Steve Frank for CAGOP Chairman: Complete Back to Basics Plan

BACK TO BASICS

POLITICAL
PLAN FOR CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN PARTY

INTRODUCTION

Background

For
several years the Republican Party in California has been in decline, as noted
by voter registration. Voter registration statistics now show the Decline to
State registrations have exceeded Republican registration for the first time
and at present there does not appear to be a plan, let alone an effective plan
to correct this trend. This Back to Basics framework being proposed is designed
to identify what needs to occur to reestablish the Republican Party’s relevance
again in California.

The
California Republican Party consists of three distinct parts: the Legislators,
the donors and the grassroots. Each are needed to assure maximum action and
victory. If we are to win elections, it will take all three stakeholders
working together, therefore Legislators, donors and grassroots must be at the
table making the decision on policy and get out the vote strategies. We must be
cognizant of these facts:

In
order to determine if you are going in the right direction, you need to
determine the direction you want to go. 
Unlike Robert Redford in “The Candidate” you cannot win an election and
then say, “Now what do we do”?  This Back
to Basics plan provides that focused direction needed to bring the Republican
Party back to again being relevant in California.

Current Registration Status

We
need to return the priority of the Party to voter registration, to build a
foundation for our candidates both partisan and non-partisan. Table 1 below
provides a snapshot of registration trends since 2013 when the ‘Bounty’ program
was ended[1]:

OBSERVATIONS AND TRENDS

History

On
the 2014 General election ballot there were 24 legislative seats—Assembly,
State Senate and Congress with no Republican on the ballot.  As a result, Republican voters are getting
used to their leaders voting for Democrats and promoting the rank and file to
do likewise. Hence, the reason the number of Republican registrants has gone
down whilst at the same time Democrat registration has increased, albeit
slightly.  Some key examples follow:

2016 Primary

In
the most recent primary elections on June 5, 2018there were 21 Assembly seats,
nine congressional and six State Senate seats had no Republican on the ballot.
A former GOP insurance Commissioner, and Republican candidate for Governor, Steve
Poizner, ran again for Insurance Commissioner—but as an NPP—Decline to State.

Not
having any candidates on the ballot for legislative office is problematic for
the Party. When you add to this the following circumstances, we have many
challenges ahead.

Reversing The Trends

The
good news is that the grassroots is still looking to the Party for
leadership. They want to be heard and they still have the hunger to win. It is
understood that to win it must be as a team, not a fight against the
Establishment. It must be a concerted effort by the Team; the Legislators, the
donors and the grassroots, working to provide candidates for every seat, to
build up the Party and end the vote depression. We must understand that all
three partners to growing the party again, must have a seat at the table.
Remember take a leg, any leg, off a three-legged stool and the stool falls.
Likewise take any one of the Team and the Team fails.

There are several steps that can be taken to
revive the Party. Each one is needed. While we can disagree on the margins, the
core is something all stakeholders must promote. Unity of stakeholders will
bring more donors, more grassroots and with that, more GOP legislators. It is
win-win.

RENEWING/ESTABLISHING
COALITIONS – CAUCUSES

Introduction

The Republican Party in California needs to
expand its base and its activists and reestablish its base of coalitions with
whom confidence has been severely challenged over the past decade. It is time
we engage coalitions and community groups, challenging them again to become
involved. We need to identify coalitions and community groups and undertake a
coordinated and structured approach with them to grow the group, create
activist opportunities and a fund-raising capacity, within the community. In
other words, the Party needs be seen to be reaching out to engage all those
groups that are needed for our Party to again have an influence in California.
At the same time, we need to have communities involved in the Party, they also
need to know that they have the ear of the Legislators and that the donor base
will be supported. Without all three parts of the Team working together to
engage the broader community groups, we will not expand as quickly as needed,
to make a difference for the 2020 elections.

Process of
Community Engagement

Via statewide and local chapters, our State
Party offices will approach each with a simple message. “We need each other”.
At the bottom line we find that regardless of heritage, ethnicity, gender or
other identifier, people have the same three concerns and needs:

This unifies all of us and if we promote our
policies, candidates, office holders and legislation, we give voters a reason
to join with us

Goal

Our goal is to work to promote limited
government, responsive and responsible government and one that meets the needs
of individuals and those in the category of coalition. To do this we will need
the following mutually beneficial outcomes from community groups and
coalitions. This list is not expansive and will continue to be added to going
forward.

Religious
Values Coalition

One of the fastest growing communities that
refuse to vote and/or do not register to vote is the Evangelical and Republican
Jewish communities. These people are not only in the churches and synagogues,
they are in the community, working with, talking to and explaining their
values. Rev. Franklin Graham has recently done a ten city California tour to
encourage evangelicals to become actively involved in the governing process. In
addition, Craig Huey of the Reality Forum speaks across the state to churches
and conducts a gathering of Ministers, each month, statewide.  These and the other People of Faith efforts
are not tied to the GOP in California, formally or informally.

Notwithstanding the last sentence above, we
need actively seek to create both a statewide and county by county coalition in
churches and synagogues.  One of the
growing GOP independent clubs in the State is the Republican Jewish Alliance,
started in Ventura County and forming chapters in several other cities in the State.
The CRP has many evangelicals as members, several that are local and statewide
leaders in their churches and communities. Our message to the Judeo-Christian
churches needs to be clear. We represent their values-based church platforms.
Bringing these people into the CRP and involving them in developing the
Political Plan gives them importance and a reason to promote the general
effort, not just specific issues. To do this however, we get must speak to them
in their language and identify with their concerns.

“Every dollar of taxation is a dollar less
of freedom”.  The lower the taxes the
easier it is to pay for your children, not to have finances as a reason for
abortion, etc. We do not need to make a direct religious statement but use an
economic reason to get them activated. The less taxation the more they can
donate to their ministries and churches.

As part of the process, the following needs
to be looked at.

This is not a targeted effort—it is local
and statewide, but based on where the churches are, not where we specifically
need more voters. President Trump, if re-elected, could have 1-2 more Supreme
Court appointments.  That is a major
incentive for People of Faith to register to vote, and vote. 

Second
Amendment Coalition

There are several gun clubs and
organizations promoting the Second Amendment. 
Historically, we have never organized them statewide as an ongoing
political force.  We can also enlist gun
shops in the effort.  This will bring us
grass root volunteers and in conjunction with legislative efforts, could also
be used as a funding source.

Working with Second Amendment groups and
through them with local gun shops we have a built-in petition gathering
effort—making it cheaper and easier to collect signatures for legislative goals
that need to be met by Propositions on the ballot.

Taxpayer
Coalitions

Thanks to the great efforts of the Howard
Jarvis Taxpayer Association there are many counties with taxpayer associations.
We can build on them, recruiting for new CRP and County Committee members to be
part of the effort. This grows the group and gives them a larger media and
community voice.  It can also be also as
part of a Farm Team to get candidates for office in 2020 and beyond. At CRP
meetings we could hold coalition meetings, so the folks in Ventura County get
to know their counterparts in Contra Costa County, bonding and building
relationships to make the effort stronger.

Military
Coalition

Like other organizations, military groups
have had a hard time keeping its members. Instead, they are losing them. This
is an opportunity for the legislators, the county committees and the grassroots
to work together. The legislators can present a Sacramento agenda that meets
the needs and concerns of the veteran’s community. We could create a statewide
conference of military groups, veteran leaders and others in that community to
determine the needs and concerns. This is also another opportunity to create a
grassroots presence and use this group to send in letters to the editor and
post on social media.

Education
Coalition

There is a large and strong Homeschooling
Association in California.  We also know
the supporters of Charter schools are major donors—many of them California and
National Republican donors, normally. 
Inside the CTA there are approximately 40% Republican membership and
some officers of the CTA are also CRP members. 
With the Janus decision, we can approach teachers leaving the CTA and
work inside the organization as well—to demand equal donations to Republican
candidates.

The legislators, working with the educators
and special interests inside the education community can create new policy and
a GOP agenda that is promoted via social media and the grassroots.

Health
Care Coalition

This is a major issue and we have a
significantlylarge number of doctors and health professionals that are
Republican, looking for opportunities. For instance, Dr. Joel Strom leads a
national medical professional’s organizations that was used to promote the rump
health care agenda to repeal Obamacare. He is from Beverly Hills and worked
statewide on the Pete Wilson, Bill Simon and other campaigns. Until recently
his daughter was in the Communications Department in the White House—she has
moved to an agency.

Agriculture
Coalition

This would include the folks with tree
crops, row crops and vendors to the industry. This will be a source of fund
raising, candidates for legislative and local office and locations for GOP
signs during campaigns. We can also work with this industry to provide expert
testimony on agriculture and associated issues, like water, pesticides and
employment.

Youth –
Millennial and Z Generation Coalition

Working with the Young Republicans, The
California College Republicans, groups like Turning Point USA, we can give
support to our values on campus. Importantly, we can find the best and
brightest to be interns, working for the County Committees, the California
Republican Party, office holders and a source of trained and motivated workers
for our candidates. This is a good training ground for tomorrow’s leaders. Not
only should we have them participate in our campaigns and organizations but
educate and train them in the modern techniques of campaigns and the psychology
of voters and communities.

Local
Elected Officials Councils Coalition

To create a Farm Team: Each County Committee
should be encouraged to form a countywide Republican elected official’s
council. This helps with endorsements, support for other campaigns and shows
strength of the Party. San Diego does a great job of supporting local elected officials
and having them support the County wide effort. This is a good model for the rest
of the State.

(This is just a partial list of potential
coalitions)

FINANCES

CRP financing over the past decade has
relied heavily on a single source and major donors. The CRP needs to work in
conjunction with the legislative caucuses to raise funds for our candidates.
The legislative caucuses need to control the money they raise. That also opens
the opportunity for joint fund raisers for County Committees, in conjunction
with the Caucuses and CRP. This will help build the local finances of Committees
and bring big name office holders or personalities to our efforts.

A major fund raiser and promoter of
candidates will be a statewide slate card, like the type published by
the San Diego Central Committee. The cost of the card is approximately 60
cents, for the large size. Since the Party has a non-profit rate, we could
bring the cost down to fifty cents a card. 
The card would only have those endorsed by the CRP, those only endorsed
by the Caucuses. Or for local races, candidates endorsed by the County Central
Committee. Plus, the Statewide ballot measures endorsed by the California
Republican Party.

This is both a money maker and promotes our
candidates, values and causes. While it can only go to registered Republicans,
it builds the brand name as well.

County
Committee Coordination

Need to go back to the basic principles—all
politics is local. Need candidates for office, it starts at the County level.
Voter registration is needed, candidate development—looking ahead two years,
not a few months. Use the County Chairs Association as a training grounds, as
Mr. Osborne has done, to make the Committees more effective.

These Committees can raise local money, find
candidates, meet voter registration quota’s and promote legislation the
Caucuses want to go forward or be killed.

Need a Spring, 2019 set of training sessions
for the County Committee members, and CRP members, throughout the State one in
each of the eight regions, help them develop a Political Plan for the County
and use members and volunteers to promote our values, on a local level on
social media and letters to the editor. In strengthening these committees, we
make the CRP stronger.

The CRP Regional Chairs need to work with
the County Committees and the appropriate Caucus to find and vet candidates for
legislative office. We start with candidates for all local races. Identify
nonpartisan races in the County, determine which need a GOP candidate and the
find and train them.

VOLUNTEER
GOUPS—INSIDE AND OUTISDE THE PARTY

Introduction

Volunteer groups are the foundation of the
Republican Party. We need to promote them, help them grow and work with their leadership.
The CRP has a “Volunteers Club” committee and it needs to be the focal point of
growth and leadership training, not just a by-law enforcement committee. This
needs to be an activist activity, showing the base of the Party are the people
at the grassroots.

Areas for
Growth

There are many single interest organizations
that align themselves ideologically with the CRP and they need to be quietly
recognized for this to encourage them to be a voice for CRP policies. More
importantly, they need to become a true part of the family.

An area for significant growth is
conservative/Republican sphere are the independent Republican/Political
Clubs—the Liberty Forum in the Bay Area, the San Fernando Valley Republican
Club and dozens like them around the State are growing and have very active
members for campaigns and causes. We have not recognized them nor brought them
into the CRP family. While they do not want CRP or even County Committee
approval to exist, they are part of the volunteer effort and need to be engaged,
promoted and recognized.

The Tea Party movement has been a
significant and influential movement in America and in California as have
Second Amendment and Pro-Life groups, as has the growing taxpayer association
movement in California, led by the iconic Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.
Not to say that these groups are all single issues groups which they aren’t
there are many single issues groups/organizations that should and must be
approached the CRP “family”. We also have a large number of “property rights”
groups that have large and small groups around the State, though they
communicate with one another, they seem to take on only local issues.

 Evangelicals have a significantly low voter
registration rate and as 2012, 2014 and 2016 proved, a low voter rate. At this
time, there are few projects in California to registrar people of Faith. Craig
Huey, Reality Forum a noted State and national evangelical leader, has
identified methods of registering evangelicals—but has no coordinated effort in
California. Churches throughout the State have a vested interest in being
involved in public policy

VOTER
REGISTRATION

Introduction

Over the five years we have lost over a
million Republican registrations to Decline to State. Rectifying this trend
through changes to our recruitment and retention strategies whilst at the same
time undertaking a strong recruitment drive must be a major priority with fund
raising, for the start of the new era of the CRP and the Republican Party in
California. This is an all hands-on deck effort. The lower the GOP registration
the harder to get quality candidates—it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Principles

The CRP needs to reestablish our voter
registration framework to halt the registration fall as soon as possible. To do
this we need a framework of principles along with appropriately allocated
resources to fulfill this very important strategic requirement for the CRP. To
this end the following set of frameworks of principles for the registration
effort are proposed:

Voter
Registration Goals and Strategies to Meet Them

We have not had a statewide voter
registration effort in several years.  It
will take at least three months to gear up for a major effort. Lots of areas of
registration are available for immediate significant gains. The about to be
approved Mullin Bill, AB 84, to change the funding dynamic between the
political parties and the legislative Caucuses makes the roles and
relationships between the Party and the Caucuses even more important and
defined going forward.

Principles.Based on the Mullin bill,
the Caucuses will be involved in the selection process in the primary,
including allocation of funding to candidates. The CRP will no longer be needed
to be the banker for the General Elections either.  Our principle rolls going forward are:

Expectation 2020 Elections.For the
2019-2020 election cycle alone, engaging evangelicals alone should result in
100,000 new GOP voters. Should we add money to the mix, we could make that into
250,000. Money? There are national organizations and Christian leaders willing
to finance this effort, as part of the national registration effort for the 2020
election. This along with small business Why would they do this? It will be
explained to them that Sacramento controls their economic viability, so why not
have a bigger voice in the process.

Introduction of Reformed Tax Codes.Working
in conjunction with the Legislative Caucuses the CRP could promote tax cutting,
regulations roll backs and other pro-worker and job growth actions as the
reason to register to vote—then vote GOP. County Committees could start a
“Small Business Coalition” and build a relationship that can be used for the
benefit of the businesses and local Committee. This would also help in local
races for city council, school board etc.

Expected Outcomes.In one cycle, this
statewide effort should provide 330,000 new registrations. Getting national
businesses and industry organizations involved would raise that number
significantly. Again, this is not a targeted effort, but statewide.

2020
Targets for Congress

The following congressional seats maybe the
CRP key targets for 2020:

7^th-Bera received 152,133
votes—GOP candidate Scott Jones 145,168 votes

10^th Democrat Eggman 116,470—
GOP Denham 124,671

21^stValadao 75,126 Dem Huerta
57,282—Need to be prepared for 2021 redistricting

24^th Dm, Carbajal 166,034  Fareed 144, 780—Need to be prepared for
2021 redistricting for potential pick up in 2022

25^th Knight 138,755 Dem Cafprio
122,406—This also helps the Acosta Assembly and Wilk State Senate seat

31^st Aguilar 121,070  Chabot 
94,866 —There could be a popular shift and Trump is getting stronger
with Hispanics

39^th Royce 150,777  Murdock-Dem 112,679—This will be first
re-elect for Young Kim, plus demographic changes

48^thRohrabacher 178,701Savary
127,715—It can be expected that in 2020 the Democrats will attack it again

49^th Issa 155,888  Applegate 154,267—This will be the first
re-elect for Harkey

A minimum of 45,000 new voter registrations
for these Congressional District, after the 2018 election, another analysis
needs to be done. That would include at least three other districts that we
could target for 2020.

Congress—60,000 new registrations

2020 Targets
State Senate

The following seats in the state Senate maybe
the CRP key targets for 2020:

21^stWilk  160,043 
Erwin   142,896  The Dems have already shown this is a
targeted race—plus the Dems have targeted Acosta and Knight—all over
lapping.  This seat will need 10,000 new
GOP voters

23^rd  Morrell  
184,470   O’Donnell   141,533 
With lots of money the Dems will make this a targeted race

29^thNewman  160,230  
Chang  157,732  This is the big fight for Orange County in
2020.

A minimum of 20,000 new voter registrations
for these State Senate seats. After the 2018 election, another analysis needs
to be done.  That would include at least
three other districts that we could target for 2020.

State Senate 
35,000 new registrations

2020 Target Assembly

The following Assembly seats maybe the CRP
key targets for 2020:

16^th  Baker 129,585    Cook-Kafflio   102,290  
This will always be a tough race, make it easier

31^stArambuta   62,404  
Olivier   35,454   with the right candidate this could be a dog
fight—GOTV will also be important

32^nd Salas—Dem  53, 056  
Ramirez  28,502  June primary shows this race is neck and
neck—another 5,000 GOP voters would tip it to us.

35^th  Cunningham 
105,247  Ortiz-Legg  87,168 
This is a district that could become Dem in 2022 due to redistricting—needs
a concerted registration effort.

36^th  Lackey 
77,801   Fox 68,755  With the new Mullin bill the Democrats will
have a much better candidate, with lots of money.  Need a minimum of 5,000 new registrants.  Democrats have made it clear this is a target
in 2020.

38^th  Acosta 
102,977    Smith  91,801 
This is going to targeted in 2020. 
It also affects Wilkin Senate and Knight in Congress

40^th  Steinorth 
76,537   Medina   74,589  
We should have an easy time this year—in 2020 will be major Democrat
target

60^th  Linder 
64,710 GOP incumbent  
Cervantes  77,404   Targeted race this year—will be in 2020

65^th   Young Kim 
69,941   Quirk-Silva  79,654 
Targeted race this year—and in 2020

A minimum of 45,000 new voter registrations
for these State Assembly seats. After the 2018 election, another analysis needs
to be done.  That would include at least
three other districts that we could target for 2020

Assembly—60,000 new registrations

There will be other organizations doing
voter registrations—but these efforts will be tracked by the California
Republican Party

Summary of Voter Registration for 2020

Assembly   
60,000

State Senate   35,000

Congress     
60,000

People of Faith   100,000

Small Business    50,000

Volunteer Clubs/Ideological groups   25,000

330,000 new registrations, the California
Republican Party will be responsible for attaining. This is just the ground
floor number. As we work with the Caucuses, grassroots and interested
organizations and business representatives, this becomes a much larger number.
This is a just the start.

Get Out
the Vote

Using the organization of the registration
program, that turns into a GOTV effort the last sixty days of the election.
Voting messages need to go out to targeted groups six months before the General
election to build up the momentum. Since it will be a Presidential year,
turnout will be higher—and since the President elected in 2020, Trump, could
possibly make TWO Supreme Court appointments, plus dozens more Federal Court
appointments interested groups will want to promote voter turnout. We need to
take advantage of that for California. The better we do in the lead up to the
2020 General, in voter registration, intensity, the more resources that will be
available to the Republican effort in California.

Registration
Bounty Budget

Re-Introduction of the bounty system is a
must and regardless of who pays, this is going to be a rock bottom price
because the price not to do a robust voter registration effort can be seen in
the loss of one million voters to other parties January 2013. This is one of
the reasons we have so many seats in trouble. It is cheaper on the front end to
register voters than on the back end to finance mailers and other voter
contacts. The cost of the bounty system is shown in the following table.

Funding of
Voter Registration

Evangelical.National
Evangelical groups have already begun the process of voter registration
programs for 2020. They need to be approached, not only for the impact on
Federal races, but local and State races as well. We have national evangelical
leaders, living in California that I am already working with, to open those
doors and make our proposals. California could easily register 100,000 church
goers as a start. We would coordinate with their efforts. Some have already
started in San Diego, the South Bay area of Los Angeles and through organizations
like the Salt and Light Foundation.

Single
Issue Groups. Single issue groups will also be approached, such as
pro-life and Second Amendment, Right to Work and others that have a political
arm. Their participation would be based on protecting elected officials that
support their positions, and making opposition elected sweat an election cycle,
so they are tied down in their districts. We already have connections with
these groups, need to make a presentation to them, why it is in their best
interests we begin rolling back the Democrat majority in California.

Trump
Campaign.The Trump campaign must also be approached—especially
for work of its 2016 and new volunteers in California. We have over 100,000
Trump volunteers from California. The Trump 2020 campaign would participate on
the basis it gives something productive to do in the 2019 off year, keep and
expand the volunteer base and find new leaders for the 2020 effort.

Coordination
with Caucuses.Coordinate with the Assembly Caucus, Senate Caucus and
National Republican Congressional Committee to target registration to those
areas that incumbents need help and swing districts we can take back from
Democrats. While this is a targeted approached, it invariably helps districts
nearby and our local candidates for non-partisan office.

County
Committee Registration Programs.Develop County Committee voter
registration programs. Counties like Fresno, orange County and San Diego have
raised large donations for registration programs just in their counties. This
can be expanded to other counties—and the re-establishment of the bounty will
give more incentive for localized registration programs.

Coordination.A separate
sub-committee of the Finance Committee will be establishment to look for
registration voting opportunities. A special committee will be formed of
legislators, donors and grass roots to monitor, promote and audit the
registration effort, with weekly and monthly reports.

INTERNS

We need to expand the Intern programs for
the CRP and the County Committees. Not only do we want political science types
inters, we also need interns for communications, graphics, technology and other
segments of the political operation. County Committees could go to local high
schools for precinct walkers taking “surveys” of issues, Community Colleges,
State Colleges and the Universities for those looking for intern experience in
social media, communications, brochure design and IT.

This also trains our future leadership.

2020
ELECTIONS

Increased voter registration, dynamic
volunteer training, more hands-on deck raising funds, ballot measures that
pushed voters into the GOP column in 2020. This can and will happen with a
joint effort of the three stakeholders. The donors, the Legislators and
grassroots in a joint focused effort is a winning ticket. Failure to have all
three intimately involved in leadership means more struggle and harder to win
elections. For 2020 several issues will be a real bonus for the CRP. The gas
tax repeal has shown it hits the core of the voters in California. The massive
victory in SD 29, the unwillingness of Democrats to defend the gas tax and
getting Decline to State to join with Republicans. Other issues of benefit to
the CRP:

PREPARATION
FOR 2021 REDISTRICTING COMMISSION

The election results—both the winning
candidates and the votes received by the losing candidates will be part of the
equation for setting districts for the 2022-2030. Turn out, maximizing our
votes will also be an important of the final set up of boundaries for
districts. The 2020 election will determine if we continue the decline,
stabilize or start a new climb.

Thus, this two-year period will set up, good
or bad, for the next ten years. Which is why it being so important to have all
three stakeholders to unify. Importantly, we need candidates for every
legislative seat in 2020. The more candidates, the more GOP votes cast. We
build the base of the Party and show the Citizens Redistricting Commission that
Republicans need representation. No candidate? No votes. No representation. To
save seats in 2022, we need a strong showing in 2020.

This effort must be a collaborative between
the Caucus’s, the donors and the grass roots. In this effort, the Legislators
need to take the lead and we provide the letters to editor, calls, rallies,
etc. in support of the unified effort.

This is the time to go back to basics. In
the 1970’s and 80’s it was called the KASTEN PLAN, named after Robert Kasten of
Wisconsin who used this technique—before mega data and the Internet—to win
elections and have the decision predictable prior to election day.

It was simple:

We need to teach this to our candidates for
legislative office, as well as local offices.

COMMUNICATIONS

CLOSING

This is just a short outline of ideas.
Obviously, details can be changed, circumstances would determine alternative
and additional concepts. This is a start in the effort to reinvigorate the
Republican Party in California. The result in the SD 29 special election
helped. The results in AD 76 hurt. The good news is that we have candidates on
the November ballot for Governor, Attorney General, Treasurer, Secretary of
State and Controller. Now we need to give them the resources—people and
money—to make them successful.