Scott Baugh – say it ain’t so!

When Scott Baugh was first elected to replace Tom Fuentes as Chair of the Republican Party of Orange County I had high hopes that he would unite the party and that he would stay clean, despite the problems that marred his first year in the state legislature. Those problems stemmed from a scandal involving Baugh’s first Assembly campaign. In that race, Republicans convinced a friend of Baugh named Laurie Campbell to run as a Democrat, in order to dilute the real Democrat’s vote total. The truth got out, Campbell was thrown out of the race, and Baugh’s handlers convinced one of his GOP opponents to drop out. Baugh won and now he runs the OC GOP. And now that organization is in big trouble.

Kudos to OC Register Peggy Lowe for her eye-opening story in today’s paper, revealing that the OC GOP is still using contractors known as “bounty hunters” to register new voters, despite the scandal that has erupted in the 34th State Senate District (as reported by my co-blogger Claudio Gallegos). Say it ain’t so! This story is so embarrassing that the California GOP has suspended the OC GOP from its bounty program. And the scandal is threatening the party’s choice for the 34th, liberal Lynn Daucher.

I have been told by insiders that the Republicans for a New Majority feel that they have the right to pick the candidate for the 34th, because they bankrolled much of the voter registration work that gave the GOP hope in this district. Ackerman buckled to their pressure, driving conservative Van Tran out of the race and advancing Daucher, even though most county Republicans have no love for her, and her status as a carpetbagger will not be well-received by the voters.

The right thing to do would be for Baugh and the New Majority to own up to their mess and suspend their own bounty program, for the good of the party. It won’t happen. They are so desperate to win in the 34th that they have lost their collective minds. And now of course conservative Lupe Moreno is threatening Daucher’s chances of winning the primary. Moreno won’t be tainted by the registration scandal, but Daucher and her handlers will. That bodes ill for the RINO.

In related news, Baugh suddenly decided to pay for Ryan Gene Williams’ ballot statement after I wrote about it yesterday. You’re welcome Ryan! Good move Baugh – but now you need to clean up your registration efforts in the 34th.

You can read Lowe’s article at http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1037904.php.

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"Admin" is just editors Vern Nelson, Greg Diamond, or Ryan Cantor sharing something that they mostly didn't write themselves, but think you should see. Before December 2010, "Admin" may have been former blog owner Art Pedroza.