Cerritos Republican Club News
January through September 2022
Click on any thumbnail to see an enlarged view or a video.
Special General Meeting
September 13, 2022
The regular general meeting was moved to Liberty Park for this and the next two meetings with a time change from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. That is why this is a special meeting.
Vice President Mark Rizk called the meeting to order. After the pledge of allegiance, the guest speaker was introduced. He was Timothy O'Reilly who is the First Vice Chair of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County.
Tim explained that the California Republican Party is at the top and is responsible for electing candidates at the State level, such as Governor, Secretary of State, and State Controller. Currently, we don't have any Republicans in those offices.
Below that are the County organizations such as the Republican Party of Los Angeles County which has over 4000 precincts. These are responsible for electing Republicans to State Assembly and Senate District offices.
If a Republican wants to run for an office, that person can register as a candidate. Many think that running for an office looks fun and have no clue about how to get hundreds of thousands votes to get elected. They wonder why the Republican Party doesn't support them. Consequently they don't succeed. They have to build that support by starting at the local level. It takes years, like Soo Yoo did at the School Board level.
On the other hand, the Democratic party is dictated from the top level. That is, the California Democratic Party says who runs for whatever office.
If you want to know more about what's happening in Los Angeles county, sign up for the Republican Party of Los Angeles County newsletter at www.lagop.org.
Meg Whitman spent $140 million in her gubernatorial campaign in 2010 and got only 35% of the votes. The California GOP used a lot of money. The State GOP always depended on a candidate's fundraising would be shared with the State GOP. Then Neel Kashkari ran in 2014. He raised no money and spent no money. Between those two campaigns, the California GOP was almost bankrupt. That allowed the Democrats to start taking over the state offices.
With the 2022 redistricting, Artesia, Cerritos, and Hawaiian Gardens became part of Orange county for the State Senate, State Assembly, and Congressional District offices.
Leroy Hardy was a Political Science professor at Cal State University Long Beach. In the 1980s he was a consultant for the Democratic party and used punch cards in a computer for redistricting voters schemes. Tim was a student in his class on redistricting. Tim's class had an assignment to use the punch cards to draw up districts that were three Democratic and three Republican districts. Then they used the same punch cards to draw up five Democratic and one Republican districts. One could redraw lines to have fewer or more blacks, etc. This strategy was used for the reapportionment in the 1980s.
For the latest redistricting which is supposed to be less partisan, the Republicans on the Commission may as well have been Democrats. It was racist driven. They wanted as many Latino districts as they could make. In LA county there is not a single black dominated district. They moved Cerritos with a large Asian population into Orange county for Congressional District 45. Senate District 36 includes Cerritos and San Clemente. Assembly District 67 is the least convoluted. So representatives for Cerritos will be Orange county centric.
Statewide, Republicans Lanhee Chen for Controller and Nathan Hochman for Attorney General have the best chance of beating their opponents. We need to help them by getting involved.
We need to elect Republicans at the local level. RPLAC helps organize volunteers. It is the people who volunteer that matter. In Los Angeles county, many Republicans and Democrats have left because they (and we) are sick of what is happening in California.
In California in the 2020 Presidential election, Donald Trump (like him or not) got more votes than in any other state. In LA county alone, he got more votes than most states. There are just under one million Republicans left and almost three million Democrats. If we had more Republicans voting, we could change the election results. Tim mentioned a past election wherein the winner won by 1.2 votes per precinct. The point is that, if you think that getting more votes in your precinct is not worth it, you are wrong. Get those votes.
In the 2016 election, the Democracy Alliance [founded in April 2005] put all of their money funding Hillary Clinton. This Billionaires Club backed by George Soros was so sure that Hillary Clinton had won, that they had planned an election seminar about how great she and George Soros were. When they found out that she hadn't won, George Soros and his surrogates changed their entire plan for the convention. They weren't going to put their money in a national election. Instead they would start funding state and local officials.
Tim admitted that he wasn't a Trump guy in the primaries, but, being a party guy, he voted for him. About a year and a half into office, Tim heard about a Trump tweet that was provocative. He asked himself why did Trump have to tweet that? He was right, but why did he have to say it that way? The media is going to say that he's a racist, misogynist, homophobe, whatever it is. That was the moment that Tim "got it.... This is funny.... The headlines were pouring out of CNN and other media.... He played them perfectly. He had them do exactly what he wanted them to do. Love him or hate him. Trump has pointed out how radical the news media is. He also made us wake up, and we have started supporting local candidates."
Thus Tim ended his talk.
After non-members left, the Board members presented their reports.
Soo Yoo gave an update on her campaign for Assembly District 67. It has been very exciting. The campaign is getting hotter and hotter. Bad laws have been passed recently by the current legislature. The more she campaigned, the more she is convinced that she can win. If more Republicans and Asians will vote in the November election than in the primary, then she feels confident that she can win. Many volunteers, including older Korean ladies, have been helping her. She has people who will be targeting senior centers and homes. She is collaborating with other Republican candidates in cities within the District. If we can flip AD67, this will send a message to the Dems that people are tired of them. Korean churches are changing the way they vote [Republican]. Four unpaid full-time interns are helping in the campaign office. If CRC members could help, she would greatly appreciate it.
Dixie Primosch discussed the 14th annual 1st CEB golf classic to be held on October 15. This year they are honoring Bev Ray, a longtime member of the Cerritos Republican Club, who donated countless hours to the 1st CEB Marines. Last year the Club was the only political sponsor of the event. Dixie suggested that the Club be a sponsor again. It was moved, seconded, and approved unanimously by vote that the Club would use 1st CEB donations (from Members for the 1st CEB during past Christmas dinners) to register the Club as an Eagle Sponser at $1000. This package also allows six golfers to participate.
Let Freedom Ring Celebration
July 4, 2022
At the July 4 Let Freedom Ring (LFR) Celebration, numerous Cerritos Republican Club members and friends were in attendance.
The night concluded with a spectacular fireworks show!
Cerritos Election Official Results
April 12, 2022
| Candidate for City Councilmember | Official Results |
|---|---|
| Frank Aurelio Yokoyama (elected) | 3737 |
| Lynda Johnson (elected) | 3475 |
| Jennifer Hong | 3072 |
| Ernie Nishii | 2832 |
| Sam Desai | 862 |
| Rocky Pavone | 635 |
| Patricia Murray | 467 |
General Meeting
March 8, 2022
At the General meeting the two Republican candidates, Jennifer Hong and Rocky Pavone, spoke to the Club members in attendance about why they should be endorsed by the Club. Jennifer was first to talk and then answered questions from the audience. Then Rocky had his turn to talk and answer questions.
After the two candidates left the room, consideration of endorsement by the Club started. The Endorsement Committee---which included Joan Pylman, Dixie Primosch, and Lew Gentiluomo---reported on how they implemented the vetting of the two candidates according to the Club ByLaws. Questions and comments, coming from the audience, were answered. Then the voting on the two candidates ensued. Jennifer Hong garnered enough votes to earn the Club's endorsement; Rocky Pavone did not.
Then the Club deliberated on monetary support for Jennifer and that was moved and voted upon. The Club donated money to her campaign.
General Meeting
January 11, 2022
I missed this meeting wherein Bruce Barrows and Matt Kauble discussed the new districts from the California Redistricting. The new districts will be in effect for the June 7 primary election. If someone wants to add more information about what Bruce and Matt said, please forward it to me. I offer an image of the new Congressional district where most of our Cerritos Republican Club members reside.
I was also able to obtain current and new maps for the California Senate and Assembly Districts for the Cerritos area.
