The 2010 San Diego County Sheriff’s race started early and fierce with a controversial action by Sheriff Kolender and the County Board of Supervisors. Sheriff Kolender choose to retire mid-term and following his wishes, the Board chose to appointment the retiring Sheriff’s hand-picked successor, Bill Gore, x-FBI lifer, as interim Sheriff; providing a significant incumbent advantage over the other candidates who will be running for Sheriff in 2010.
Critics also complain that the Board of Supervisors never considered Gore’s direct leadership during the FBI’s 1992 siege in Ruby Ridge Idaho, resulting in the homicides of a family’s mother, son, and the family dog prior to his appointment. Nor was his subsequent choice to “plead the fifth” in front of the Senate subcommittee which later found substantial fault in the FBI’s response to the Ruby Ridge incident. The sheriff’s race is about to get ferocious.
A groundswell of new conservative grassroots political groups are demanding less government intrusion in their lives due to their fear of encroaching socialist policies and programs of the Obama administration and his politically aligned congress. These various groups, referred to by the President’s pundits as “Angry Mob’s”, may have a significant and unanticipated effect on the upcoming Sheriff’s race.
The Democrat’s sweeping victory in January, while a time for celebration for many, was the de facto “shot heard around the Nation” for political conservatives; and not just Republicans. Libertarians, Independents, and all other persons who believe in limited government, free markets, and private property and states rights are joining forces. Whether their issues are excessive taxation, illegal aliens, gun rights, encroaching socialism or the erosion of constitutional rights, citizens with conservative political beliefs have been making their voice heard though a wildfire of high profile grass roots activities. The Minuteman protests, The Tea Parties, the Open Carry Initiative, the highly protested bank-bailout, the threat of government censorship of radio, the 912 Project and now the Obama-care protests at town hall meetings this summer have seen a massive growth of conservative citizen participation in almost every aspect of the political process.
For the upcoming Sheriff’s race in 2010, two issues stand out among the minds of these conservative groups: Illegal Immigration and Firearm Rights.
Initially championed by a small group of citizens in 2005, the political issues voiced by the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps regarding illegal immigration now resonates soundly in the minds of a majority of likely San Diego County voters, especially conservatives. A lack of progress toward immigration issues such as border security, illegal alien deportation, the end of birthright citizenship, overcrowded schools, strained hospital ERs, abuse of the social welfare programs, overcrowded prisons, Latino gang violence, unchecked sanctuary cities and the rumor of an amnesty bill as the President’s next agenda item have conservatives from all persuasions seriously concerned. That concern, combined with other hot-button issues such as unemployment, Obama-care, appointment of self-identified collectivists and Marxist supporters as presidential Czars have conservatives hopping mad and showing up at protests throughout the County, earnestly demanding that government back off of their headlong rush toward American socialism.
Two of the candidates for Sheriff’s, Bruce Ruff and Jay LaSuer, have identified illegal immigration, and it’s current lack of enforcement by the Sheriff’s Department led by interim Sheriff Bill Gore, as key aspects of their campaign. Unlike Ruff & LaSuer, Gore has not published any of his political positions on any issue on his website. Instead, he appears to be taking the safer route of “positions by proxy”; publishing a large list of his endorsers, which reads like a political who’s-who in the County. Both Ruff and LaSuer promise to have the Sheriff’s Department enforce violations of immigration law and publicly recognize the societal costs which illegal immigration is causing in San Diego County. If either of these two candidates becomes Sheriff, it would reverse decades of Sheriff’s department policy of providing a sanctuary county to illegal aliens.
Adjacent to the US/Mexico Border and a critical gateway to the greater sanctuaries of Orange and Los Angeles Counties, San Diego County has been a key route for illegal entry into the U.S. since the 1960’s. If the County Sheriff's Department were to eliminate its sanctuary policies, it would join numerous other Southern border counties now enforcing immigration laws; making it more difficult for illegal aliens to make it to safe haven sanctuary regions. This has not been lost on the most prolific Sheriff in the Southwest regarding illegal immigration; Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County Arizona. Sheriff Arpaio has endorsed Jay LaSuer for Sheriff, who not only promises to enforce immigration laws, but also is considering implementing Sheriff Arpaio’s highly successful and controversial “tent city” program; which has reduced jail overcrowding and incarceration expense in the largest county in Arizona. This idea tends to go over well with conservative voters, which LaSuer appears to be targeting with his campaign appearances at gun shops and local talk radio studios.
Equal to or possibly greater than the issue of Illegal Aliens among the conservative activists, are 2nd Amendment firearm rights. Numerous firearm rights groups in the County, as well as many ordinary gun owners are up in arms regarding what they see as a continuous assault of their 2nd Amendment rights by Sacramento’s liberal law makers and their constant legislative onslaught of anti-gun bills every session; significantly reducing the availability of firearms and ammunition to sport shooters and gun collectors.
Despite California's bans on "assault weapons," "unsafe" handguns, private gun sales, and sales of two handguns in a 30-day period; its 10-day waiting period on all gun sales; and its denial of carry permits to people who don't have the right connections, the Golden State's murder and robbery rates are 12 and 20 percent higher, respectively, than in the rest of the country. –NRA Institute for Legislative Action
California, still a bastion of liberal political control, is one of the few remaining states to fail to amend their Constitution to create a “shall issue” concealed weapons law; providing for the issue of concealed carry handgun permits (CCW’s) to law abiding citizens (39 States are now effectively “Shall Issue” states). Current California law allows each of the State’s 58 County Sheriffs (and the police chiefs of 15 of those counties due to low population numbers) to determine their own policy for CCW permit issue. This procedure is criticized by gun rights advocates due to the tendency of urban Sheriff’s choosing to issue permits exclusively to politicians, the rich, and the famous.
In response to this, numerous grass roots pro gun rights organizations have gained significant popularity and membership. A large and rapidly growing online group named Calguns.net, a community of firearm enthusiasts, has successfully promoted “Open Carry” protests. These protests involve members meeting in public places with unloaded handguns as both a protest and as a public education opportunity regarding what they view as inequitable concealed carry laws in the State. A sister organization of Calguns.net is currently suing Sacramento & Yolo Counties for violating citizen’s 2nd amendment rights, related to their failure to issue CCW permits to qualified citizens. This will most likely end up at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals if not the Supreme Court for a decision. A recent front-page news article in the San Diego Reader (They Carry Guns, July 15th, 2009) brought the Open Carry movement into the local community spotlight. Additional weekly protests initiated in Escondido by a new grass roots Open Carry Group last week continue to push the issue to the forefront of community awareness and heated online discussions.
The only candidate for Sheriff who has embraced a more liberal issuance of CCW Permits in the County is Jay LaSuer. He points to lower violent crime statistics in Shall Issue states, self-reliance for self-protection, and his personal pro Bill-of-Rights stance as reasons to support the issue of CCW permits to the law-abiding citizens in the County. The other candidates for Sheriff have failed to support this grass roots citizen’s issue, and may pay for it at the ballot box. Bill Gore in particular will be at a significant disadvantage in attempting to woo votes from gun rights proponents, since “Ruby Ridge”, like the other 1990’s “Waco” incident, are commonly rallying cries against government oppression and infringement of 2nd Amendment rights. The FBI under the Clinton administration, which later championed the now defunct Federal Assualt Weapons ban, led both controversial FBI incidents.
Conservatives are organized, energized and are on the warpath. They will be turning out to the polls in droves in 2010, determined to right the perceived wrongs of the current liberally controlled State and Federal governments. Liberals leaders are still basking in the diminishing glow of their recent political wins and planning their next moves at the federal level. It may be difficult for them to rally their supporters sufficiently to get them out to the polls in sufficiently to influence local issues. Conservatives will be looking to promote their hot button agendas, and Illegal Immigration and CCW Permits fall soundly into that category. The underdogs in the Sheriff’s race, Jay LaSuer and to a lesser extent Bruce Ruff, might garner significant support from those turning out to the polls in 2010, turning back the County’s tradition of voting in Sheriff’s who have for decades turned a blind eye toward illegal immigration and citizen’s 2nd Amendment rights.
This Saturday, September 12th, The candidates for Sheriff will be holding a public debate in El Cajon from 3-5pm at the El Cajon Amphitheater. This is the first debate since their June 2nd debate, which was held primarily for Deputy sheriff’s, sponsored by the Deputy Sheriff’s Association (who not surprisingly soon thereafter endorsed candidate Jim Duffy, who spent six years with the DSA as a board member). This time around, the debate is sponsored by a local TEA Party and the El Cajon Gun Exchange. The crowd at this venue should be a microcosm of this newly energized conservative movement, which could make for a very lively event. Check back here this weekend for a full report of this upcoming debate.
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