing three  members of the committee.

Only one person received an apology.

That is wrong.

I have submitted a few complaints about this action.

And yet I have received no response.

What is going on?

Omar Navarro, the Vice-President of the Beach Cities Republicans, was particularly distressed about being shut out of the meeting.

He sent the following remarks to Executive Director Jason Maruca and By-Laws Committee Chairman Gary Aminoff:

Look , I wonder what the party is going to do about Janice Webb changing venues and not notifying me. I'm very simple and will say I definitely have the interest of Chair on the central Committee. I find it fascinating on the day I would announce that I would challenge Janice for central committee chair, I would not get any call.

I expect a proper shot at Chair of the central committee. If the party wants this internal bickering to stop coming out public then give me a proper shot at what should have happened in that meeting.

I'm going to say I don't take the County party seriously because it's a joke with no real brand. When I walk into a Republican group. I'm sorry to say but I see a dying crowd of people within the next 10 to 20 years. After most have fallen I will be here.

I represent millennials and Latinos. A demographic which democrats do such a great job of exploiting. I'm no longer going to argue but pushback hard if the party doesn't realize the reality of what's going on.  

What is going on?

This lack of communication is hurting the party, and it needs to stop.

Every person, young or old, mus know that they have a seat at the table, and that their efforts and skills are welcome.

Why all this secrecy? Why have the Executive Director of RPLAC and the By-Laws Committee Chairman said nothing about Janice Webb's violation of RPLAC by-laws?

Contact Jason Maruca and Gary Aminoff.

Let's restore transparency and accountability to Los Angeles County!

Let's #MakeRPLACGreatAgain!

Gary Aminoff: By-Laws Committee Chairman
gary@lagop.org
(310) 387-6900

Jason Maruca: RPLAC Executive Director
jason@lagop.org

(818) 558-7600

Eric Linder Embraced SEIU Endorsement. How Did That Work Out?

One Republican in the state of California embraced the endorsement of the Service Employees International Union:

Eric Linder.

How did that work out for him?

He lost.

Eric Linder

Here are the numbers which show by how much he lost:

Sabrina Cervantes

(Party Preference: DEM)              70,599   53.8%

Eric F. Linder

(Party Preference: REP)                60,745   46.2%

What did the Orange County Register have to say about Linder?

Several times in the last year, Assemblyman Eric Linder, R-Corona, pushed the green “yes” button on his desk when most of his Republican colleagues pressed “no.”

He broke from his party to vote for labor-backed bills requiring more disclosure of health care rates, new layoff protections for civil servants and a system for workers to collect unpaid wages from employers.

Notice that Linder was voting for Big Labor interests.

Those interests are not in concert with the Republican Party.

Those interests are not in concert with the best interests of middle class.

In fact, the labor union agenda is less and less supportive of the needs of working Californians!

The OC Register articles continues:

California’s largest public employee union supports tax increases and government spending, so it usually finds more in common with Democrats. Its endorsement of Linder – the son of a Mexican immigrant who first won election pledging not to raise taxes – has left some politicos scratching their heads, and others wondering if it signals an emerging trend of labor making nice with the GOP.

“He is the kind of guy who is going to start changing the Republican Party,” said SEIU’s political director, Alma Hernandez. “We’re willing to spend money and help good Republicans get elected.”

Does anyone not see the issues with this affiliation?

Linder had pledged not to raise taxes.

Then he turns around and supports the tax hikes!

By the way, the SEIU is aggressive as well as liberal. They have blocked streets, harassed taxpayers. They threatened to go on strike earlier this month.

He also voted for SB 10, the bill that allowed illegal aliens to purchase health insurance on the Obamacare state exchanges.

Unbelievable!

Sources from the Riverside area--where Eric Linder represented--noticed that he had not prepared any kind of volunteer base or GOTV operation.

I guess he thought that the SEIU would meet all those needs.

Guess what? It did not work.

Linder lost.

Check out the union's agenda in supporting Linder:

“We’re not going to endorse a Republican just to endorse a Republican,” Araby said. “They are going to have to want a relationship with us and think about how they can best represent our members.”

Turning Republicans into unions puppets--that was the name of the game.

This kind of political double-dealing has plagued Republicans looking for more power and influence in the state of California.

This one more misguided example of the bad advice that out-of-touch consultants and liberal-leaning GOP donors are embracing.

Identity politics and special interest pandering is not going to save the California GOP.

It sure did not help Linder, who lost an assembly seat with a R+5 registration!

Awful.

Final Reflection

What have we learned from Linder's mistakes?

I hope that Republican leadership in the state of California realize that outreach for the sake of outreach is meaningless in the long run.

Inclusiveness absent from principle is counter-productive and even destructive.

Republicans run for office on a set of promises, They have to keep those promises.

The Republicans running for local or state office cannot arrogantly assume that Republican voters will hold their noses for key vote-betrayals.

No. They won't.

What Happened to Hadley (And Why All is Not Lost in Deep Blue California!)

Back to David Hadley ...

He put together an incredible fundraising machine: the South Bay 100.

The members of this group contributed a set amount to join, and they participated in key activities throughout the election season to assist Hadley and his victory.

For his re-election bid, he launched the South Bay 300 ... and I joined this time!

The membership already grew to 412 members by election day!

And still Hadley lost.

As long as labor unions can drain their members of coerced dues and direct their funding to any targeted district they want to ...

As long as the unions can mobilizing their members--who receive pay as part of their activism--to pound the pavement, knock doors, and intimidate their fellow employees to vote a certain way ...

As long as Big Labor can infiltrate key legislative districts and outspend the opposition at will ...

Candidates who rely on voluntary donations from business interests will never have the same amount of money, or closely compete with the rapacious labor unions?

They take money and they do not have to spend it on overhead,  recruitment, retention, or anything else.

The funds are used to further their perverse political agenda.

Hadley's South Bay 100, then 300, and what would have been 500 was an effective organization.

He wanted to counter-balance the public sector unions to ensure consensus and cooperation among conservatives. One Republican would run for a seat, and all the political power of multiple endorsements and donations would hasten them to victory.

Richard Nixon won his Congressional election in the once swing-district Whittier area in the late 1940s following the consensus building from the Committee of One Hundred.

What changed between then and now?

Public sector employees did not bargaining collectively. They did not have the right to!

That all changed with Governor Moonbeam.

Three times now activists and concerned taxpayers have tried to limit the power of public sector union collective bargaining in the state of California. The latest iteration was Prop 32 in 2012, and that measure failed.

California needs federal intervention--NOW!

What about turnout?

That was a featured problem, too.

Republicans did not turn out in larger numbers.

They did not turn out in the primary. 44% of Republican voters in AD-66 did not come out to vote, while larger numbers of Democrats did, since Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton were battling all the way to the end.

What a shame. I had hoped that Ted Cruz would have continued to battle through after Indiana, even though he got flattened in the Hoosier state. His decision to fight on notwithstanding would have helped a number of down-ticket contests in California.

Here are the numbers on the voter turnout for the past three general elections in AD-66, too, in order to see how low voter turnout turned out:

Election 2012

June 5 primary candidates:

•  Al Muratsuchi: 27,360 
•  Craig Huey: 26,298 
•  Nathan Mintz: 13,914

November 6 General election candidates:

•  Al Muratsuchi: 102,136 
•  Craig Huey: 84,372

General Election Vote: 186,508

Election 2014

June 3 Blanket primary candidates:

 Al Muratsuchi: 30,439  - Incumbent Muratsuchi first assumed office in 2012.

 David Hadley: 30,996 

November 4 General election candidates:

 Al Muratsuchi: 53,695

 David Hadley: 54,401 

General Election Vote: 108,096

Election 2016

Primary

[hide]California State Assembly, District 66 Blanket Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Al Muratsuchi	48.73%	53,295
	Republican	David Hadley Incumbent	44.58%	48,755
	Democratic	Mike Madrigal	6.68%	7,307
Total Votes				109,357

General

100.0% ( 248 of 248 ) precincts partially
reporting as of November 25, 2016, 5:56 p.m.  

Visit the County Reporting Status page to determine when a county has submitted its latest report.

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Candidate		Votes	Percent
	Al Muratsuchi (Party Preference: DEM)	96,341	53.7%
*	David Hadley (Party Preference: REP)	82,954	46.3%

Supporters--including myself--had hoped that the final tally would not determine the winner until two or three weeks later, just like in Election 2014.

This time, it's crystal clear that David Hadley lost.

How many voted in this election, though (based on tallies through November 25th)?

General Election Vote: 179,295

Voter turnout was not the problem apparently if one sees how this pace of turnout continues upward.

Nearly the same number of people came out to vote this year as four years ago.

The question remains, however -- how many more Democrats compared to Republicans voted in 2012 v. 2016?

The Big Labor phalanx has too much money.

Speaker Rendon and "Union Whore" Al Muratsuchi

Another article on the state assembly race in AD-66 spotlighted how Al Muratsuchi is another union puppet who will do the will of the special interest political class instead of listen to constituents and respond to their needs.

Speaker Anthony Rendon has openly declared that he will do more for Latinos.

What about the rest of the state of California? Is he going to discriminate against the rest of us because our skin is not the same color as everyone else, or because we do not have Spanish surnames?

Rendon says he's served with Muratsuchi and with Hadley. "There's a vast difference between the two."

Back in Torrance, Muratsuchi, who is challenging one of the most vulnerable Republican legislators of the election cycle, Assemblyman David Hadley of Manhattan Beach, called his campaign a “statewide cause.”

Once again, the South Bay was the epicenter of control in the state of California. Once again, Republicans found themselves fighting for the heart and mind of California. This time, though, David Hadley and his team of volunteers and operatives worked their hearts and lungs out. But what can anyone do to fight a corrupt machine which takes money and resources away from taxpayers by force? That is not a fair and balanced fight, pure and simple.

“Democrats from throughout the state of California are coming together here in the South Bay,” Muratsuchi said.

And Republicans from all over the state came to the South Bay, too. Their service was greatly appreciated. Why weren't those Democrats paying attention to the needs of their constituents in their own districts? Don't they have any sense of respect or responsibility for the men and women who elected them to office?

No fewer than 10 current Assembly members up and down the state, some from as far as Sacramento and Salinas, sent their staff to knock on doors and deliver lawn signs for Muratsuchi, who lost the seat in 2014 by 700 votes.

Isn't that against the law? State staffers were driving down to the South Bay to swing Assembly District 66 back into Democratic clutches. Were we paying their salaries for this activity?

State and county Democratic Party committees have spent more on Muratsuchi’s race than any other — more than $2 million of the $14.8 million they’ve spread across the most crucial races so far in their quest to regain a super-majority in both houses of the Legislature.

Look at those numbers. $2 million! And then there were the PACS and other special interest monies flowing into the districts. I was walking precincts in the Torrance area, and the residents complained repeatedly about all the mail plugging up their mail boxes. The Democratic operatives sent two mailers at the same time, deluging boxes and demanding the biggest turnout imaginable.

The turnout was actually lower than expected, and ironically the lower turnout hurt Assemblyman David Hadley.

Final Reflection

As long as corrupt and officious labor unions are paying the Democratic Party's bills, California voters cannot expect anything but a raw deal that benefits a rogue political class at the expense of the rest of us. Another limited, elitist cabal has replaced the feudalist hierarchies of centuries past. How much longer will this illicit political insanity endure?

Jack Cade types will explode across the state of California very soon. The anti-Trump riots will be nothing compared to the outrage of another Silent Majority, fed up with Sacramento miscreants taking what does not belong to them. They will be reject the backroomd frauds of Sacramento politicking which steals from those who worked diligently and deserve at the minimum the right to lead their lives in peace.

The "union whore" phalanx, typified by Al Muratsuchi, will be the further undoing of the Democratic Party in the state of California.