SCV Talk · Archive
Nine years of the Valley’s town square · 2006–2015
SCV Talk
June 22, 2013· santaclarita.com · SantaClarita.com (SCVTalk 5.0) · Wayback capture

Will Statewide GOP Org Show McKeon's 'Winkler Caucus' the Door?

By Mike Devlin

SCVTalk's All-Inclusive SCV Republican Club Guide (Mid-2011 Edition) - SCVTalk
Image not recoveredSteve%20and%20Errol.jpg

Today, the statewide board of the California Republican Assembly will be meeting at the SCV Republican headquarters in Canyon Country. The occasion? To determine the fate of the McKeon-backed chapter, Republican Assembly of the Greater Santa Clarita Valley (RAGSCV).

The RAGSCV began in 2011 after McKeon-affiliated candidates lost out to an activist slate led by David Gauny in elections for the board of the long-standing SCV Republican Assembly (SCVRA).

If you're interested in the allegations of false maps, bylaw violations by the dozens, and grand manipulation by the House of McKeon, these recent emails from CRA Membership Secretary George Park are an interesting read. But only if you're in to that kind of thing.

Again, the SCVRA is the larger, established, volunteer-driven club. The upstart RAGSCV that's on the chopping block is a smaller, newer group founded and driven (mostly) by McKeon-affiliated political operatives. For a refresher, you should take a look at Jeff's brilliant chart from 2011 that made sense of it all.

The timing is coincidental, but it's very symbolic. In the infamous November 2011 election the SCVRA refused to endorse Stephen Winkler for the Saugus USD Board. But the RAGSCV went ahead and endorsed Winkler.

Yes, you read that correctly. The Republican Assembly of the Greater Santa Clarita Valley endorsedStephen Winkler, yes, that Stephen Winkler, as a candidate for an elementary school board, an endorsement was essential Winkler's victory that shocked the SCV.

But one person wasn't surprised. At the time, McKeon's right-hand-man and RAGSCV's founder Bob Haueter couldn't have been more proud of their endorsements. Just last week, he was unapologetic, even defiant on Facebook.
Image not recoveredBob%20H%20FB.png
It gets better: following the embarrassing result of the 2011 election where RAGSCV-backed Winkler would up unseating a Republican incumbent rather than the Democrat they hoped for, McKeon staffer JD Kennedy personally pushed through Winkler's request to have his membership shifted to RAGSCV. 

From: Jd Kennedy [mailto:jd.kennedy@ymail.com] 
Sent: Saturday, November 12, 2011 5:16 PM
To: alicekhosravy@ca.rr.com
Cc: stephenswinkler2000@gmail.com; brian koegle; walterbrett@gmail.com; david@davidgauny.com; gparkjr@yahoo.com
Subject: Member Transfer to RA G SCV
 
Alice,
This email is to notify you that Stephen Winkler, a member of SCV RA, has requested a transfer to RAGSCV to be effective immediately. I have cc'd Mr. Winkler as well as RAGSCV President and Secretary, Brian Koegle and Brett Walter and State Membership Secretary Mr. Park for their record keeping.
 
 
Thank you,
JD Kennedy
RA-G-SCV
Membership Secretary

Apparently, this transfer required this request to come from Winkler, so Winkler obliged:

From: Stephen Winkler <stephenswinkler2000@gmail.com>
To: jd.kennedy@ymail.com 
Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2011 2:59 PM
Subject: Transfer

To Whom It May Concern:
 
I want to be transfered [sic] from the old CRA to the new CRA. I'm a Bob Haueter loyalist and want membership in the same CRA as Bob is in.
 
Very Sincerely Yours,
Stephen Samuel Winkler

Kennedy would later follow up to make sure this transfer went through.

Despite multiple inquires, none of the RAGSCV's delegates from  the 2011 endorsing convention (Lynn Haueter, Brett Walter and Errol Valladares) nor JD Kennedy have responded to requests for comment. 

As far as we've seen, no one involved in the endorsement of Stephen Winkler in 2011 has renounced their endorsement publicly. The SCVRA, as a club, refused to endorse Winkler, while the RAGSCV endorsed him by way of a nominating convention. The RAGSCV President at the time, Brian Koegle, wasn't involved in the Winkler endorsement.

I suppose the Democrat in me should delight at all the Republican discord. It would be all so funny if it didn't have actual, negative consequences. Stephen Winkler came to us courtesy of certain Republicans and Republican groups. It was just a few—a powerful few.

We're better off that we don't have Winkler to kick around anymore. And we'd be all be better off if our community's dominant political party had more civic-minded grownups and fewer cynical and selfish party operatives. Let's hope the state CRA does the right thing today.
An embedded social embed appeared here in the original post. View the original — embeds are preserved as links in this archive.
An embedded social embed appeared here in the original post. View the original — embeds are preserved as links in this archive.
An embedded social embed appeared here in the original post. View the original — embeds are preserved as links in this archive.


Comments (18)

  1. Kevin D. KorenthalSaturday, June 22nd, 2013 at 2:07 pm
    This is just one incident of hijinks and division that Congressman Buck McKeon and his political henchman Bob Haueter wrought upon our local Republican community. Many Republicans have identified this as another reason not to vote Republican or why they should re-register as an Independent or Decline To State. If that is your thinking, you need to know that SCVRAG and the people behind it have already lost. Their pretend CRA unit is small and (to the best of my knowledge) has not met regularly in the past year. The Haueter's were banished to Texas after their ridiculous running of Buck McKeon's wife for Assembly ended in an embarrassing defeat. Actual adults and reform-minded Conservative Republicans are at the head of the Party now. It was a tough and embarrassing battle and it is one that doesn't ever end because we much remain watchful for those that seek to pervert our very relevant and necessary message of smaller, more accountable government and a strong, respected nation for their own political aspirations.
  2. Coastal SageSunday, June 23rd, 2013 at 5:45 pm
    Kevin: Sadly, though Mr. Haueter toils on behalf of Congressman Blake Farenthold, a second term Congressman from Corpus Christi, Texas. I feel sorry for Congressman Farentold. Corpus Christi is resoundingly Democrat, and the other towns and little cities in the district include the second homes and ranches of some of Texas' most wealthy and astute Republicans, who in my parents' day would have been called Rockefeller Republicans. So Mr. Haueter might be out of a job if he engineers a lot of the garbage Santa Claritans saw him do on Congressman McKeons behalf. Only time will tell as to where the Haueters work long term.
  3. Kevin D. KorenthalSunday, June 23rd, 2013 at 6:00 pm
    I believe that regardless of where they go, Bob's burn the village political machinations will be soundly rejected sending him to the next city until there are no more to be had and he's punching a cash register at Sports Chalet (inside baseball).
  4. PetzSaturday, June 22nd, 2013 at 2:15 pm
    I still don't like Devlin exploiting division within the GOP.
  5. LocalGrlSaturday, June 22nd, 2013 at 10:53 pm
    Exploiting, or reporting on? This is an important issue. Seems like good investigative reporting to me-- something this valley could use a lot more of.
  6. WinklerWatchSaturday, June 22nd, 2013 at 4:01 pm
    In a League of Women Voters smartvoter.org campaign statement, Winkler claimed endorsement by four Santa Clarita Republican organizations http://www.smartvoter.org/2011/11/08/ca/la Key Endorsements * California Republican Assembly * Republican National Hispanic Assembly * SCV Young Republicans * SCV Republican Women Federated
  7. TammySaturday, June 22nd, 2013 at 9:22 pm
    California Republican Assembly is NOT an SCV organization. That's the state level organization over the RAGSCV and SCVRA. RAGSCV endorsed Winkler, NOT SCVRA. If memory serves, Bob Haueter facilitated that state level endorsement as he was serving on the state board at that time. SCV Republican Women Federated does not endorse candidates. Period.
  8. Leon WordenMonday, June 24th, 2013 at 1:13 am
    From that same League-of-Women-Voters Winkler page, under the heading, "The Return of the Egyptian Pharaoh and King Herod the Great" ... "Pro-Choice advocates are no different from the Egyptian Pharoah, King Herod the Great, Joseph Stalin, or Adolph Hitler. The unborn are executed without the benefit of a trial by jury, without the opportunity to obtain legal counsel and to offer testimony in their defense." Regardless of what one thinks of the issue, shouldn't his wording have sent up a red flag? Just sayin'. Not trying to second-guess or belabor the point. Just that it looks to me like the clues were out there.
  9. Leon WordenMonday, June 24th, 2013 at 1:17 am
    Never mind that I wasn't aware school boards deal with abortion....
  10. Azimuth FatallahSaturday, June 22nd, 2013 at 4:14 pm
    I'm so glad I left the Republican Party.
  11. Capt.GeneSaturday, June 22nd, 2013 at 8:44 pm
    So am I...glad YOU left, that is. :)
  12. Kevin D. KorenthalSaturday, June 22nd, 2013 at 4:28 pm
    WinklerWatch: The Buckbots created shaddow groups for the Republican Women Federated as well as the CRA. The other 2 groups were controlled by Buck's people too. I tried to attend a meeting of the Youg Republicans and was told it was closed to nonmembers. So I offered to write a check right there. They said they'd take my membership request under advisement. I think the Hispanic Republicans group is NOW legit but since I don't support race division politics, I've not attended a meeting.
  13. David GaunySaturday, June 22nd, 2013 at 11:35 pm
    Thank you very much for following this issue and especially for this post today, Mike. I am happy to share that the RAGSCV did have their charter revoked today. While many readers here may wonder why we should care about a bunch of stupid Republican infighting, this hard-earned win means more than you think for politics in our valley. Special thanks to the current SCVRA board (and its members) who kept fighting even when it seemed certain that all hope was lost. Thanks also to the CRA state board who, after three brutal years of purging corruption from its ranks, proved again today that ethics will remain our founding principle. I am proud of the CRA today and --whether you like it or not-- I hope to share more on today's decision in a later article. Until then, let me just say that I respect this "liberal" blog for publishing facts that other sources in our valley squash.
  14. Bill ReynoldsSunday, June 23rd, 2013 at 10:26 pm
    David Gauny joining forces with left wingers... ???
  15. David GaunyMonday, June 24th, 2013 at 10:04 am
    Bill, Try to expand your reasoning beyond 'right and left'. The idea of 'right and wrong' has been around a lot longer.
  16. Bill ReynoldsMonday, June 24th, 2013 at 10:52 am
    Seriously? LOL!
  17. ReaderMamaMonday, June 24th, 2013 at 7:42 am
    And isn't it ironic that one of the few places where Bill Reynolds is still welcome to post is a "liberal" blog?
  18. Bill ReynoldsMonday, June 24th, 2013 at 8:13 am
    Readermama, you are misinformed. Though in the past I was banned from this blog and admittedly I'm banned from Komrad Kutylo's liberal FB blog, however, I am welcomed on a number of other local sites. Happy Monday! :-)

Preserved as part of the SCV Talk Archive. Text is presented as originally published; presentation has been standardised for readability. The original capture is available at the Internet Archive.

Support