South O.C. race is getting ugly

O.C. Supervisor Tom Wilson says that his Republican opponent for the 73rd Assembly District, Laguna Niguel Council member Mimi Walters, supported the Davis car tax. Apparently Wilson is hip to the fact that Walters is leading in this crowded race, and he is in full panic mode. Walters says he is full of it, and that Wilson doctored an article to make his point. Sounds like Wilson is taking advice from Cristi Cristich, the now-notorious candidate for the 70th Assembly District who famously doctored a letter from Congressman Chris Cox in order to fake an endorsement from him.

The irony of all this is that Wilson is supporting Prop. 55, a measure that is hated by all taxpayer groups. If anything, Wilson is the squish in this race, not Walters. Steve Greenhut, perhaps my favorite editorial writer, slammed Wilson, Cristich and Walters this past Sunday in a very poignant piece about GOP RINOs (Republicans in Name Only). You can read it at http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=82006&section=COMMENTARY&subsection=COMMENTARY&year=2004&month=2&day=23.

While Walters and Wilson duke it out, the other Republican in the race, Jim Gibson, is gathering support from the right wing of the local GOP. Walters recently told a gathering of Republicans that she favored removing abortion from the California Republican Party’s platform. Bad move Walters! That is a great way to get the pro-lifers on the warpath. They are blitzing south Orange County and passing Gibson materials around at churches and door to door. If Walters and Wilson wipe each other out, Gibson might well win this thing.


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