Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
California's 2018 gubernatorial race has Republicans searching for candidates to run for the position's primary.
A number of GOP candidates have announced that they will run for the position. The most recent to do so is former Republican Assemblyman David Hadley.
Kevin Faulconer, Mayor of San Diego, was expected to give the party a chance at winning the position. But Faulconer announced on Friday that he would not be entering the race after all.
Sean Walsh, a Republican strategist and partner at Wilson Walsh Consulting in San Francisco, joined Take Two's Libby Denkmann to discuss more.
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer said he's not running for governor. House majority leader Kevin McCarty and state party chair Jim Brulte were reportedly lobbying for him to run. How big of a blow is Kevin Faulconer's decision?
"It's an expensive blow. California is very media-centric when you're running for office. It costs a lot of money to get not only your message, but your name ID out. So that's going to cost Republicans a lot more money to put a candidate forward.
I will tell you that I think the Republican Party under Jim Brulte's leadership has been very smart. They have relied on the Democrats legislature going a little bit too far, like the single-payer and the civil war that's broken out in Sacramento to send a message that we need some balance there, so I think Brulte's got a strategy to pick up seats regardless of how well the governor's race actually does."
To hear the full conversation, click the blue player above.