A few words with: California Assembly Minority Leader Connie Conway

It is shaping up to be a rough year for the California GOP. Last November’s election delivered Democrats a supermajority in both the Assembly and Senate, leading many observers to opine that Republicans have become irrelevant in the Golden State. We sat down with Assembly Minority Leader Connie Conway recently to discuss how she will guide her caucus through this strange new world.

SNCJ — We might as well get right to the point – how does it feel to be ‘irrelevant?’

CONWAY — [Laughs] Yes, I’ve heard all that. The other thing I’ve heard is that it’s not that [Democrats] are a super majority; it’s that we’re a super minority. It’s okay — I get the jokes. But the reality of it is, I’m not irrelevant to the people who sent me here, and neither are the members of my caucus. When you look at the overall numbers, we represent millions of people’s opinions in the state of California. But we didn’t do well getting them to actually vote. I hear from people every day who tell me to hang in there and to fight, fight, fight. But too often they also tell me they were too busy to vote. In some places that are considered very, very Republican, only 67 percent of registered Republicans actually voted. If even 70 percent had gone to the polls things might be a little different. That said, I don’t know that our role changes much this year. I believe we are still the conscience of this place because it can get way out of control. (click to continue reading)

Rich Ehisen

Rich Ehisen is an award-winning journalist, editor, and public speaker who has spent more than twenty-five years interviewing and reporting on politicians, athletes, authors, CEOs, celebrities, artists, cops, doers, and dreamers all over the country. He is the managing editor of the State Net Capitol Journal, a LexisNexis publication that covers all 50 statehouses, and his freelance work has appeared in a variety of publications across the country.

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