GOP Looks to Inland Empire - California [View All]

[Kadie]

May 10, 2004

GOP Looks to Inland Empire

Riverside and San Bernardino counties could surpass Orange County in Republican voters in 10 to 12 years.


By Hugo Martín, Times Staff Writer

After President Bush took the stage during an October fundraiser in Riverside, the crowd cheered his announcement that the former citrus town had raised more than $1 million to keep him in the White House.

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GOP leaders have spent thousands of dollars in voter registration drives, using paid workers to staff registration booths at fairs, carnivals and popular stores such as Home Depot — efforts that were energized during the gubernatorial recall election in October.

In contrast, the Democratic Party in Riverside County relies on party volunteers to register voters. The results have been apparent: The Republicans have registered three times as many new voters as the Democrats in the past four years.

The Democratic Party's efforts in San Bernardino County haven't fared much better. The county's Democratic Central Committee was so disorganized that its headquarters in the city of San Bernardino were closed and the phones turned off. Plus, one of the county's most powerful Democrats, county Supervisor Gerald "Jerry" Eaves, pleaded guilty to political corruption in January.


more... http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-gop10may10,1,509212.story?coll=la-headlines-california

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