Assembly Candidate Connie Conway

Let's take time for a little local politics today. I stopped in at Connie Conway's headquarters Tuesday evening on Main Street in Visalia, where she was holding an open house to kick off her campaign for California's 34th Assembly District. Visalia is the largest city and county seat of Tulare County, which forms the heart of the district. Located in Central California's San Joaquin Valley and extending east into Sequoia National Park, Tulare County is the number two agricultural county in the United States.

Connie is bright and personable and took a good deal of her time to chat despite being in demand by her many supporters. Connie has a number of advantages in the race to replace Bill Maze, who must leave office after six years due to term limits. She is a Republican in a strongly Republican part of the Golden State. Up until 1996 the area was evenly split between the two major parties, but the registration tide has swung sharply in the GOP's favor since. In 2006 it was nearly 50% Republican, less than 36% Democratic and a bit under 15% decline to state. If she can gain the Republican nomination she will have a clear shot at the seat, which Maze won 2-1 over his Democratic opponent in '06.

Based on her endorsements it looks like she has the support to do that. A county supervisor since 2001 and this year's chair, she has the support of local Republican Congressman Devin Nunes, all four of her colleagues on the Board of Supervisors, who all attended to show that support, and numerous local officials throughout the area. She has also been president of the California Association of Counties and has developed a strong network of backers among county supervisors in the region.

When I asked Connie what her main issues were she mentioned water, education, public safety and regional development, pointing to her Chairmanship of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley. Her campaign brochure lists her priorities under five headings: No new taxes, secure communities with strong families, free enterprise and private property, water and limited and effective government. She has a long history of active involvement and her themes are the kind that she feels should resonate with her largely conservative electorate. Indeed, the masthead of her brochure says, "Conservative. Committed. Connected."

In taking some time to go to this event I was reminded of how accessible our elected officials are at the local level. Though national issues often capture the big headlines, it's often possible for citizens to actually meet and have a word with their public servants closer to home. I was glad I went.