The Delta smelt, "a famine machine that is entirely man-made...by greens.".. "Perez raised twice as much money as Vidak (90% of her donations came from outside the district)."
7/26/13, "CA Republican Wins Seat in Dist. with 60% Hispanics, 22-Pt. Dem Adv.," Breitbart, Tony Lee
"A Republican in California won a state Senate seat on Wednesday in a District in which Democrats have a 22-point advantage and that is 60% Hispanic.
Andy Vidak, the Republican farmer, won the special election runoff for the 16th District Senate seat when his opponent, Democrat Leticia Perez, a Kern County Supervisor, conceded on Wednesday, a day after voters cast their ballots. Vidak had 54% of the vote to Perez's 46%.
Perez had initially conceded two months ago when the special election was held. But a recount put Vidak under the 50% threshold that was needed to avoid a runoff, and Perez took back her concession nearly a week after the initial election. The seat became vacant when the Democrat, who won the seat in 2010 by 21 points, resigned to work for Chevron. Democrats thought, especially with a Hispanic female candidate, the seat would be a shoo-in for them. The veto-proof supermajority Democrats have in the state Senate is now imperiled with Vidak's victory.
As Breitbart News had previously reported, though, "Vidak, a working class candidate, resonated with working class Hispanics in the district who also saw how coastal California elites were not putting their bread-and-butter interests first."
Vidak ran broadly on "the bifurcation of California: the coastal liberal elites versus the Valley folks."
On a more local level, Vidak's theme of "fish versus farmer" resonated with Democrats in a District where the unemployment rate is 15% and as high as 30% in some communities in the District. Vidak reminded voters that liberal environmentalists, in order to protect fish, only allowed farmers to receive 20% of their water allocation, crippling the region's economy. He also stressed that Perez supported the the state's high-speed rail project that would have razed business, farms, and homes in the District. Because she supported the agenda of coastal elites and Democrat interest groups, Perez was able to raise twice as much money as Vidak, but 16th District voters ultimately rejected her liberal policies."...via Mark Levin show
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In 2010 Andy Vidak ran for congress from the district but was edged out by incumbent democrat Costa:
5/27/13, "Coastal Elites vs. CA Heartland: GOP State Sen. Candidate's Message Resonates with Voters in 60% Hispanic Dist.," Breitbart, Tony Lee
"While Washington Republicans concentrate on symbolic top-down "outreach" efforts, a California state senate race may actually provide a better roadmap for how Republicans can win in districts dominated by Democrats and minorities.
As the Wall Street Journal noted, Republican farmer Andy Vidak (second from right, above) appeared to have defeated a Latina Democrat for a seat in California's 16th state senate district last week "in a gerrymandered district that was 60% Hispanic and in which Democrats boasted a 22-point registration advantage."
Vidak's opponent, Leticia Perez, had initially conceded when Vidak had 52% of the vote, but it looks like Vidak and Perez will battle in a July 23 runoff because Vidak looks like he has fallen a couple hundred votes shy of staying above the 50% mark.
Nevertheless, Vidak still greatly over-performed given that the Democrat who resigned his seat won in 2010 by a 21-point margin and state Democrats thought Perez, with her heritage and support of liberal unions and interest groups, would be a shoo-in to replace him. Not so fast.
Coastal elites in California have decimated California's Central Valley and hurt the region's farmers--of all races--by cutting off much of the water supply to protect an obscure fish that is of concern to environmentalists.
And Vidak, a working class candidate, resonated with working class Hispanics in the district who also saw how coastal California elites were not putting their bread-and-butter interests first.
As the Journal notes, local farmers and businesses recruited Vidak, a middle-aged, third-generation Valley farmer described as "more salt-of-the-earth than many of his new compatriots in Sacramento."
"My dream always was to have a few cows," Vidak told the Journal.
His campaign theme was essentially"the bifurcation of California: the coastal liberal elites versus the Valley folks."
"We're getting left behind here," he said. "They don't view us as important."
Vidak blames the district's 15% unemployment rate (the unemployment rate is as high as 30% in some communities in the district), on the far-left environmentalists that have cut off water to the Central Valley to protect smelt from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
"It's fish versus farmer," Vidak said, noting that liberals are siding with the fish by only allowing farmers to receive 20% of their water allocation. "Our water has been cut off by the far left."
Furthermore, Perez could not win overwhelmingly just because of her race, as Democrats in the district punished her for supporting the liberal policies that run counter to their interests--like California's bullet train that will slash through the district and "raze hundreds of farms, homes and businesses."
"We don't have clean drinking water in some areas of our district," Vidak said. "And they want to build an $80 billion bullet train!"
As the Journal notes, Perez, his opponent, was one of those liberals who "endorsed the bullet train 'as the biggest jobs plan in California history.'"
Even though Perez raised twice as much money as Vidak (90% of her donations came from outside the district), she "appeared out of touch with Valley voters' values and concerns.""
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In early June 2009, the left turned the water off in California and wouldn't turn it back on: "The pain people felt this year may continue into the future," said Obama Interior Sec. Salazar.
9/22/2009, "Senate rejects measure to turn California water on," Washington Times, Amanda Carpenter
"The Senate rejected an amendment proposed by Sen. Jim DeMint, South Carolina Republican, to send more water to struggling farming area of California’s Central Valley through pumps that were shut down earlier this year to save a three-inch fish.
This is the latest in a series of efforts in recent weeks to undo a biological opinion from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that required water to be cut off to the valley to protect the Delta Smelt, a small fish that resembles a large minnow. ...
11/19/2009, "Congressional Water Report- KMPH Fox 26 Central San Joaquin Valley News Source," by Rich Rodriguez
"In early June the pumps were reduced to a trickle due to the decline of the Delta Smelt, a protected fish. Nunes said, "it's hard to give anyone hope if the House of Representatives won't pass a bill to let the pumps run.
Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar has visited the Valley twice to see how the drought and environmental regulations are impacting the westside. His second trip left farmers and farm workers feeling helpless when he announced that environmental rules in the Delta would not be relaxed. Salazar said, "the reality of this is we do not have those solutions at hand. The pain people felt this year may continue into the future."
Congressman Nunes responded, "the Obama Administration and Secretary Salazar are total phonies and I don't say that lightly. They threaten, they lie, they cheat and they cajole because the fact of the matter they're controlled by this radical environmental element that's headquartered out of San Francisco.
Recently Secretary Salazar asked the National Academy of Sciences to conduct an independent review of how to protect the Delta's ecosystem and provide a reliable water supply...
Last season growers received only ten percent of their federal irrigation water. ...
Congressman Costa says the reality is the Obama Administration is calling the shots for at least three more years."...
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Environmental lawyers fight for even tighter water restrictions:
12/15/10, "Judge says Delta pumping rules, meant to protect fish, are too restrictive," Contra Costa Times by Mike Taugher
"Despite the blistering language Wanger used at times, it was unclear how much relief water agencies most affected by the regulations would see. He ordered no immediate changes to the pumping regulations.
His ruling appeared to echo a critique in March by a panel convened by the National Academy of Sciences that found the new Delta smelt permit -- along with a related permit to protect salmon, steelhead and green sturgeon -- was conceptually justified but inadequate in its specifics.
Although he was more critical, Wanger, like the panel of scientists, determined regulators were correct to put limits on how hard the pumps could drive two Delta rivers to run in reverse. But both were critical of how government biologists justified the specific limits they laid out.....
Doug Obegi a staff attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council who worked on the case...predicted changes ordered by Wanger would not allow state and federal water projects to return to the record-breaking pumping levels they reached from 2000 to 2007. It is possible, Obegi said, that the rewrite might even result in
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"A victim of a famine machine that is entirely man-made...by greens."... 12/28/10, "Fresno, Zimbabwe," IBD editorial
"Fresno, Calif., stands as the de facto capital of California's mighty Central Valley, the breadbasket of America." But
24.1% of Fresno's families are going hungry."...
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Ed. note: The WSJ headline below portrays Mr. Vidak's win as a 'California GOP' win. To the extent it exists at all, the Calif. GOP is a worse farce than the national GOP and deserves to be extinct. Within the article, the author says Mr. Vidak is unlike State GOP types: "The white, middle-aged man appeared to come straight from the California GOP's central casting, but Mr. Vidak is more salt-of-the-earth than many of his new compatriots in Sacramento." Don't worry about 'lifting' the Calif. GOP. They want to be left alone:
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5/24/13, "A Farmers' Rebellion Lifts the California GOP," WSJ, A. Finley
"An election upset could send a pro-business Republican to Sacramento and give hope to the moribund state party."
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3/9/13, "California’s New GOP Chair Donates $1300 to Democratic LA Mayoral Candidate," Legal Insurrection, Leslie Eastman
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In 2010 Andy Vidak ran for congress in the district but was edged out by incumbent democrat Jim Costa:
5/24/13, "Senate District 16: Updated vote count means runoff likely for Vidak, Perez," Fresno Bee, John Ellis
"In a stunning turnaround that caught the Valley political world completely off guard, Hanford Republican Andy Vidak -- the apparent winner in a 16th state Senate District special election -- will now likely face a runoff.
Vidak will still win the election, which was held Tuesday. But he had to win more than 50% of the vote to avoid a July 23 runoff against the second-place finisher, Bakersfield Democrat Leticia Perez.
The day after the election to replace Bakersfield Democrat Michael Rubio -- who resigned in November -- Vidak had almost 52% of the vote to Perez's 41.7%. Three other candidates split the remaining 6.3%....
Remembering the initial lead he enjoyed in a tough -- but ultimately unsuccessful -- 2010 congressional challenge of incumbent Democrat Rep. Jim Costa, Vidak initially preferred to be "cautiously optimistic."
"I'm thinking," he said on election night, "I've been through this before."
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