This is John Batcher, a conversation with my colleague Bill Weel and the Hoover Institution

about the uneven landscape in California for Republican candidates.

Bill especially analyzes one that did very well and still lost.

Lonnie Chen, a fellow Hooverite with Bill, also a professor at Stanford University, a man of

much experience, much on the television, running for controller

most recently in 2022, lost because the registration in California is overwhelmingly Democratic.

So Bill asks in his new column what is to be done.

If a man is very careful as Lonnie Chen cannot do well as a Republican what is to be done and how did he do so well

Bill makes the point he out polled every Republican in America for the 2022 election.

Here's Bill Wellen to describe.

More of this tonight.

Well, he lost, but he did better than anybody else on the ticket, John.

He got the most votes of any Republican running for office in

California in 22 across America, not in California.

And he ran a very pragmatic campaign,

a very practical campaign, and he understands something a lot of candidates don't out here.

Lonnie just didn't serve up red meat to his base.

Lonnie actually tried to solve problems.

He was running for state controller, which is sort of the

overseer, California's government, if you will, somebody can do a million and one reports on

government inspections of government, audits of government. So he just talked about the failure of government.

He got away from wedge issues, if you will.

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