I have more videos and pictures to post later this week. If you have videos of pictures from today you want posted send them to me.

Former State Assembly candidate Ferial Masry has news regarding her intentions:

Candidate for Sheriff Geoff Dean (R) worked the crowd. Here he is speaking to Ventura City Council Members Brian Brennan and Ed Summers. I expect Geoff Dean's list of endorsements will be updated with new bipartisan additions soon.

I ran into a friend of this blog Denis O'Leary of Oxnard. Denis has been a long time activist for a variety of progressive causes.

State Assembly candidate Susan Jordan gave a speech that outlined her life story and the causes she supports. Her opponent Das Williams was there too. I will post his picture later. Das, if you have pictures from today you want posted send them in.

Here are a bunch of polls related to the labor day picnic and candidates that were there.

Click here for the news story from The Star.

Here is a video of Republican candidate for State Assembly Jeff Gorell at a Tea Party, with people that were protesting against Barack Obama, higher taxes, and more government spending.

Jeff Gorell has many reasons to be happy. He has a new addition to his family, no Republican has announced they are challenging him in the primary, and his latest announcement of his fundraising successes shows he is the clear front runner.

Click on continue reading to for the press release.

His major contributers include State Senator Tony Strickland. I am waiting to see if State Senator Strickland also invests in Mike Stoker, who is running in the 35th Assembly District. I don't know if Mike Stoker is planning a serious run for what is considered by many to be a safe Democratic district, but if Tony Strickland donates a large sum of money that will be a good sign for him.

Now that State Assembly candidate Jeff Gorell has consolidated Republican support for the nomination of his party he can focus on his next rival: The Avocado.

You should join Jeff Gorell on Facebook to see his updates. He answers questions on policy, shares photos from events, and posts his upcoming events.

Click here to join him on Facebook. There is a debate going on between his friends over the budget Democrats passed today. Facebook is the new way to directly communicate with politicians and to ask them questions.

Here is a short video of Jeff Gorell playing a Linkin Park song on the piano:

( Former Governor Pete Wilson, State Assembly Candidate Jeff Gorell, and State Senator Tony Strickland.)

State Assembly Candidate Jeff Gorell held a successful fundraiser last Thursday night raising crucial early money in his attempt to force out any Republican thinking of challenging him in the primary. So far his plan has been very successful as no legitimate challenger has emerged. That is impressive being that he is a social moderate that in the past positioned himself as a Schwarzenegger Republican. Add to that his professional work as a lobbyist for business groups and I could see a conservative populist giving him a serious challenge.

But for the time being he looks like he has cleared the primary field of any credible challengers and is already planning on a general election campaign.

Jeff Gorell told me he took my suggestion to get young people involved by giving them free tickets to events with prominent politicians. At least six high school aged students attended this event for free and he plans to expand on that number for upcoming events.

Jeff, call each of those students personally and ask them to come out and support your campaign at the next event. The investment will likely yield loyal supporters and create life long interest in those young people.

Here is a Youtube video of Jeff Gorell playing Linkin Park that I have posted before:

And here is a video of him campaigning at a Tea Party with a Tea Bag around his neck :

Blog entries like this remind me of the difference between newspapers and blogs. You can't watch a video in the print edition and it isn't newsworthy enough to be mentioned in a medium measured in column inches or by word count. I am posting this video because Jeff Gorell is running for state assembly, not because he is a musician. That being said he knows how to play.

I don't know all of his policies but personally he has always known him to be a modest and nice guy. Even though he has experience in public relations and lobbying I am not sure he has the skills most typical politicians posses.Maybe when he runs his first misleading ad I will think different.

Jeff Gorell checked in earlier from the Ventura Red Cross where I assume he is helping out because of the fire in Santa Barbara. Join him on Facebook to follow his campaign.

State Assembly candidate Jeff Gorell ( He is running to repalce termed out Assembly Member Audra Strickland) picked up the endorsement of the union representing California Highway patrol Officers.

Click on continue reading for details.

Any chances a candidate will emerge from the right to challenge him?

I doubt a serious contender will emerge on the right because he already has the support of Ventura County Republican Party leadership including State Senator Tony Strickland, State Assembly Member Audra Strickland, and County Supervisor Peter Foy.

The only real challenge might come from a Democrat. Check back for more information.

In unrelated law enforcement news The Simi Valley Police Department is asking you to sign up for their email updates. Click here for more information.

CLU Course Instructor and Republican candidate in the 2010 primary to replace Assembly Member Audra Strickland is in Sacramento this week with his class of graduate students. While there he is calling upon his connections to introduce his students to lawmakers, pundits, political writers, and more.

Jeff Gorell and his students will be blogging on the website 805politics.wordpress.com

Check it out and leave them some comments.

Jeff, thanks for inviting to speak to your students at CLU a few months back. It was a blast. Call me next semester to do it again.

I don't have a budget for prizes but if you are up for it try to guess the identity of these Ventura County politicians:

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And click on continue reading for a difficult bonus question!

Post your answers as a comment by clicking on continue reading.

Even though the primary to replace State Assembly Member Audra Strickland doesn't happen until June 2010 Jeff Gorell so far has been able to clear the field by raising money, getting endorsements, and putting a campaign team in place.

He has been sending out email for months. For the most current email click on continue reading.

In his recent email he is touting the endorsement of State Assembly Member Audra Strickland, who has opened a fundraising account to run for Secretary of State, an other Republican leaders.

(Side note: Audra Strickland's Chief of Staff has a trial set for later this month related to charges he pushed people outside a fundraiser for Senator Tony Strickland.)

He also is promising to run a transparent race without tricks to hide the sources of money funding his campaign. In the beginning this is easy for politicians but as a campaign raises more and more money it becomes increasingly challenging to hold true to a commitment to be transparent. I will be following Jeff Gorell's campaign to hold him to ideals.

Jeff Gorell, will you accept direct contributions from tobacco companies?

I know that you will be given donations from people that accept money from tobacco companies, like Hannah-Beth Jackson did in her state senate campaign, but it should be easy to announce you will not solicit or accept direct contributions from tobacco companies or their lobbyists.

Let me know and I will post your response.

I was invited to speak to Jeff Gorell's graduate level advocacy class at California Lutheran University (CLU) in Thousand Oaks and I know Jeff is a talented candidate with a background ( prosecutor, military member, business owner) that will make him a formidable opponent even if Democrats recruit a great candidate.

The best chance Democrats have is to tag him as a lobbyist and repeat it over and over. But with his service as a member of the military and as a former prosecutor the battle might be over message repetition.

With the close results in the last campaign for the 37th assembly seat, even though Democrats didn't put serious money in until very late, plus redistricting coming up this very well could be a true contest.

But that's if Democrats find a strong candidate.

Now, a barely related question: How come Republicans seem to always use Assemblyman and Assemblywoman but Democrats use the easier to use Assembly Member?

Seems like firemen are now firefighters and policemen are now police officers. Why is the Republican caucus behind the times?

Click here for Jeff Gorell's website.

Click here for past entries on the campaign to replace Assemblymember Strickland.

Jeff Gorell has announced that State Assembly Member Audra Strickland has endorsed him for the 2010 election to replace her in the state assembly. With his early endorsements, money, and organization I expect he has successfully cleared the primary field.

I have been hearing rumors that Audra Strickland is thinking of running for the County Board of Supervisors but I am unclear which seat she is looking at. I have heard she was thinking of running against Linda Parks, but I doubt she would run against a popular incumbent. I have also heard that Peter Foy is thinking of running for State Insurance Commissioner now that Steve Poizner ( Will this connection to this politician hurt his chances at all? ) is running for governor.

All of this adds up to a game of musical chairs. Term limits has created more open seats, which somewhat levels the playing field , but it has not created the class of citizen-legislator that we were promised. Term limits have made many problems worse. We have the same people planning on running for another seat instead of doing their jobs. Why should a candidate compromise in the legislature if they need to win in a party primary to keep going in their career? Term limits appeals to the people that demand a hard line from their candidates.

Before Christmas I spoke to Jeff Gorell's graduate class in public advocacy at CLU. I came away more impressed with his demeanor, intelligence, and his dedication to teaching. Jeff has worked as a lobbyist, in PR and has ran for office before so he does have experience in the field. In addition he is a lawyer and served in the military.

Jeff, it was great talking to your class and thank you for inviting me. I am glad as a Democrat I don't live in the 38th district which makes it so I don't have to make a tough choice to vote for you or your opponent.

I asked Jeff Gorell about a few questions on a previous entry and he gave me some answers. I paraphrased his responses.

1. Does Jeff Gorell support civil unions? Many conservatives, like Tony Strickland, opposed them because they thought they would lead the way for gay marriage. How would have Jeff Gorell voted on the law that created civil unions in California?

Jeff said he isn't opposed to civil unions that provide for many of the same financial and legal obligations and benefits of marriage but he did vote for Proposition 8. I took his statement to mean he would have voted in favor of creating civil unions in California. If I am wrong I am sure he will correct me.

2. Would Jeff Gorell sign Grover Norquist's no new tax pledge or is he open to raising taxes like the governor or the Democratically controlled legislature?

Jeff said he is adamantly opposed to new taxes and he has lobbied against higher taxes in the past. He isn't a big fan of pledges that bind the hands of legislators from negotiating with the other party though. He does support the efforts that Republicans in Sacramento are doing to stop tax increases because he believes they end up hurting the ability for Californians to create, attract, and keep jobs here.

Thanks Jeff. I appreciate a candidate that is open to the public to taking questions.

Click here to see his website.

Jeff Gorell is wasting no time getting ready to run for termed out State Assembly Member Audra Strickland's seat in 2010. I don't know enough about him yet but if he can show he can compromise in the state legislature and get bills passed that will show to many people he is a break with the current crop of Ventura County Republican leaders. Have you seen the articles about Audra Strickland's and Tom McClintock's inability to get anything done in the state legislature?

His reason in starting his campaign so early is that:

Organizing an effective campaign now will enable Jeff to "clear the field" so he can avoid a divisive, contested June primary election and focus his resources on winning the all-important November 2010 election.

So far it seemed like the safe bet as he already has endorsements from Simi Valley city council members and many others that want to help in discouraging anyone to challenge him in the primary.

I have plenty of questions for Jeff Gorell to understand what type of Republican he is more.

With about two years to go we have the time. I remember from his last run against Audra Strickland that he seemed to be an Arnold Schwarzenegger type Republican.

1. Does Jeff Gorell support civil unions? Many conservatives, like Tony Strickland, opposed them because they thought they would lead the way for gay marriage. How would have Jeff Gorell voted on the law that created civil unions in California?

2. Would Jeff Gorell sign Grover Norquist's no new tax pledge or is he open to raising taxes like the governor or the Democratically controlled legislature?

3. Who, if anyone, did he support in the Republican primaries for president this year?

If you know the answer to these questions, please let us all know.