Flip California, says Travis Allen, Candidate for Governor

I arrived early so I grabbed a light dinner inside the hotel where the meeting was taking place. Seated at a table along the corridor across from the entry to the meeting room, it served as a strategic location that allowed me to catch the attention of a number of folks as they entered the area. I shook hands, handed out business cards, and watched for Travis Allen. When he approached a water dispenser near me, I extended my hand, and proclaimed, "Douglas V. Gibbs." "Travis Allen," he responded, looking me straight in the eye, and shaking my hand firmly. We talked for a few minutes, and I told him his stance on sanctuary cities is what made him pop up on my radar. Allen really emerged as a power-player in the California Republican Party when he wrote an article that received major national attention, with a headline that read, "California Democrats legalize child prostitution." "Beginning on Jan. 1, prostitution by minors will be legal in California," Allen wrote, arguing that when government decriminalizes something, they legalize it. While the liberal left declared Allen didn't know what he was talking about, at the time, Allen stood by his position that the law the Democrats put out decriminalizing prostitution for minors by barring officers from arresting people under 18 for soliciting sex or loitering with intent to commit prostitution, was exactly what it sounds like. . . the legalization of child prostitution.

Allen said of the issue, "When I saw that, I thought it was evil." Strong consequences normally convince folks to commit an action less. The same is true when it comes to illegal immigration. In California, S.B. 54 was proposed in order to proclaim California as a Sanctuary State. The proposed law is in violation of the U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause which disallows a State to have a law contrary to constitutional federal laws. In response to S.B. 54, AB 1252 in Sacramento was introduced by Assemblyman Travis Allen of the 72nd Assembly District. Allen's bill served as a stance against sanctuary status, with the intent to repeal damaging California immigration stances that support illegal aliens, putting in place a mandate that would prohibit a city, county, or city and county designated as a sanctuary jurisdiction from receiving grant funding from the State of California. The bill would also authorize a resident of the State of California to bring a civil action alleging that a city, county, or city and county is a sanctuary jurisdiction. With my hand still in his in a firm handshake, Travis Allen delivered more common sense political language to me right there in the corridor. His lovely wife stood beside him in a show of true solidarity. Allen is handsome and ruggedly fit. He epitomizes what one would imagine a surfer who grew up in Southern California would be like once deep into adulthood.

A few more times during the evening Travis Allen and I crossed paths again. He made sure he addressed me by name, and looked me in the eye as we talked. He was not too busy to listen. Everything you have to say is important to him - a quality I hear Donald Trump also has. In his speech to the committee Mr. Allen addressed the issues that currently challenge California, and provided solutions. He discussed Jerry Brown's gas tax, a move that led to Gray Davis' recall before Arnold Schwarzenegger took office. Allen is leading the repeal effort of the gas tax. He addressed the out of control spending, and how the Democrats have been spending in such a way that California's need for more traffic lanes on our freeways and an improved infrastructure is not being addressed. We have among the highest fuel taxes in the country, and among the highest vehicle registration fees, yet we have among the worst roads in the country, plagued with potholes and crumbling bridges. Allen discussed education, and his support for "school choice." He said we must cut taxes so that businesses can thrive again, and so that we can stop the great exodus out of the State. We must be tough on crime again, and repeal Proposition 47, Proposition 57, and AB 109 --the "realignment" bill that released thousands of criminals from state prisons. He discussed our water problem, and said that it is not a water problem. We have plenty of water. The environmentalists and the Democrats have simply refused to create storage facilities to catch the water we allow to run into the ocean each rainy season. During the question and answer period the lack of conservatism portrayed by many of the California Republican politicians was addressed. The recent Cap and Trade extension vote, where eight Republicans voted with the Democrats, came up. Among those Republicans was Republican Leader Chad Mayes, who also voted in favor of extending Cap and Trade to 2030. Allen agreed that Mayes should resign his position as leader of the California Republican Party after such a betrayal of the voting public. The committee then proceeded to endorse Allen's "stop the gas tax" effort, and offered Chad Mayes an opportunity to speak for himself at the next month's meeting to the committee about his foul vote before the group decides to officially ask him to resign as party leader.

As a side note, my assembly member, Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, quit her leadership post as assistant Republican leader and accused Assembly GOP Leader Chad Mayes of "dereliction of duty." "Californians are struggling to make ends meet and unfortunately, what I have witnessed by the Assembly Republican Leader is a dereliction of duty to preserve and promote the American Dream for every single Californian," Melendez said in the release. When I told Travis Allen that I have known Melendez for some time, he smiled and brightened up. "Love her," he said. "She's a great colleague in Sacramento." I plan to get Travis Allen on my radio program in the next couple of weeks. He's the candidate for governor California has been waiting for. The question is, are there enough angry Californians who are willing to cast a vote for the conservative Republican?