RINOs Strike Out

On Sept. 5, the OC Republican Party held its first round of interviews for Mission Viejo council endorsements. Four Republicans are among six council candidates for two open seats. Vying for the two endorsements were Cathy Schlicht, Ed Sachs, Frank Ury and Wendy Bucknum.

The Republican Party has a history of rejecting candidates who have campaigned for Democrats or taken campaign donations from labor unions. In 2010, the Party rejected Trish Kelley because she had campaigned in two city elections for Democrat Dave Leckness. In 2006, Lance MacLean wasn’t endorsed because he posted Democrat Dan Joseph’s campaign sign in his yard.

Frank Ury campaigned for Dave Leckness in February 2010 and November 2010. Wendy Bucknum campaigned for Leckness in February 2010 and November 2010, and she posted a union campaign sign in her yard.

Why did these two RINOs bother to apply for a Republican endorsement? The fix was in.

The first round of interviews was conducted by six GOP endorsing committee members: Mark Bucher, Mary Young, Matt Harper, Ray Grangoff, Chandra Chell and Thomas Gordon. Bucher is outspoken against labor unions, and he’s a proponent for Prop 32 on the November ballot to stop special interest and labor unions from influencing elections. Mission Viejo residents in the audience spoke in opposition to Ury and Bucknum, showing photos and campaign literature from 2010. Ury and Bucknum were in the photos, campaigning for a Democrat, and a union yard sign was pictured in front of Bucknum’s house.

Ury and Bucknum should have been rejected on the spot. However, Ury is a friend of Buchner and Granoff, and Wendy Bucknum works as a lobbyist – it’s her job to influence elected officials. The endorsing committee voted 4-2 (Chell and Gordon dissenting) to recommend that the OC GOP Central Committee endorse Ury and Bucknum. Because only two seats are up for election in November, the endorsing committee didn’t vote on Cathy Schlicht and Ed Sachs. A writer for a blog that Mark Bucher funds immediately ran with a story, giving a false impression Ury and Bucknum had been endorsed by the entire GOP Central Committee.

The type of hypocrisy shown by Bucher, Young, Harper and Granoff is what gave rise to the Tea Party in the first place. The 4-2 decision caused great offense, particularly among Tea Partiers on the OC GOP Central Committee.

To complete the process of getting endorsed, Ury and Bucknum needed approval of two-thirds of the Republican Central Committee’s 75 voting members.

On Sept. 17, the Central Committee began reviewing the recommendations. Early in the meeting, a similar situation unfolded with the Fullerton endorsements, where a good ol’ boy candidate failed with 31 votes in opposition. Mark Bucher saw the writing on the wall and left the meeting. Assemblywoman Diane Harkey, who had been lobbying for lobbyist Bucknum, also left abruptly.

Mission Viejo was up next. City Watchdog Larry Gilbert presented much of the same information he had given on Sept. 5 in opposition to Ury and Bucknum. When he displayed a poster with enlarged photos of Bucknum’s union sign and Ury and Bucknum campaigning for a Democrat, the sense of shock in the audience was audible. Gilbert added that Ury had contributed to a Political Action Committee to oppose the GOP’s endorsed candidates in 2010.

It was over quickly, with a unanimous vote of the entire Central Committee to reject Ury and Bucknum for the endorsement. Apparently, lobbyist Bucknum hadn’t wined and dined enough of the voting members. Ury hasn’t been much of a Republican since the 1990s, and most of those currently on the Central Committee don’t go back that far.

Only Cathy Schlicht and Ed Sachs are endorsed by any Republican group. On Sept. 22, they received the endorsement of Saddleback Republican Assembly, which carries the endorsement of the California Republican Assembly.