Monterey GOP Helps Replace Progressive Salinas Council

By Roger Riffenburgh

A result of the November election which was little noticed in the Bay Area is the story of how the Monterey County Republican Party helped topple the progressive majority on the Salinas City Council.  It shows how a group of Republicans, even in our challenging political environment, can still have an important effect on the community.

Salinas had suffered for some time under the “progressive” leadership on the Salinas City Council, as they typically had five or six votes on the seven member council.  They reduced the share of the budget devoted to the police department when there was a high community concern about crime.  When the state offered the opportunity, the council voted to quadruple their own salaries, at a time when many residents were struggling financially.  The progressive faction passed rent control.  Councilman Steve McShane resigned saying that the council was “dysfunctional”.  The police chief, tired of struggling with understaffing and the mandatory overtime that was needed from officers, decided to go elsewhere.

Salinas is the largest city in Monterey County and the county seat.  With about 160,000 people, it is good-sized by Bay Area standards.  A variety of groups in the city were dissatisfied with the political direction, including agricultural interests, the police officers association, and many  business people.  The Monterey County Republican Party joined with these groups to support candidates who were more moderate and business friendly.  A political action committee, the Protect Salinas PAC, was organized by a former county supervisor, a Republican, to provide independent expenditure support to friendly campaigns.

A group of five candidates, one for mayor and four for council, was endorsed by law enforcement, by the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce, and by Protect Salinas.  As the county Republican Party does not endorse non-Republicans, they gave negative recommendations against the progressive opponents in races where a Republican was not running.  Agricultural companies, the California Real Estate PAC, and many others stepped up to fund the candidates and the independent expenditures.

The Monterey GOP had been working continuously to register more Republican voters and Political Director Brian Higgans reports that in the last cycle Republican registration had increased by about 4000 voters while the Democrats lost 3800.  He says that during the campaign the party harvested thousands of ballots, enough to make the difference in two of the council districts.  While many Republican volunteers helped the effort, county Republican Chairman Jeff Gorman mentioned a few stars.  Minerva Lundy was successful in informing the Hispanic community and connecting with churches. David Drew arranged the new Salinas headquarters office, helped fund it, led the ballot harvesting effort, and made calls for ballots every day.  Greg Fuller served as the county party’s election integrity officer and organized volunteers for the campaign.

The result was that all five coalition candidates won, some strongly and some narrowly.  By doing the groundwork, finding the opportunity, and working with coalition partners, the Monterey GOP was able to play an important role in making a total turnaround in the government of an important city.