How many tentacles does GOP consultant John Lewis’ machine have?
(Picture Courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures)
Our blogger Larry Gilbert wrote a story this week about a water board in south Orange County. He immediately received a phone call from an OC GOP hack asking him to leave the boys on that water board alone. Which begs the question, why should he?
We have been ruminating in recent weeks the startling endorsement of a Democrat, Tom Daly, by Republican consultant John Lewis. He decided to back Daly even though a conservative Republican, Fullerton Councilman Shawn Nelson, is likewise in the race to replace termed out Supervisor Chris Norby.
So why is Lewis backing Daly over Nelson?
What it comes down to is money and power.
Think about it. Lewis goes out of his way to make sure HIS people get elected and appointed to City Councils, water boards, and commissions, so his clients can get their way. These votes are all bought and sold in advance.
Lewis’s empire includes a gaggle of shills over at the Red Clownty blog – particularly their former editor, Matt “Jerbal” Cunningham. That guy is a real piece of work. Lewis made sure to get him appointed on the Orange Planning Commission and the Orange County Beaches, Harbors and Parks Commission. Why is that? Surely Jerbal is there to vote as Lewis directs him to.
And of course Jerbal shills unendingly for Lewis and his pals over at the Red Clownty blog.
But Lewis also has his hooks in GOP blogger Jon Fleischman, who wormed his way into former O.C. Sheriff Mike Carona’s department. Fleischman was later appointed to a state commission. He eventually got himself elected Southern Regional Vice Chair of the California Republican Party. Like Jerbal his full time job is shilling for his GOP pals.
These guys don’t give a hoot about principle. They do what they do for money and power, period. That is how they can abandon a conservative Republican like Shawn Nelson in favor of the Democratic bureaucrat Tom Daly. Nelson won’t be their toady, and they know it. But Daly? The fix is already in.
I wish I had the time to fully investigate all of Lewis’ tentacles. Who knows how many local elected officials bend knee to him? Who knows how much money he controls – how many contracts, how many public jobs. There is a reason he has such an interest in controlling the O.C. Board of Supervisors. It’s all about the money and power…
If there is one GOP hack who needs to be taken down it is John Lewis. Bring him down and the entire machine will topple.
Art, this is a provocative piece. I have to admit that I didn’t even know John Lewis was a lobbyist until a few weeks ago. Then the idea of a guy who gets people elected to the BOS, that he then lobbies really hit me. There are hundreds of millions in contracts at stake over the eight year reign of a typical Supe. Well, do the math.
This is really unseemly – at best.
And since the real power in the 5th Floor is in the hands of the COS’s it would be interesting to tract their relationships with political machines.
The shills will tell you to adjust your tin-foil hat, Art. That’s their job: to try to marginalize the curious. I really think you’re on to something here. How about a post publicizing the County’s registered lobbyists?
David,
Good idea! You know that Daly married a former County lobbyist. I wonder if Lewis introduced him to her?
“You know that Daly married a former County lobbyist”
Actually, I just learned about that the other day. Well, the County gov is really a small world after all.
John Lewis was also Chief Paul Walters consultant when he tried to get appointed as O.C. Sheriff.