
The Republican Conservative Coalition met this weekend, concurrent with the California Republican Assembly Convention. They were two different events, both held in venues close to each other.
I did not attend the CRA Convention as I am still banned from the group, nor was I present at the RCC.
That said, my phone lit up yesterday mid-day with the news that George Yang, and not Steve Frank, who was one of the founders of the RCC was elected its chair. The vote was 31-20.
I had asked questions about Yang who had never been a Central Committee Member or had ever held a leadership position in any GOP group before. Those were my only questions regarding his qualification to lead the RCC.
Steve Frank has been a warrior for the conservative cause for 50+ years. He fondly talks about 1968, like it was yesterday. (It was 55 years ago and your intrepid blogger, who is in his 50’s was not alive then)
… and this summarizes the situation. Your intrepid blogger attempted to intervene on behalf of Frank when it became known that Yang was making calls and running a drill. Frank’s response to your intrepid blogger’s attempt to help him was to send an email, apparently BCC’ed to a ton of people, in an attempt to attack the credibility of this blog under the guise of asking for a revision to a post I put up.
Cc’ed on the email were two of the most disloyal members of the RCC whose actions caused major damage to the RCC’s efforts to effect change at the 2023 CAGOP Convention, Dan Brown and Michelle Guerra. Apparently, Frank in an attempt to save himself saw a chance to advance his cause by ingratiating himself to the aforementioned two. It was like I had never worked for Mr. Frank or helped him in his run for CAGOP Chair.
A mutual friend indicated that Steve said he had 22 votes lined up going in to the weekend. He got 20. If Dan Brown and Michelle Guerra were present and voting, those would be the first two I’d have counted as bailing out. In fact, Guerra endorsed Jessica Patterson in 2021 and I never counted Dan Brown in my tallies I kept for Steve when I was working for him in 2021 at the CAGOP Convention.
It was put to me that Steve left the RCC Convention after losing the vote. He returned later. I hope Steve will stay involved and help the new generation of leaders benefit from his long institutional knowledge in the political world.
Ultimately, Steve Frank should have taken a step back in 2021 when he started having major health issues. I have learned a personal lesson from this, I have a personal plan for my political and professional life that I believe will have me changing my roles long before being put in a position like Steve put himself in.
Congratulations George Yang. I will fully support Mr. Yang and his team’s efforts to lead the RCC.
Congratulations Vic Marani. The same man that masterminded the drill to unseat CAGOP “Chair in Waiting” Lindsey Stetson, pulled off another victory this weekend as he helped guide Yang to victory.
The political guard has changed in the conservative movement.
P.S. By the time many of you read this blog, Carl Brickey will have been elected CRA President. This move will help CRA continue to grow and will help CRA become more effective in their mission.
