There’s a lot at stake for the 75th Assembly District. Two Republican candidates, Carl Demaio and Andrew Hayes, have emerged as the strongest in the race for the typically safe Republican seat and will likely be the top vote-getters in the Primary.
Both are staunch conservatives who, on paper, seem to align on most issues, but the two are starkly different. Hayes is running a campaign based on his dependability and dedication to affecting change for his constituents. Demaio, on the other hand, says he’s leading a movement to revive the Republican party and take back California.
“Leading the citizens’ revolt to drain the Sacramento swamp,” Demaio’s campaign website reads.
It’s a far cry from Hayes’ campaign bio: “A lifelong resident of East County San Diego who has dedicated his career to fighting for the conservative values he believes in.”
Hayes is a Lakeside Union School Board member and former aide to state Sen. Brian Jones. He has received endorsements from the California and San Diego County Republican Parties, as well as an array of Republican elected officials including Jones, Supervisor Joel Anderson and Rep. Darrell Issa.
Incumbent Assemblymember Marie Waldron, who is termed out of the 75th Assembly District this year, has also endorsed Hayes.
His top three priorities for the district, he said, are addressing rising crime rates, securing the border and lowering cost of living. He also said Sacramento is “dysfunctional,” and he hopes to restore “common sense and balance up there.”
“I want to be a problem solver,” Hayes said. “I’ve helped solve problems for constituents, and I want to help solve problems in Sacramento.”
Demaio is a conservative activist and radio talk-show host. He served one term on the San Diego City Council in 2008, then lost his races for mayor in 2012 and for Congress in 2014 and 2020.
He has a history of anti-union initiatives and is known for his efforts to limit pensions and benefits for municipal workers.
Unlike Hayes, he appears to have garnered more public opposition than support. Labor unions, police and firefighter associations, Democrats, Republican elected officials and even some real estate groups have launched independent campaigns against Demaio.
But that doesn’t seem to faze Demaio. In an interview with Politico back in December he said both Democrats and Republicans were at fault for the state’s problems: “Democrats — I blame them for the bad ideas,” he said. “But I blame the Republicans because of their dysfunction and their inability to mount an effective fight to take back the state.”
Demaio declined to be interviewed for this story, but in an interview with the Union-Tribune, he said his top three priorities for the district are to solve the “cost-of-living crisis,” the “public safety crisis” and the “illegal immigration crisis.”
The same three priorities as his opponent, Hayes. The difference lies within their approach.
Demaio is looking beyond the 75th Assembly seat and is hoping to completely change the political landscape of the California State Legislature, starting with himself.
Democrats currently hold supermajorities in both houses of the California State Legislature – the Assembly and the Senate. A supermajority is when one party has enough seats to pass legislation on its own, without getting any votes from the other party. The Assembly consists of 62 Democrats and 18 Republicans, and the Senate is composed of 32 Democrats and eight Republicans.
Demaio has achieved a loyal conservative following based on his ambitions to revolutionize Sacramento and fight to take back the legislature, but his vision hasn’t won over the Republican party or the region’s Republican leaders.
Because Republicans are expecting to be significantly outnumbered in the Assembly, once again, leaders of the party say the key is to elect the person who is more likely to get things done in a Democratic supermajority, not someone who is just fighting for the sake of fighting.
Former San Diego City Councilmember Chris Cate, a Republican who has known and worked with Demaio for several years, said Republicans have been outnumbered at the state legislature year after year, and that doesn’t look like it’s going to change very soon.
But at the very least, he said, it comes down to who has the best chance of having some level of a say on things.
“I’m not looking to support someone who is constantly just worried about yelling at the sky and is always looking for a fight instead of doing what it takes to solve problems,” he said.
Editor’s note: Cate serves on Voice of San Diego’s board of directors.
Others see Demaio’s ambitious goals for the party and question whether they are just ambitious goals for himself.
“His track record is more about what he can do to build his brand and make himself and his name bigger and more popular,” Sen. Jones said about Demaio.
Demaio’s several failed attempts at elected office haven’t won him much favor from most Republicans in the region, and his move to the 75th Assembly District just weeks before the campaign filing deadline seem to have left a bad taste in their mouths.
According to voter registration records, Demaio moved and registered to vote at his new address in early December.
“When you move into a district because you think that’s the only district you can win it’s not about representing me. It’s about getting to your next office,” Anderson said.
Jones echoed Anderson’s sentiment adding that Hayes was born and raised in the district, works in the district and cares about what its residents need.
“He knows the issues that are important – the border issues, the unemployment and cost of living issues … the water issues that the people are dealing with in agricultural areas,” Jones said. “Carl had to move into this seat to run … he cares about getting himself elected.”
But it’s not just about the constituents in the district. The Assembly, alongside the State Senate, forms the legislative branch of the state government and works alongside the governor to create laws and establish a state budget.
Whoever Republicans send to this seat will be tasked with advocating for laws and fighting for a state budget that will include the goals of Republicans, despite being in the minority group.
Anderson, who is known among his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors for his willingness to work across party lines, said that’s what he was looking for in a candidate for this seat – the ability to listen to and work with people with vastly different ideas and perspectives.
“[Hayes] thinks outside the box, and he works in a collaborative way,” Anderson said. “Carl also thinks outside the box – and I’ve worked with Carl on different projects – and it’s one thing when you’re on the outside, but when you’re actually elected to office, you have to govern. And that means you have to work across party lines. It means you have to build coalitions to get things done.”
The 75th Assembly District encompasses a vast portion of northern and eastern San Diego County.
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It should be an easy choice for Republicans. You can either vote for the party establishment candidate who says he’ll try to “work with Democrats”, and for the party that has accomplished near to nothing in CA for the last decade or you can vote for the “fighter” as Chris Cate puts it. If it were me, I’d vote for the fighter, but I am not in that district. It can’t hurt to try something different because what the republican party has been trying for the last 10+ years has been a total failure. CA is getting nearer to being a 1 party state. So you vote for the “if you can’t beat them then join them candidate, which is Hayes”, or you can vote for someone who believes that there is a way for Republicans to gain ground and eventually take back the state (i.e., Carl DeMaio). He (Carl) seems to be making a very good case that increasing turnout of independent conservatives and republicans who have not voted in recent elections is the best option. By the way Republicans, please mail in your ballot or simply drop it off at a poll location or drop off location. Don’t waste your time standing in lines, because that is what Democrats want you to do. Stop letting Democrats outsmart you. Do the wiser thing and vote by mail or simply drop off your ballot at the polls as they do. I mailed in my ballot and it was received and counted within 2 business days. It doesn’t get any easier than that.
I agree that Andrew Hayes is the person we need representing us in Sacramento.
Carl DeMaio spoke at a Candidate Forum in Ramona recently and informed the crowd that the Unions fear him and do not want to face him in Sacramento.
That puzzled me since I once gave him a commonsense welfare solution for San Diego (posted on my website) and he told me the Unions would never allow it. Then the Unions run our city I asked him? and he had no comment. Does he obey the Unions or do the Unions fear him?
Which way is it Carl?
But to let you know, I am running for Republican Central Committee, District 4. I was urged to run as I was told that the Central Committee has moved way too far to the Left and ALL (with just a few exceptions) need to be replaced with candidates who will restore America’s founding principles back in our Party: ‘God-Family-Country’. Knowing this, I have to ask 2 questions.
(1) If we need to replace almost all of the Incumbent Central Committee members, why is Carl DeMaio’s political machine – ‘Reform CA’ endorsing a majority of the them?
(2) Why is ‘Reform CA’ endorsing 16 other central committee candidates whom our district leaders did not want to include on our website? The candidates we want to be the new majority and will restore the Party from the ground up are featured on the 5 District pages at this website: http://www.SDcentralcommittee.org There is some overlap but important differences. Please read the home page of the website and ‘commonsense solutions’ page – with more ideas to be added later.
So one is a fake republican who has to play nice because he can’t earn a living outside politics and the other is a bombastic activist who does what he believes in without regard for who is giving him his next job. I know who I would choose if I lived in that dumpy district.
At least Carl is trying to do something about being run into the ground by the Democrats. The CA GOP has done very little to nothing but lip service. Does the CA GOP think we need to Reform California? Apparently not.
How many Republican legislators get elected, and we never hear from them again? That’s the category Hayes will fall into… play it safe, don’t make waves. DeMaio will at least stand out and influence issues far beyond the 75th. When you are in a ‘super minority,’ one MUST make a fuss and hold a light on the corruption and incompetence we see in Sacramento. They don’t see the light until they feel the heat.